NEW DELHI: IndiGo’s nationwide operational crisis intensified on Thursday, with fresh flight cancellations and long delays reported across Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune. This has resulted in leaving lakhs of passengers stranded and triggering widespread anger amongst them. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has summoned the airline’s senior management to its headquarters to explain the “unprecedented disruptions” and submit an urgent plan to stabilise operations during the peak travel season. IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers has written to employees acknowledging the stress being faced by both customers and staff, and assuring teams that steps are being taken to stabilise operations.
In the internal communication, Elbers said the airline is working across multiple levels to normalise services and restore punctuality in the coming days, even as disruptions continue to impact passengers nationwide. “We are feeling our customers’ concern and anxieties just as deeply. We are proactively reaching out to affected customers and helping them in every way possible to ease their discomfort… Our immediate goal is to normalize our operations and bring punctuality back on track in the coming days, which is not an easy target… Together, as one team, we will overcome this challenge and emerge even stronger,” he wrote.
Lakhs of passengers stranded, massive outrage at airports
Passenger anger mounted across major airports as flyers reported waiting for hours without clear updates, with some flights delayed by up to 10 hours and others cancelled at short notice. Social media was flooded with complaints from travellers stuck inside aircraft due to missing cabin crew, families missing connecting flights and business travellers forced to postpone crucial travel.A commuter at Pune airport tweeted, “Situation is worst at Pune airport since @IndiGo6E occupied the hanger. @AkasaAir Flight to Delhi is standing at the hanger since last 2 hours.”A Delhi passenger wrote, “Hi team, we are sitting inside 6E6189 at Delhi airport. It’s been an hour inside the plane. Why start boarding when crew isn’t ready?” From Kolkata, another flyer posted, “Very unfortunate that people in this country face hardships from flight companies. We waited long for the Delhi flight.”At Pune airport on Thursday, prolonged bay occupancy by grounded IndiGo aircraft triggered fresh congestion and sequential delays for multiple carriers.In an official statement, Pune Airport said, “The extended ground presence of multiple IndiGo aircraft awaiting availability of operating crew has resulted in the prolonged occupation of parking bays,” adding that this had a cascading impact on all airlines.
DGCA steps in, seeks answers and a corrective plan
Alarmed by the scale of the disruption, the aviation regulator on Thursday summoned IndiGo’s top management to explain the factors behind the chaos and outline a concrete mitigation strategy.“IndiGo has been asked to report to DGCA, Headquarters, to present the facts leading to the current situation, along with plans to mitigate the ongoing delays and cancellations,” the regulator said in a statement.“DGCA is investigating the situation and evaluating measures along with the airline to reduce cancellations and delays in order to minimise inconvenience being caused to passengers,” an official added.
IndiGo admits disruptions, initiates ‘calibrated adjustments’
In an official statement, IndiGo acknowledged that its network had been “significantly disrupted” and apologised to passengers.“We acknowledge that IndiGo’s operations have been significantly disrupted across the network for the past two days, and we sincerely apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused,” the airline said.
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“To contain the disruption and restore stability, we have initiated calibrated adjustments to our schedules. These measures will remain in place for the next 48 hours and will allow us to normalise our operations and progressively recover our punctuality across the network,” it added.
Pilot body flags planning lapses
The Federation of Indian Pilots said the crisis reflects deeper planning failures. Its president, Captain CS Randhawa, said, “Most of these flight disruptions, cancellations and delays have been attributable to, firstly, the crew shortage.”He added, “They have been inducting aircraft. It must be appreciated that when you induct an aircraft, you must have an adequate number of crews per aircraft.” On the revised duty norms, Randhawa said, “After the second phase of the FDTL, new CARs came into effect by the order of the Delhi High Court on 1st of November. They immediately approached the DGCA and sought a variation.” He urged authorities “not to grant such dispensations and variations, and to implement the CAR in totality.”
What triggered the breakdown in operations?
The root of the crisis lies in the implementation of the second phase of the revised Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms from November 1, which tightened rest and night-duty rules for pilots. These changes sharply reduced crew availability at short notice. The airline has also cited multiple compounding factors.“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 IndiGo spokesperson said.Since Tuesday, more than 100 flights have been cancelled daily, with over 200 grounded on Wednesday alone. Government data show IndiGo cancelled 1,232 flights in November, nearly 62 per cent due to crew and FDTL constraints. IndiGo’s shares also fell over 3 per cent in late afternoon trade to Rs 5,417.90 on the BSE.The airline’s on-time performance plunged to just 35 per cent on Tuesday, the lowest among all scheduled Indian airlines and stood at 67.7 per cent in November, down sharply from 84.1 per cent in October.
Airfares surge amid shortage of seat
With IndiGo accounting for nearly 65 per cent of India’s domestic market, the widespread flight cuts have also sent fares soaring on key routes. An economy class one-way Delhi–Bengaluru ticket for Friday and Saturday was available in the range of Rs 11,000 to Rs 43,145, while Mumbai–Kolkata fares ranged between Rs 8,000 and Rs 19,000.Airport officials said the cascading effect of grounded aircraft and delayed crew rotation continues to strain terminal operations across major hubs, intensifying passenger hardship during the busy travel period.
