How Air India job interviews left passengers stranded across airports
2 min read . Updated: 04 Jul 2022, 12:23 PM IST
Premium- Air India's second phase interview was scheduled for Saturday (July 2) and coincidentally most of the crew members of IndiGo had gone on leave that day
Chaos in the Indian airline operations was seen last week as several flights got delayed due to Air India's recruitment process. As per the news agencies report, Tata-owned Air India is on a hiring spree and therefore had scheduled interviews for Saturday (July 2).
Now what came next was shocking as more than 50% of flights on IndiGo were delayed. Several crew members and staff of IndiGo reported sick so that they could attend interviews at Air India Ltd, as per agency reports
An industry source told the news agency that Air India's second phase interview was scheduled for Saturday (July 2) and coincidentally most of the crew members of IndiGo had gone on leave that day. Due to this, more than 900 flights of IndiGo got delayed across the country.
"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," a source told ANI news agency.
Now, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has sought clarification/ explanation from IndiGo over massive flight delays nationwide.
Several passengers took to Twitter about the flight delays on July 1 and July 2.
"Hey @IndiGo6E my DEL to JLR flight 6E5002 is delayed for 2 hours. I will be needing compensation for the delay. Please arrange for the same".
IndiGo in response wrote, "Sir, it was never our intention to disrupt your travel plans. As checked, due to operational reasons, there has been a delay and the revised time of departure is 1530 hours. We try not to make any changes in our schedule, however, the same is uncontrollable".
"Please be rest assured our team is trying their best to get you airborne as soon as possible. We hope for your understanding," it added.
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.
However, an official from Air India told the ANI news agency that they never conducted any interview on Saturday.
As per the Ministry of Civil aviation (MoCA) data, only 45% of IndiGo flights were able to operate on-time performance (OTP) within 15 minutes of the scheduled departure time on Saturday.
Separately, 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.
Experts believe that there may be "poaching of employees in the days to come."
