NEW DELHI: Delhi HC reprimanded Union government Wednesday for its failure to prevent the turbulence caused by mass cancellation of IndiGo flights, wondering why it “let the crisis precipitate” and left flyers at the mercy of rival airlines “taking their pound of flesh”.“What bothers us is how such a situation arose, stranding lakhs of passengers across airports. It affects the economy… In the present day, fast movement of passengers for many reasons is an important aspect of keeping the economy functioning,” Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said.“Another issue we are concerned with is the payment of compensation to stranded, unattended passengers due to disruption in flights,” the bench said, specifying that it expected IndiGo to not just refund the ticket money but also pay damages.The judges put the onus on Centre to ensure that affected flyers received compensation for what they had to face.On fares skyrocketing as a result of the IndiGo crisis, HC demanded to know “how (domestic) fares could shoot up to Rs 40,000” and whether “other airlines start taking advantage of the crisis”.When the Centre’s counsel blamed IndiGo for not preparing for the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms, the court sought to know if the authorities were “helpless” in taking action.“The question is why, at all, did such a situation, such a crisis arise, and what have you been doing? Why did you not ensure flight duty norms are implemented in time? There was a failure on part of govt and DGCA,” the bench said.The high court questioned the Centre’s submission that IndiGo misled it about adherence to the norms, saying authorities could have acted against the airline after it failed to implement FDTL by November 1.
