Facing Crew Shortage, Indigo Cancels Over 200 Flights, Delays Many Others in One Day
New Delhi: Facing a crew shortage, Indigo airlines, which operates over 2,200 flights daily, cancelled over 200 flights and delayed many others on Wednesday (December 3). It was the second consecutive day when Indigo could not operate a large number of flights.
According to data released by Ministry of Civil Aviation, Indigo on Tuesday (December 2) has scored a mere 35% on the punctuality front in operations on December 2, the worst score among all the leading airlines assessed, reported New Indian Express.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said on Tuesday said till now in November a total of 1,232 flights had been cancelled by Indigo, with 755 of them cancelled owing to crew and Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) constraints.
New Indian Express cited sources to report that at present Indigo is facing serious shortage of both cockpit and cabin crew, primarily because of a a massive recruitment drive by international airline Emirates at Delhi and Mumbai this week.
However, Indigo attributed this continual disruption to multiple reasons, including unforeseen operational challenges.
The cancellations include 67 flights at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. Thirteen flights departing from Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport were also cancelled while 70 flights from Mumbai and Bengaluru airports were cancelled till Wednesday evening. Flights to Kolkata and Srinagar were also cancelled.
According to sources in the airline, several Indigo crew have been making a beeline for Emirate's recruitment roadshow in Mumbai and Delhi the last two days, reported New Indian Express.
"The mismanagement on the part of Indigo too is a major reason for the crisis they have been facing the last two days. The revised Flight Duty Time Limitations were implemented by all airlines from November 1. Why is Indigo alone facing an issue? It is because of poor management of the situation, nothing else," source told the newspaper.
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