Airports across the country are witnessing growing disorder as IndiGo’s operations continue to falter. Terminals are packed with restless passengers, long lines stretch across check-in areas, and frustrated travellers plead for answers at service counters. With flights repeatedly cancelled or delayed, India’s biggest airline has left thousands waiting for hours, turning the fourth consecutive day of disruptions into a nationwide ordeal.
IndiGo’s troubles have snowballed into a full-scale crisis, with the airline pointing to a mix of technical snags, winter scheduling shifts, airport congestion and weather issues. Yet industry experts say the turning point was the enforcement of the updated Flight Duty Time Limitations, which introduced stricter rest periods and tighter rules around night flying to prevent crew fatigue.
Although these norms were announced in early 2024, they were not actively implemented until now. The changes required pilots to take 48 hours of weekly rest instead of 36, restricted night landings to just two per week and expanded the night-duty window. With the airline already stretched by its winter schedule expansion on October 26, a large number of crew members suddenly became unavailable once the new requirements took effect.
The pressure grew worse after a software advisory for Airbus A320 aircraft delayed several flights over a weekend, pushing many services past midnight. What began as routine delays quickly spiralled into widespread cancellations once mandatory rest rules were triggered.
IndiGo’s massive size has magnified every setback. Operating more than 2,200 daily flights, the airline feels the impact of even the smallest disruption. A minor mismatch between rosters and crew availability can leave hundreds of flights grounded within hours. Delhi alone saw more than 200 cancellations on Friday, Bengaluru lost over 100 services, and Hyderabad recorded nearly the same. Across India, over 600 flights were cancelled in just two days.
Pilot groups argue that the airline failed to prepare for a rule change it knew was coming. They point to years of cost-cutting, minimal staffing buffers, slow hiring and scheduling patterns that ignored evolving fatigue norms. According to unions, other carriers updated their planning in advance and have avoided major problems, while IndiGo is now seeking relief from rules meant to keep flying safe. Regulators are also facing questions for approving IndiGo’s winter schedule without thoroughly assessing its pilot availability.
Meanwhile, passenger frustration continues to mount. Travellers report spending entire nights at airports waiting for updates that never arrived, only to have flights cancelled hours later. IndiGo’s on-time performance collapsed to under 20 percent on Wednesday, a dramatic fall for an airline known for its punctuality.
The carrier has warned that operations may not fully stabilise until February 2026. It is temporarily reducing its schedule and urging travellers to verify flight status before heading to the airport. Pilots, however, are calling on the DGCA to ensure future schedules are approved only when airlines prove they have adequate staffing.
IndiGo transported more passengers than any other Indian carrier last year, but the current crisis has exposed the limits of high-frequency, cost-efficient operations in an environment where stricter rest norms are non-negotiable. For now, the turbulence shows no sign of calming, and the airline faces one of the toughest operational challenges in its two decades of existence.
