Indigo airlines cancelled over 200 flights, and delayed countless others due to a crew shortage across airports in the country on Wednesday.
This is the second consecutive day that Indigo is unable to operate a large number of flights.
The airline, which operates over 2,200 flights daily, has scored a mere 35% on the punctuality front in operations on December 2 (Tuesday), reveals data released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. This is the worst score among all the leading airlines assessed. 
An official release from the aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday said a total of 1,232 flights had been cancelled by Indigo in November with 755 of them cancelled due to crew and Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) constraints.
Sources The New Indian Express spoke to stated that Indigo is facing a severe shortage of both cockpit and cabin crew and said it is due to a massive recruitment drive by international airline Emirates at Delhi and Mumbai this week.
However, Indigo attributed the significant disruption to multiple reasons, including unforeseen operational challenges.
Sixty-seven flights were cancelled at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport alone. Thirteen flights departing from Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport were cancelled; over 70 flights from Mumbai and Bengaluru airports were cancelled till Wednesday evening. Furthermore, flights to Kolkata and Srinagar were also cancelled.
Airline sources said that several Indigo crew have been making a beeline for Emirate’s recruitment roadshow in Mumbai and Delhi the last two days.
An aviation source said, “The mismanagement on the part of Indigo too is a major reason for the crisis they have been facing the last two days. The revised Flight Duty Time Limitations were implemented by all airlines from November 1. Why is Indigo alone facing an issue? It is because of poor management of the situation, nothing else.”
The new rostering rules included increased weekly rest for pilots, from 36 hours to 48 hours, and limiting night landings carried out by pilots to just two instead of six.
