The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Sunday sought a report from IndiGo after many of its flights were delayed on Saturday, due to crew unavailability. According to the aviation ministry’s website, 45.5% of the airline’s flights took off on time on Saturday and flight operations remained affected on Sunday too.
“We have seen the development and have sought a report from the concerned airline,” a DGCA official said.
Tata Group’s Air India and AI Express have been conducting walk-in interviews for hiring cabin crew. According to airline officials, the flights were delayed as many cabin crews reported sick and did not turn up for their scheduled flights.
“Tata Air India had their second phase of cabin crew recruitment on Saturday and IndiGo’s crew had reported sick leave to participate in the recruitment process,” one of the airline officials said.
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IndiGo operates around 1,600 flights daily but because of crew not reporting to work, flights were delayed and around 728 flights could be operated on time, leaving the airline with a cabin crew shortage.
IndiGo cabin crew have remained unsatisfied due to continued pay cuts that were implemented when the pandemic struck the country.
{{/usCountry}}IndiGo cabin crew have remained unsatisfied due to continued pay cuts that were implemented when the pandemic struck the country.
{{/usCountry}}However, flight delays seemed to continue on Sunday as passengers raised their voices on social media. ‘@IndiGo6E #IndigoSucks. Flight not on time. No update. No place to sit at the terminal. Staff missing. Wonder what happened to IndigoStandardTime. Seems that the clock has run out of battery,” Shekhar, one of the flyers on twitter tweeted.
“11 flights were canceled and 320 flights were delayed till Sunday, 6pm. A total of 56 cancellations and 842 delays were reported on Saturday,” claimed an industry expert who did not wish to be named.