IndiGo flight disruptions continue at Chandigarh Airport for third day

Operations at Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport, Chandigarh, were disrupted for the third consecutive day as IndiGo continued to grapple with a shortage of crew and related operational issues.

By 9 a.m., five departing flights and two incoming flights had been delayed or affected, causing inconvenience to passengers during the morning rush.

IndiGo cancelled more than 100 flights at various airports in the country, and scores of services were delayed on Wednesday as the country's largest airline grappled with significant operational disruptions mainly due to crew shortage.

Aviation watchdog DGCA said it is investigating IndiGo flight disruptions and has asked the airline to submit the reasons for the current situation as well as the plans to reduce flight cancellations and delays.

As part of the calibrated adjustments announced by IndiGo, there will be cancellations and rescheduling of flights, sources said on Wednesday, a day when airports witnessed chaos as hundreds of passengers faced hardships due to services getting cancelled and delayed for long.

The airline, which operates around 2,300 domestic and international flights daily, on Wednesday said a "multitude of unforeseen operational challenges" have significantly disrupted its operations across the network for the past two days, and apologised to the passengers for the inconvenience.

The challenges include "minor technology glitches, schedule changes linked to the winter season, adverse weather conditions, increased congestion in the aviation system and the implementation of updated crew rostering rules (Flight Duty Time Limitations) had a negative compounding impact on our operations in a way that was not feasible to be anticipated," an airline spokesperson said in a statement.

Social media was flooded with videos showing frustrated passengers arguing with airline staff over the flight cancellations.

As many as 258 flights were cancelled due to "airport/airspace restrictions", 92 flights were cancelled due to the ATC (Air Traffic Control) system failure and 127 flights on account of other reasons.

With PTI inputs