Aviation regulator had grounded 8 IndiGo planes, 3 of GoAir yesterday due to a recurring engine malfunction.
Breaking News : IndiGo and GoAir cancelled around 70 flights on Tuesday as the two airlines grapple with aircraft grounding by aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). IndiGo cancelled around 50 flights, whereas Go Air cancelled 20 flights. The airlines said the affected passengers will be accommodated in other aircraft but there will be a change in their schedule.
The flights that have been cancelled are from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Patna, Srinagar, Bhubaneswar, Amritsar, Srinagar and Guwahati, among others, according to news agency PTI.
Yesterday, DGCA had grounded 11 planes (eight of IndiGo and three of Go Air) due to a recurring malfunction in their engines. The malfunction had occurred with certain sub-population of engines manufactured by Pratt and Whitney (PW). The problem stems from a component in the engine that can show early signs of wear and is located in an area that must withstand high pressure. Due to this, hundreds of passengers were stranded across the country yesterday.
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A senior airline official explained that the grounding is taking a toll because the airlines have little scope in alteration of their network as they had taken the planes into consideration while making the schedule. “There will be cancellations till the start of new schedule on 25 March. We have a large network and multiple flights from one point to other, so we can accommodate the passengers in other planes. Necessary information is being shared with affected flyers,” a senior IndiGo official said.
PW said the issue will be resolved only by the end of June. “The corrective action has been approved and we have already begun to deliver production engines with the upgraded configuration.
We are working to mitigate the AOG situation by the end of the second quarter,” the engine manufacturer said in a statement.
