Over 900 IndiGo flights delayed as crew members head for job interviews

New Delhi: IndiGo Airlines operations were crippled last week as hundreds of flights faced massive delays in many cities of the country due to the non-availability of cabin crew and staff, who according to industry sources had gone for job interviews.

IndiGo flights were delayed on Saturday and Sunday.
Industry sources said that the IndiGo staff had gone for job interviews being conducted by Air India.

"The second phase of Air India's recruitment process was scheduled for Saturday and most of the cabin crew members of IndiGo who took leave had gone for it. This means that the crew members of Indigo had gone to join the recruitment process of Air India after taking leave in the name of the illness. Due to this, more than 900 flights of Indigo got delayed across the country," said industry sources.

Tata-owned Air India announced the hiring of cabin crew on June 28 and July 1 in Delhi and Mumbai.
"Attention Delhi and Mumbai, we are hiring cabin crew candidates are requested to kindly carry a copy of SEP cards," Tata had announced on social media.

The walk-in-interview for the cabin crew in Bengaluru is scheduled by Tata's Air India on July 7.
"Air India didn't conduct any cabin crew interview on Saturday," an Air India Official told ANI.

Meanwhile, the aviation watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has sought an explanation from IndiGo on this matter.

"The 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.

India's largest airline IndiGo currently operates around 1,600 domestic and international flights daily. It has around 277 aircraft in its fleet.

Two new airlines Akasa and Jet Airways (2.0) are in the process of starting their operations in a few months and they have also announced the hiring of pilots, cabin crew and ground staff.
Sources believe that there may be "poaching of employees in the days to come." (ANI)