New Delhi: India’s largest airline, IndiGo, plunged into an unprecedented operational crisis on Friday as more than 1,000 flights were cancelled across major airports, leaving thousands of passengers stranded and prompting the Centre to order an urgent high-level investigation into the airline’s failure to maintain schedules.
The disruption crippled services in Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and several other airports, with travellers waiting for hours in packed terminals. From families travelling for ceremonies to devotees en route to religious destinations, many broke down in frustration as queues grew longer and flight information remained uncertain.
IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers issued a public apology, acknowledging widespread delays and cancellations and admitting that attempts made in recent days to stabilise operations had “not worked”. He said the airline was now “rebooting all systems and schedules,” adding that fewer than 1,000 cancellations were expected on Saturday and that normal operations were likely to be restored between December 10 and 15.
He said IndiGo’s immediate priorities included communicating with impacted passengers, arranging travel for stranded flyers, and adjusting its schedules to align crew availability. However, the assurances did little to calm the chaos unfolding at airports.
The crisis is rooted in the implementation of revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL), which increased pilots’ weekly rest requirements to 48 hours and restricted them to only two night landings per week — a sharp shift from earlier norms. IndiGo attributed the meltdown to “planning gaps” during the transition.
Following mounting public anger, the Union government placed the revised FDTL rules in abeyance and demanded detailed accountability from the airline. Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu said the ministry had taken “urgent and proactive steps” to address the disruption, adding that a comprehensive probe would examine operational lapses and crew-roster failures.
But the temporary relaxation triggered pushback from the Airlines’ Pilots Association, which warned that reversing duty-time safeguards set a “dangerous precedent’’ and undermined the very principles designed to prevent pilot fatigue and ensure flight safety.
Political reactions also intensified. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi blamed the chaos on the “monopoly model” of the BJP-led government, saying that shrinking competition had left the aviation sector vulnerable to breakdowns. BJP MPs, meanwhile, urged the aviation ministry to make immediate arrangements for stranded passengers, noting that even lawmakers were unable to travel due to cancellations.
As the crisis escalated, flight fares skyrocketed. The only available Mumbai–Delhi ticket on Friday touched nearly ₹52,000, while Delhi–Bengaluru fares for Saturday started at ₹39,000. Several sectors showed zero flight availability for nearly 48 hours.
IndiGo said passengers whose flights were cancelled would receive automatic full refunds and free rescheduling for travel between December 5 and 15. The airline claimed to have arranged hotel rooms, food and surface transport in multiple cities, though passengers reported uneven support at various airports.
In an unusual move, the Northern Railway added an extra AC coach to the Jammu–New Delhi Rajdhani Express for a week to accommodate stranded flyers, urging them to book seats as air travel bottlenecks continued.
Scenes of distress continued to surface throughout the day: a woman carrying an infant and rushing to a family function, a passenger with his father’s ashes en route to Haridwar, and devotees travelling to Sabarimala were among those stuck at Bengaluru airport. At Srinagar, flyers complained that neither IndiGo nor airport staff gave clear information on connecting flights.
With cancellations expected to persist for the next few days, the aviation sector is bracing for one of its worst operational breakdowns in years, as the government pushes IndiGo to restore stability and prevent further disruption to air travel across the country.
