Aviation watchdog seeks explanation from IndiGo after massive flight delays

Representative Image.

As many as 55 percent of IndiGo's domestic flights were delayed on July 2 as a significant number of cabin crew members took sick leave, with sources in the industry saying they ostensibly went for an Air India recruitment drive.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on July 3 took strong cognizance against domestic budget carrier IndiGo’s massive nationwide flight delays. The aviation regulator has sought a clarification from IndiGo.

DGCA officials told news agency ANI: “The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has taken strong cognizance against IndiGo and sought a clarification/ explanation behind the massive flight delays nationwide.”

IndiGo, which reportedly operates around 1,600 flights daily, was hit by the non-availability of crew members on Saturday, resulting in the delayed departure of 900 flights. According to media reports, the airline also faced staff-related problems on July 3.

An IndiGo passenger took to social media to complain about his ordeal and wrote: “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.”

@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 bettery pic.twitter.com/BfSaR58kP2

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— shekhar (@SidOnMoon) July 3, 2022

The numbers indicate that the air traffic has inched closer to the pre-pandemic level, as the domestic airlines had cumulatively ferried a total of 1.22 crore passengers in May 2019.

In the past month, IndiGo's passenger load factor increased to 81 percent, as against 78.7 percent in April 2022. SpiceJet's passenger load factor climbed to 89.1 percent in May 2022 from 85.9 percent in the preceding month.

Days before the flight delays, IndiGo and Turkish Airlines had on June 30 renewed their codesharing agreement, allowing both airlines to sell seats on each other’s flights.