How a recruitment drive left hundreds of travellers stranded across airports in India

Around 55 percent of IndiGo's domestic flights were dealyed as cabin crew members took sick leave; sources in the industry say they went for an Air India recruitment drive.

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On July 2, Saturday, hundreds of IndiGo passengers were left stranded across airports in India after multiple flights were delayed. The Indian airline with the highest (On Time Performance) was left struggling to keep its record intact with only 45 percent of flights able to operate on time, within 15 minutes for their scheduled departure. As per reports, non-availability of crew members was cited as the primary reason for the hindrance. Almost 55 percent of IndiGo flights got delayed, resulting the Indian aviation's watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) taking a strong cognizance of the IndiGo's operations.

"Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has taken strong cognizance of IndiGo operations and sought a clarification/explanation behind the massive flight delays nationwide,"; DGCA officials told ANI. As per the Ministry of Civil aviation (MoCA) data, only 45 per cent of IndiGo flights were able to operate on-time performance (OTP) within 15 minutes of the scheduled departure time on Saturday.

IndiGo responded to over a dozen passengers on Twitter regarding flight delays due to various reasons. "We never wish to disrupt our passengers' travel plans. The delay was due to the late arrival of the incoming aircraft which disrupted the rotation of the aircraft. We hope you will understand that many factors are beyond our control that determines our flight schedule," IndiGo tweeted.

@dgcain,
Another horrible experience with @IndiGo6E.
Our flight from Mumbai(PNR: ZSEV4K)got delayed by 1.5hrs,no clear intimation provided by indigo on the delay.
The very first notification on delay of "30mins" (at actual it was 90mins)was shared at 4:45 when all passengers 1/3 pic.twitter.com/zJLdv0l0dc — Shaona Dutta (@DuttaShaona) July 2, 2022

In another tweet IndiGo accepted the delays, "We regret the delay. Your flight is expected to depart by 1125 hrs. Our team is trying its best to get you to your destination ASAP. Please hang in there," IndiGo said in another tweet. While IndiGo has not released an official statement on the reason behind the shortage of crew members, reports suggest that the crew members went to the Air India recruitment drive. 

The phase-2 of Air India's recruitment drive was conducted on Saturday (July 2) and a majority of IndiGo's cabin crew members who took sick leave went for it, the sources in the industry added. When asked about this, Arun Kumar, who heads the aviation regulator DGCA, told PTI, "We are looking into this." 

According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation's website, 45.2 percent of IndiGo's domestic flights operated on time on Saturday (July 2). In comparison, the on-time performances of Air India, SpiceJet, Vistara, Go First and AirAsia India was 77.1 per cent, 80.4 per cent, 86.3 per cent, 88 per cent and 92.3 per cent, respectively, on Saturday (July 2).

IndiGo CEO Ronjoy Dutta had on April 8 told employees through an email that raising salaries is a difficult and thorny issue but the airline will constantly review and adjust wages based on its profitability and the competitive environment.

With agencies inputs