IndiGo Airlines Struggles With New Crew Rostering Rules

Air travel is supposed to facilitate people's vacations, taking them to their destination in a relatively short amount of time. However, a major issue is keeping IndiGo Airlines grounded. Countless flights have been canceled, and the situation has no end in sight.

What happened to IndiGo Airlines? Here's what we know about the conflict that is forcing the biggest airline in India to keep its planes on the ground. Many passengers could be affected by all the flights that will be scrapped until the situation is resolved.

According to the BBC, IndiGo is struggling with a heavy shortage of pilots. The situation started when the company failed to adapt to new crew rostering rules. Any airline in the world needs to have clear schedules that provide crew members with enough time to rest before their next flight.

IndiGo is the biggest airline in the country. The company holds a 60 percent market share for all the commercial air travel that takes place in India.

The fact that IndiGo dominates the market in such a way leads to the obvious conclusion that air travel in India will be heavily affected by the shortage of pilots. As if the situation wasn't complicated enough, the flights were canceled with the holiday season right around the corner.

The weeks leading up to Christmas Day are considered one of the busiest seasons to travel across the entire planet. People are looking forward to being reunited with their families.

With New Year's Eve right around the corner, IndiGo needs to sort out its employment agreements with crew members soon. Otherwise, the company could face a tremendous amount of monetary loss.

In the meantime, passengers are stranded at their destinations outside of India, waiting for the airline to provide them with a trip back home.

The pilots who dedicate their lives to moving IndiGo's passengers are ready to formally address the problem. In a statement released by the Airline Pilots' Association of India (via CNBC), the workers were quick to point out that it was up to the airline to provide them with fair scheduling.

The statement reads: "Our strongest objection is to the nature of the dispensations granted. Not only has the night definition been relaxed, but the permitted number of landings (...) has been doubled."

The press was quick to pick up the story because of the number of people who were affected by the canceled flights. Passengers, pilots, and even airport staff were left by IndiGo to face the consequences of their oversight.

The statement released by the pilots also indicates that IndiGo had two years to adjust before anything happened, meaning that the entire issue could have been prevented by giving pilots different schedules.

Traffic control will be the department responsible of sorting out the delays with other airlines from India. With the biggest competitor in the market paralyzed, other companies could profit by allowing IndiGo's passengers to move.