Several Indigo flights were either cancelled or delayed for the fourth consecutive day, causing turmoil not just at the airports but also for many passengers. The Airlines cancelled a few 100 flights, creating panic among the passengers. It has also issued an apology stating that it is working to bring the operations back on track. Over 400 flights were cancelled on Friday alone.
Indigo’s on-time performance also dropped by 8.5% at six airports. As per reports, India’s largest domestic carrier, which makes up 60% of the traffic, was struggling with crew shortage, especially after the new Flight Duty Time Limitation norms were imposed. On Wednesday, only 19.7% of its flights were on time, which was down from 35% on Tuesday, and further worse than 50% on Monday.
Passengers stranded at various airports have taken to social media to express their disappointment and frustration at the flight delay and cancellation without prior notice. Many stated that they were forced to take expensive flights due to the sudden cancellation. Indigo has initiated a “calibrated adjustment” after rescheduling its flights and cancelling some of them to adjust to the crew’s availability. The situation became extremely worse, and the DGCA has also stepped in and asked the operators to present a detailed factsheet on how the situation became so bad.
On Friday, all the flights from Delhi airport, amounting to 235 total flights, were cancelled. The Chennai airport announced the same thing, while 165 flights in Mumbai, 102 in Bengaluru, and 92 in Hyderabad were annulled, as per close sources. The cancellation is a huge deal, as it affected almost two-thirds of domestic travellers in the world’s most populous country.
The crisis dropped Indigo’s market share by 3% on Friday, and as the matter escalates, the opposition parties have demanded a discussion on the issue in parliament. The new flight rules mandated two nightly landings for pilots, down from six. Indigo was exempted from this mandate till February 10. After the crisis recently, Indigo has promised the customers to waive all costs, and has also arranged accommodations for several stranded passengers.
