IndiGo chief executive Pieter Elbers on Tuesday claimed that the airline’s operations were “fully stabilised”, yet passengers across the country continued to face massive disruptions as 422 flights were cancelled from six metro airports.

"Your airline, Indigo, is back on its feet and our operations are stable. We have let you down when a major operational disruption happened and we're sorry for that," Elbers said.

He stated that IndiGo had earlier indicated normalisation between 10-15 December but had achieved full stabilisation by 9 December.

According to him, flights visible on the airline’s website were scheduled to operate with an adjusted network.

Elbers added that the carrier had taken care of stranded passengers, issued refunds for cancelled tickets with “no questions asked” and was working to restore misplaced luggage.

Elbers said the airline had begun examining what led to the disruption, the lessons to be learned and how to emerge stronger.

Despite the assurances, cancellations continued to ripple through airports nationwide on Tuesday.

Airport authorities confirmed that over 400 flights had been cancelled so far. IndiGo cancelled 422 flights from six metro airports, with Delhi reporting 152 cancellations and Bengaluru 121.

Hyderabad saw 58 cancellations and Mumbai 41. Over 50 flights were cancelled from Chennai Airport.

Cancellations spread across southern airports as well. Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport cancelled 58 arrivals and 63 departures, with an update expected after 6 pm.

Chennai reported 18 departures and 23 arrivals cancelled. Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport confirmed 44 departures and 14 arrivals cancelled. Thiruvananthapuram Airport reported one arrival and three departures cancelled.

Ahmedabad’s 8 am update confirmed 16 cancellations, with no terminal or airside issues reported. Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport recorded 31 cancellations, including 14 arrivals and 17 departures, according to its 9.30 am update.

The government announced a 5 per cent reduction in IndiGo’s winter schedule and decided to reallocate these slots to other airports after the carrier failed to operate its approved schedule.

The DGCA said IndiGo had increased its departures by 9.66 per cent compared to the Winter Schedule 24 and by 6.05 per cent against the Summer Schedule 25 but had not demonstrated the ability to operate these efficiently.

It directed the airline to reduce schedules across sectors, especially high demand and high frequency routes, and to avoid single flight operations on any sector.

Civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu told the Lok Sabha that no airline, irrespective of size, would be allowed to cause hardship to passengers due to planning failures or non compliance with regulations.

He said “strict and appropriate action” would be taken against IndiGo for the mass disruptions.

The minister said safety in civil aviation was “completely non-negotiable” and noted that IndiGo had assured compliance with the Revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (RFDTL). He added that despite assurances, internal rostering disruptions had led to large scale cancellations that inconvenienced thousands.

Naidu said the government was committed to building a more robust and competitive aviation ecosystem.

Policies were being designed to encourage more new airlines and ensure fair access to airport capacity while preventing any duopoly in connectivity and pricing.

More airlines would mean greater choice, affordability and resilience for passengers, he said.

The DGCA has issued notices to the airline and is holding it fully accountable for the chaos caused by internal crew rostering failures.

IndiGo has been operating over 2,200 daily flights under its Winter Schedule 2025 to 2026, which began in late October and will continue until late March 2026.