Objection overruled: Ghaziabad police to give 'Z' security to Kejriwal from today

January 13, 2014

Ghaziabad, Jan 13: Notwithstanding Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's stand against taking any security cover, Ghaziabad police have decided to provide 'Z' category protection to him from Monday.

As per the security plan outlined by the district police, 30 personnel would be deployed round-the-clock to provide security to Kejriwal.

Kejriwal presently resides with his family in a flat in Girnar Apartments in the Kaushambi area of Ghaziabad. He has earlier turned down the Ghaziabad SSP's offer for security cover.

"Despite the Delhi CM's refusal, we have decided to provide him with 24-hour 'Z' category security. Two head constables and eight constables will be deployed outside Kejriwal's house from tomorrow. Besides, two Personal Security Officers will also be posted as part of the Delhi CM's security detail," SSP Dharmendra Singh said.

He added that Kejriwal will now have two escort vehicles accompanying him when he is on the move in Ghaziabad. These vehicles would be carrying two head constables and six constables armed with sophisticated weapons.

"The two police vehicles will guard the Delhi CM when he is on the move in Ghaziabad," Singh said.

Upon being reminded that Kejriwal had recently rejected Ghaziabad police's request that he accept security cover and may do so once more, Singh said, "It doesn't matter if he rejects our request again. After the state government's directive, we have decided to give Kejriwal security from Monday."

Uttar Pradesh government, had on Saturday, decided that security was to be provided to Kejriwal regardless of his refusal to accept the same. Prior to that, Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde had said that the Delhi CM was being covered by security personnel without his knowledge.

Activists of a right-wing group had on January 8 attacked and vandalized the Aam Aadmi Party headquarters in Kaushambi to protest against party leader Prashant Bhushan's remarks on Kashmir.

Around 40 activists of Hindu Raksha Dal broke flower pots and tore party posters at the office while some glass doors were also smashed in the attack.

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IndiGo CEO says less than 1,000 cancellations on Dec 6; normalcy by Dec 15

News Network

December 5,2025

New Delhi, Dec 5: IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers issued a public apology this evening after more than a thousand flights were cancelled today, making it the "most severely impacted day" in terms of cancellations. The biggest airline of the country cancelled "more than half" of its daily number of flights on Friday, said Elbers. He also said that even though the crisis will persist on Saturday, the airline anticipates fewer than 1,000 flight cancellations.

"Full normalisation is expected between December 10 and 15, though IndiGo cautions that recovery will take time due to the scale of operations," the IndiGo CEO said.

IndiGo operates around 2,300 domestic and international flights daily.

Pieter Elbers, while apologising for the major inconvenience due to delays and cancellations, said the situation is a result of various causes.

The crisis at IndiGo stems from new regulations that boost pilots' weekly rest requirements by 12 hours to 48 and allow only two night-time landings per week, down from six. IndiGo has attributed the mass cancellations to "misjudgment and planning gaps".

Elbers also listed three lines of action that the airline will adopt to address the issue.

"Firstly, customer communication and addressing your needs, for this, messages have been sent on social media. And just now, a more detailed communication with information, refunds, cancellations and other customer support measures was sent," he said.

The airline has also stepped up its call centre capacity.

"Secondly, due to yesterday's situation, we had customers stranded mostly at the nation's largest airports. Our focus was for all of them to be able to travel today itself, which will be achieved. For this, we also ask customers whose flights are cancelled not to come to the airports as notifications are sent," the CEO said.

"Thirdly, cancellations were made for today to align our crew and planes to be where they need to start tomorrow morning afresh. Earlier measures of the last few days, regrettable, have proven not to be enough, but we have decided today to reboot all our systems and schedules, resulting in the highest numbers of cancellations so far, but imperative for progressive improvements starting from tomorrow," he added.

As airports witnessed chaotic scenes, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stepped in to grant IndiGo a temporary exemption from stricter night duty rules for pilots. It also allowed substitution of leaves with a weekly rest period.

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu has said a high-level inquiry will be ordered and accountability will be fixed.

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India’s Tougher Pilot Fatigue Rules: Why IndiGo’s Operations Crashed Into Turbulence

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December 6,2025

New Delhi: IndiGo, India’s largest airline, faced major operational turbulence this week after failing to prepare for new pilot-fatigue regulations issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The stricter rules—designed to improve flight safety—took effect in phases through 2024, with the latest implementation on November 1. IndiGo has acknowledged that inadequate roster planning led to widespread cancellations and delays.

Below are the key DGCA rules that affected IndiGo’s operations:

1. Longer Mandatory Weekly Rest

Weekly rest for pilots has been increased from 36 hours to 48 hours.

The government says the extended break is essential to curb cumulative fatigue. This rule remains in force despite the current crisis.

2. Cap on Night Landings

Pilots can now perform only two night landings per week—a steep reduction from the earlier limit of six.

Night hours, defined as midnight to early morning, are considered the least alert period for pilots.

Given the disruptions, this rule has been temporarily relaxed for IndiGo until February 10.

3. Reduced Maximum Night Flight Duty

Flight duty that stretches into the night is now capped at 10 hours.

This measure has also been kept on hold for IndiGo until February 10 to stabilize operations.

4. Weekly Rest Cannot Be Replaced With Personal Leave

Airlines can no longer count a pilot’s personal leave as part of the mandatory 48-hour rest.

Pilots say this closes a loophole that previously reduced actual rest time.

Currently, all airlines are exempt from this rule to normalise travel.

5. Mandatory Fatigue Monitoring

Airlines must submit quarterly fatigue reports along with corrective actions to DGCA.

This system aims to create a transparent fatigue-tracking framework across the industry.

The DGCA has stressed that these rules were crafted to strengthen flight safety and align India with global fatigue-management standards. The temporary relaxations are expected to remain until February 2025, giving IndiGo time to stabilise its schedules and restore normal air travel.

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