At least 550 IndiGo flights were cancelled and hundreds delayed on Thursday, the third straight day of disruptions, plunging airports into chaos and flooding social media with passenger complaints.
The airline told aviation regulator DGCA that the disruptions would continue for another two or three days.
Many fliers bristled at being forced to miss important engagements; one alleged that after a nine-hour delay, “at the last moment you guys cancelled” the flight.
A third said that airports had run out of chairs, and passengers were sitting on newspaper sheets spread out on the floor.
Pilots’ bodies pinned the mayhem on the IndiGo management, saying the country’s biggest airline had failed to plan its rosters in advance to deal with the shorter duty times and increased rest for aircrew enforced by the DGCA.
IndiGo, while acknowledging the new rules as a factor, also blamed issues such as technical glitches, flight congestion and poor weather.
Confusion prevailed at IndiGo counters at major airports including Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, with passengers alleging lack of communication. Some travellers chanted slogans against the airline at the Lucknow and Pune airports.
Sources said at least 150flights had been cancelled at Delhi airport, 85 at Mumbai, 70 at Hyderabad and 50 atBengaluru.
Over 200 IndiGo flights across the country had been cancelled on Wednesday — with another 1,600 delayed — and over 100 were cancelledon Tuesday.
The airline’s On-Time Performance — a measure expected to be around at least 80 per cent during normal times — was 35 per cent on Tuesday and 19.7 per cent for almost half of Wednesday.
IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said the airline’s immediate goal was to normalise operations and bring punctuality back on track, “which is not an easy target”.
Pilots’ bodies accused IndiGo of having continued its lean-manpower strategy despite knowing that revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) rules, aimed at reducing pilot and cabin crew fatigue, would kick in fromNovember 1.
Some suggested the chaos might be a deliberate ploy to pressure the aviation regulator to roll back the new rules.
IndiGo witnessed 1,232 flight cancellations in November — with government data saying 755 of these owed to crew shortage arising out of the new FDTL rules — while other airlines were not similarly affected. IndiGo has provided no clear answers on why the problem has escalated in December.
The airline — which has a fleet of 400-odd aircraft and operates around 2,300 daily flights, connecting 90 domestic and 45 international destinations — employs over 5,000 pilots and 10,000 cabin crew members.
After a meeting with IndiGo officials on Thursday, the DGCA said it would continue to monitor the airline’s network performance, restoration efforts and passenger-handling measures over the coming week.
IndiGo told the regulator that from December 8, it would reduce its flight operations to minimise disruptions.
The DGCA asked the airline to submit a road map on projected crew recruitment in relation to the induction of aircraft. IndiGo must submit a detailed progress report every 15 days, covering operational improvements, crew availability and roster stability.
Further, the DGCA asked the airline to submit for a review the FDTL relaxations it needs to normalise flight operations.
Civil aviation minister K. Ram Mohan Naidu asked all airports to provide support to the stranded passengers, and directed the DGCA to monitor the airfares during the flight delays and cancellations. He asked IndiGo to proactively inform passengers of likely flight cancellations in advance.
Late on Thursday night, IndiGo issued a statement expressing its “heartfelt apology to all our customers and stakeholders”.
After the rollout of Phase I of the new FDTL rules on July 1 this year, IndiGo had reduced pilot leave quotas, the Federation of Indian Pilots alleged. After Phase II kicked in on November 1, the airline had attempted to buy back pilot leave, it added.
“There are growing concerns that flight delays and cancellations may be used as an ‘immature pressure tactic’ to arm-twist regulators whenever rules do not suit airlines, instead of engaging in introspection and constructive compliance...,” it added.
The Airline Pilots’ Association India urged the DGCA to consider, while granting slots to an airline and approving its schedules, whether it had enough pilots available.
In a message to staff about the disruptions, Elbers, the IndiGo CEO, said: “We serve close to 380,000 customers a day and want each of them to have a good experience. We could not live up to that promise these past days and we have publicly apologised for that.”
Passengers’ woes
In a post on X, a passenger wrote: “My flight 6E-2155 has been revised at the last minute, ruining plans for a crucial family wedding. No morning option from BOM (Mumbai) and chat support not helping….”
Another wrote: “I was blindly trusting you guys, and you guys kept on delaying the flight. The flight was delayed by 9hrs and at the last moment you guys cancelled it. Pathetic service. Never booking indigo again, telling my friends and family the same. Horrible service from you guys.”
IndiGo, which commands 60 per cent of the Indian market, saw its shares fall 3.4 per cent on Thursday and was now down 6 per cent for the week, Reuters reported.