IndiGo cancels over 70 flights amid crew shortages across India

IndiGo cancelled over 70 flights on Wednesday due to acute crew shortages following the second phase of Flight Duty Time Limitations norms. On-time performance fell to 35%, with delays and cancellations affecting multiple airports nationwide

Mumbai: IndiGo has cancelled over 70 flights, including those from Bengaluru and Mumbai airports, on Wednesday, mainly due to crew shortages, sources said.

Scores of IndiGo flights were delayed at various airports, as the carrier struggled to get the crew for operating its flights, sources said.

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IndiGo said there have been cancellations and delays.

“We have had several unavoidable flight delays and some cancellations in the past few days due to various reasons including technology issues, airport congestion, and operational requirements,” the airline spokesperson said in a statement.

“IndiGo has been facing acute crew shortage since the implementation of the second phase of the FDTL norms, leading to cancellations and huge delays in its operations across the airports,” a source told PTI.

“The situation turned bad on Tuesday for the airline and the shortage turned worse on Wednesday with scores of flights cancelled and delayed from across airports in the country,” the source said.

IndiGo on-time performance from six key domestic airports plummeted to 35 per cent on Tuesday whereas Air India clocked 67.2 per cent, Air India Express 79.5 per cent, SpiceJet 82.50 per cent and Akasa Air 73.20 per cent, according to the Civil Aviation Ministry website.

The latest flight duty time limitation norms, which entail increased weekly rest periods to 48 hours, extension of night hours, and limiting the number of night landings to only two as against six earlier were initially opposed by the domestic airlines, including IndiGo and Tata Group-owned Air India.

But they were subsequently rolled out by the DGCA following the Delhi High Court‘s directives, albeit after a delay of over one year and in a phased manner and with certain variations to airlines like IndiGo and Air India.

While the first phase of these FDTL norms came into force from July, the second phase, which restricted the night landing to two from six earlier, was implemented from November 1.

The norms were originally to be put in place from March 2024 but airlines including IndiGo sought a step-by-step implementation, citing additional crew requirements.

The Gurugram-based airline currently operates around 2,100 domestic and international flights and a significant chunk of them into night.

As on December 2, IndiGo had a total of 416 planes in the fleet with 366 of them in operations and 50 on ground, up from 47 last month, as per aircraft fleet tracking website Planespotter.com.