The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Sunday sought reply from Indigo Airlines and asked to explain the reason for frequent flight delays, as many as 56 per cent of IndiGo's domestic flights were delayed on Saturday.

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The reason for the delay is due to a significant number of cabin crew members took sick leave, with sources in the industry saying they ostensibly went for an Air India recruitment drive.

When asked about this matter, DGCA chief Arun Kumar told PTI on Sunday, "We are looking into this."

The phase-2 of Air India's recruitment drive was conducted on Saturday and majority of IndiGo's cabin crew members who took sick leave went for it, the sources in the industry added.

IndiGo, India's largest airline, currently operates approximately 1,600 flights --domestic and international -- daily.

According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation's website, 45.2 per cent of IndiGo's domestic flights operated on time on Saturday.

In comparison, the on-time performances of Air India, SpiceJet, Vistara, Go First and AirAsia India was 77.1 per cent, 80.4 per cent, 86.3 per cent, 88 per cent and 92.3 per cent, respectively, on Saturday.

The Tata Group took control of Air India on January 27, after successfully winning the bid for the airline on October 8 last year.

Air India has started a recruitment drive for fresh cabin crew members as it is planning to buy new planes and improve its services.

With PTI Inputs