More than 1,000 flights cancelled in four days. Passengers stranded for up to 24 hours. Airfares jumping to Rs 50,000 for routes that usually cost Rs 6,000. India’s aviation sector witnessed its worst operational breakdown this week as IndiGo, the country’s largest airline, struggled to keep planes in the air.
The crisis began Tuesday and peaked Friday when IndiGo cancelled over 1,000 flights, more than half its daily operations. Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad airports saw hundreds of cancellations. Smaller airports like Khajuraho and Deoghar, where IndiGo is the only carrier, were left with no flights at all.
IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers admitted Friday that earlier attempts to fix the problem had failed. “We decided today for a reboot of all our systems and schedules, resulting in the highest number of cancellations so far,” he said in a video message to customers.
The airline, which operates 2,200 flights daily and controls 60% of India’s domestic market, saw its on-time performance crash to 8.5% on Thursday. By Friday evening, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation had granted IndiGo temporary relief from new pilot duty rules until February 10, 2026.
What caused mass cancellations
The immediate trigger was new Flight Duty Time Limitations rules that took effect November 1. These regulations, designed to prevent pilot fatigue, mandate 48 hours of weekly rest for crew, up from 36 hours. They also limit pilots to just two night landings per week between midnight and 6 am, down from six previously.
| Rule Area | Earlier Standard | New Standard (Phase-II) | Impact on Operations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly rest for pilots | Lower weekly rest allowance | 48 hours of weekly rest | More pilots off-duty each week |
| Night duty definition | Shorter night duty window | Extended night duty window 0000–0650 hrs | Fewer pilots available for late-night and early-morning flights |
| Night landings allowed per pilot | Six per week | Two per week | Night-heavy routes face crew shortage |
| Duty hours | Longer allowed duty periods | Reduced maximum duty hours | More flight rotations need crew replacements |
| Preparatory window | Airlines given two years | Phase-II active from Nov 1, 2024 | Full compliance pressure begins |
| Exemption for IndiGo | Not applicable earlier | Temporary relaxation until Feb 10, 2026 | Allows limited night flexibility to prevent cancellations |
| DGCA oversight | Routine monthly review | Fortnightly updates required from IndiGo | Regulator tracking crew deployment closely |
IndiGo told the DGCA on Thursday that it had misjudged crew requirements. The airline reported having 2,357 captains and 2,194 first officers available for its A320 fleet in December, significantly lower than what the new rules demanded. “Significant planning and assessment gaps existed in implementing Phase-II of FDTL,” the DGCA stated, summarising IndiGo’s admission.
The Federation of Indian Pilots said IndiGo “enforced a hiring freeze even after knowing the impact of the new DGCA rules.” The pilot union added that while other airlines hired adequately, IndiGo “inexplicably adopted a hiring freeze, entered non-poaching arrangements, maintained a pilot pay freeze through cartel-like behaviour.” When the new rules kicked in, IndiGo suddenly didn’t have enough rested pilots to fly its expanded schedule.
How passenger frustration grew
Riya Sharma, a 21-year-old student, was stranded in Mumbai trying to reach Delhi. “I tried checking other airlines after my IndiGo flight was cancelled, but the fares from Mumbai to Delhi are impossible right now. Today’s only available seat was showing over Rs 50,000, and even for tomorrow, the starting price is around Rs 25,000. I can’t book any of that when my IndiGo refund hasn’t even come.”
At airports across the country, passengers waited 12 to 24 hours with little communication. Some boarded aircraft only to be asked to deboard when flights were suddenly cancelled. Videos circulating on social media showed angry crowds confronting airline staff and, in one case from Kochi, a passenger slamming the counter facade after being stranded four days.
Even Singapore’s High Commissioner to India, Simon Wong, got caught in the mess. He posted on social media that his flight was cancelled and he was “lost for words” as he couldn’t attend a staff member’s wedding in Deoghar. At Jammu and Kashmir airports, 16 flights from Srinagar and 11 from Jammu were cancelled Friday, prompting protests by hundreds of stranded passengers over the airline’s alleged failure to respond to distress calls.
Why IndiGo was affected more than others
IndiGo’s dominance turned into a vulnerability. The airline operates nearly double the flights of Air India, its nearest competitor. When planning fails at this scale, disruptions multiply fast. Even a 10% operational hiccup means 200 to 400 cancelled flights and thousands of stranded passengers.
The airline had also approved an aggressive winter schedule, 15,014 weekly departures, representing a 9.6% increase over the previous winter. This expansion came despite knowing stricter crew rest rules were approaching. Aviation insiders described the strategy as high-risk.
IndiGo’s business model relies on aggressive cost-cutting with minimal operational slack. The airline cultivated a reputation for efficiency, with crew often announcing “IndiGo Standard Time” when boarding finished early. But this efficiency-first approach left no buffer when new fatigue rules reduced available crew.
Other airlines prepared differently. Pilot unions say competitors hired adequately and adjusted schedules in advance. Air India, SpiceJet, and Vistara remained largely unaffected by the same regulations that crippled IndiGo. The Airline Pilots’ Association of India argued that IndiGo’s crisis resulted from poor planning, not impossible regulations.
Airfares touched record highs
With IndiGo controlling such a large share of the market, cancellations immediately drove up prices. The only Mumbai-Delhi flight available Friday was priced at Rs 51,860 per passenger. The sole Delhi-Mumbai flight showed seats at Rs 48,972, ten times the normal economy fare of Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000.
Delhi-Bengaluru fares for Saturday started at Rs 39,101. Mumbai-Delhi tickets began at Rs 19,259 for a 3:20 am departure and climbed to Rs 24,999 for more convenient times. Some Delhi-Chennai flights touched Rs 82,000. Several routes showed no availability at all.
Tourist destinations felt the pinch too. Goa-Mumbai fares for Saturday started at Rs 20,669, while Goa-Kolkata tickets began at Rs 42,582. Jack Sukhija, president of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa, warned the disruptions would hurt the state’s peak tourism season.
“IndiGo enjoys more than 60% share in the Indian aviation market and disruptions in its flight operations will have an adverse impact on the tourism industry,” Sukhija said. At Dabolim airport in Goa, 31 domestic flights were cancelled by Friday noon, leaving tourists unable to return home.
Government granted emergency relief
Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu established a 24×7 control room to monitor the situation. The ministry ordered airlines to provide automatic full refunds for cancellations, accommodate stranded travelers in hotels, give senior citizens lounge access, and provide refreshments during delays.
On Friday, the DGCA granted IndiGo multiple exemptions until February 10. The airline can now exceed night-duty limits, redeploy 12 flight operations inspectors currently on deputation back to flying duties, and count pilot leave as weekly rest, something the new rules had prohibited.
The regulator emphasized the exemption was granted “in public interest” to ensure continuity of essential air services but warned approval could be withdrawn if safety is compromised. IndiGo is now required to submit fortnightly progress reports on crew utilization and must present a roadmap within 30 days.
The DGCA also withdrew a provision preventing airlines from substituting leave for mandatory weekly rest, offering breathing room to all carriers struggling with crew availability. “In view of the ongoing operational disruptions and representations received from various airlines regarding the need to ensure continuity and stability of operations,” the regulator said, the instruction was withdrawn with immediate effect.
Pilots raised safety concerns
The Airline Pilots Association of India, representing over 6,000 pilots, expressed “profound concern” over what it called “selective dispensations” to IndiGo. The association warned the exemption “gravely compromised the safety of the flying public.”
“Any dilution in FDTL norms would expose pilots, passengers, and aircraft to unacceptable risks,” the pilots said, adding that the exemption set a “dangerous precedent.” The association argued that rolling back safety regulations to fix a commercial problem sent the wrong message.
The Federation of Indian Pilots was more direct in assigning blame. The union pointed out that other airlines prepared adequately and remained largely unaffected. Some aviation experts suspect the disruptions could be a pressure tactic to force regulatory rollbacks, a claim pilots say would prioritize commercial interests over passenger safety.
DGCA chief Faiz Ahmed Kidwai appealed for cooperation from pilot bodies. “As we now approach the fog season, the peak holiday period, and the marriage travel season, it is crucial that the industry prepares for even greater operational challenges,” Kidwai said in a statement Friday.
Railways stepped in to help
Indian Railways responded by adding 116 extra coaches to 37 trains to accommodate passengers affected by cancellations. Northern Railway increased 3AC and chair car coaches in four premium trains: Jammu Rajdhani Express, Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express, Chandigarh Shatabdi Express, and Amritsar Shatabdi Express.
Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay, Chief Public Relations Officer of Northern Railway, said the changes would continue until the problem persists. “We experienced a surge in passengers’ travel needs,” Upadhyay said, explaining the decision to add capacity.
SpiceJet added seven flights Friday and 17 Saturday to destinations including Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata. The additional capacity offered some relief, but prices remained elevated as demand far outstripped available seats.
Charter jet operators reported unprecedented demand. Sourabh Jangid, Accountable Manager at Nibe Aeronautics Limited, said enquiries rose nearly five-fold in 48 hours. “There are no aircraft available; the demand is that high. We usually receive around 10 enquiries a day, but it has now touched 50, and Hyderabad alone accounts for at least a quarter of them,” he said.
When flights will return to normal
IndiGo has said operations should stabilize within 48 hours, with full normalcy expected between December 10 and 15. The airline is making “calibrated adjustments” to rotations and night schedules, redeploying crew on high-stress routes, and pre-cancelling select flights.
Elbers said Friday’s mass cancellations, the highest so far, were necessary to “reboot all our systems and schedules for progressive improvements.” He expects Saturday’s cancellations to fall below 1,000. “I do understand that these disruptions have caused much discomfort to our customers and has shaken their belief in IndiGo’s reliability carefully built over past 19 years,” he said.
However, the airline has sought time until February 10, 2026, to achieve full operational stability and comply with duty-time regulations other carriers have already implemented. The DGCA has demanded fortnightly progress reports on crew utilization and ordered IndiGo to submit a roadmap within 30 days.
The government has also ordered a high-level inquiry to examine what went wrong, determine accountability, and recommend measures to prevent future disruptions. A four-member DGCA committee will submit findings within 15 days to enable regulatory enforcement action.
What it means going forward
The crisis exposed the brittleness of IndiGo’s efficiency-first model. The airline’s strategy of aggressive scaling with minimal operational buffer proved incompatible with stricter fatigue-control norms unless staffing grew proportionately.
Shares of InterGlobe Aviation, IndiGo’s parent company, fell 7.3% over four trading days, eroding market capitalization by Rs 16,190 crore. The stock declined 1.27% on Friday to close at Rs 5,367.50 on the National Stock Exchange.
The debacle represents a significant blow to the two-decade-old carrier that had cultivated a reputation for reliability. IndiGo carried 118 million passengers last financial year and has been the backbone of India’s domestic aviation growth.
For now, India’s aviation sector faces its toughest test, balancing commercial pressures, safety standards, and passenger expectations in a market where one airline’s failure can ground an entire country. The question remains whether IndiGo’s operational model can adapt to regulations designed to protect both pilots and passengers from the dangers of fatigue.
Banner Image credit: Shalini Verma social media user via X.
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