71% of IndiGo flights operate on time a day after DGCA sought report over delays
IndiGo could not operate its flights on time as majority of its cabin crew had reported sick to apply for Air India’s walk- in interview on Saturday
A day after the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) sought a report from IndiGo over major flight delays, around 71.8% of its flights operated on time on Sunday as compared to 45.2% on Saturday.
While the on-time performance (OTP) of IndiGo improved by 32.9% on Sunday, it continued to have the lowest OTP for the day. GoFirst’s OTP was 97.09%, AirAsia India’s OTP was 95.6%, Vistara operated 93.3% flights on time followed by SpiceJet with 90.1% and Air India with 86.4% flights that flew on time.
Also Read: IndiGo flight delays: DGCA seeks explanation from airline
IndiGo could not operate its flights on time as majority of its cabin crew had reported sick to apply for Air India’s walk- in interview on Saturday in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru where Tata Air India had conducted its second phase interview for cabin crew on Saturday.
IndiGo operates around 1,600 flights daily but only 728 flights flew on time on Saturday. However, it saw a significant improvement as around 1,149 flights could operate on time on Sunday.
Though the airline faced issues due to crew unavailability over the weekend, according to DGCA’s monthly air traffic report, the airline’s OTP average has been more than 80% for a month.
It seems that the crew’s decision to apply in Air India stems from the fact that the IndiGo cabin crew are reportedly not satisfied due to continued pay cuts that were implemented when the pandemic struck.
In April too, the airline pilots had gone on a mass sick leave as a result of which the airlines had suspended some for violating terms of employment and company.
Explaining IndiGo flight delays on the weekend, an industry expert said, “IndiGo is the country’s largest airline by passengers carried and fleet size, which means that the cascading effect of delays in even a manageable number of flight delays is significant leading to major disruptions.”