More than 50% of Indigo flights were delayed on Saturday as a significant number of crew members went on a mass sick leave.?The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has taken note of the incident and ordered Indigo -- India's largest airline -- to present a report on the delays, as per officials.
Interestingly, the delays happened on the same day when Air India conducted a recruitment drive?for similar roles across different centres, sources claimed to Business Today.?It is reported that?members of the staff were absent as they had apparently gone to apply for jobs in Air India.
By the end of the day, more than 900 IndiGo flights were delayed.?According to information sourced from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, IndiGo's on-time performance on Saturday was 45.2 per cent, meaning less than half of its flights departed within 15 minutes of their scheduled departure time.
The low-cost carrier (LCC) operates 1600 flights daily. Flight operations at the airline returned to normal on Sunday.
As per the DGCA's monthly traffic reports, IndiGo's average on-time performance for a month stays more than 80 per cent.
While IndiGo's punctuality fell on Saturday, that of other airlines remained around their previously reported numbers. For instance, SpiceJet reported 80.4 per cent on-time performance, while GoFirst and AirAsia India reported 88 per cent and 92.3 per cent, respectively. Vistara and Air India reported 86.3 per cent and 77.1 per cent, respectively.
The incident is further indication of the growing rift between Indigo and its employees. IndiGo had on April 4 suspended a few pilots who were planning to organise a strike?to protest against the pay cuts that were implemented during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
During the peak of the pandemic, Indigo had slashed the salaries of its pilots by as much as 30 per cent.
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.
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