Mumbai: Operational disruptions at IndiGo continued for a third consecutive day on Thursday, resulting in the cancellation and delay of around 300 flights creating massive chaos at India's major airports. The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has intervened and asked the airline to submit a mitigation plan. While thousands of flyers have been left stranded at the airports, the airline has aggravated the situation by failing to provide any answers to its passengers.
The major Indian aviation chaos continued for the third day, with the situation getting worse rather than showing any signs of improvement. India's largest domestic carrier, IndiGo, is facing a severe crisis due to the acute shortage of pilots and cabin crew, exacerbated by the full implementation of the revised flight duty time limitation (FDTL) norms, mandating increased rest periods and tighter duty windows for flying staff. Other contributing factors include technical glitches, schedule changes and adverse weather conditions.
The major mayhem, right before the beginning of the holiday season, has resulted in cancellation of approximately 300 flights on Thursday. This was followed by a cancellation of about 130 flights on Tuesday and 200 on Wednesday. According to sources, the airline on Thursday canceled more than 80 flights from Mumbai, 90 from Delhi, 70 from Bengaluru and 60 from Hyderabad.
IndiGo's severe operational disruptions caused massive chaos at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) on Thursday. According to Flightradar24, the average departure delay rose to more than 50 minutes and the disruption index reached 4.9, signifying major problems with long delays and several cancelled flights. This led to IndiGo's on-time performance, earlier known to be the best among the domestic carriers, falling down to 19.7% on Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
IndiGo's silence has aggravated the situation at the time when passengers are expecting answers more than ever. The airline, which is known for efficient communication through its social media channels, has not posted any advisory for the flyers since the situation has escalated. The Free Press Journal contacted the airline on Thursday but did not receive any response. On Wednesday, the airline had said that it initiated calibrated adjustments for 48 hours to normalise operations and recover punctuality across the network.
The ongoing turmoil created scenes of long queues and passenger frustration in airport terminals, prompting social media posts detailing extended waits and lack of clarity on alternative arrangements. Airports like Hyderabad and Lucknow witnessed passengers raising slogans against the airline inside the terminal after prolonged delays. In a video that went viral on social media on Thursday, a man was seen telling IndiGo's ground staff that he had missed his wedding because of his flight's cancellation.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) initiated an investigation into the massive flight disruptions and summoned IndiGo for a meeting on Thursday. Sources said that the airline has been directed to submit a detailed explanation and its plan to mitigate future cancellations and delays. The aviation watchdog has also asked the airline to submit data of aircraft induction, roadmap of crew recruitment as well as its plan for crew training, roster restructuring, and safety risk assessments. IndiGo has requested DGCA for operational exemptions from certain FDTL provisions related to duty hours and night duty till February 2026, citnig transitional challenge in rostering crew under FDTL's second phase implementation.
The ripple effect of the cancellations also caused delays for other carriers, as IndiGo aircraft occupying parking bays strained overall airport capacity. Multiple airlines had to delay or cancel their scheduled flights on Thursday afternoon from Pune airport according to a notice to airmen (NOTAM) issued by Air Traffic Control as all the nine parking bays were occupied by IndiGo. The average departure delay rose to 150 minutes, with the disruption index reaching the maximum level of 5.0 till late evening.
Captain CS Randhawa, president of the Federation of Indian Pilots, attributed the disruption to IndiGo's failure to hire an adequate number of crew members in line with the number of aircraft inducted by them. He raised concerns against relaxations in civil aviation requirements (CAR) given to IndiGo by DGCA following the implementation of the second phase of FDTL.
“Indigo pilots were flying about 55 to 57 hours. After November 1, they offered pilots the option to buy back their leave. The crew rostering of the pilots was totally inappropriate and they did not plan the crews correctly. I request the DGCA and the ministry not to grant such dispensations and variations, and to implement the CAR in totality. There are a lot of remedial measures which Indigo has to take,” he said.
Civil aviation minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu expressed displeasure against IndiGo’s way of handling the situation at the high-level review meeting organised by the Ministry of Civil Aviation with the airline’s senior officials on Thursday. Although IndiGo presented cancellation data and attributed the disruption to implementation of the revised FDTL norms, along with other factors, the ministry noted that the regulations were implemented in phases. Naidu stressed that ample preparatory time had been available to ensure a seamless transition to the new regulatory requirements. IndiGo was directed to urgently normalise operations and to ensure that there is no increase in airfares due to the current situation.
The DGCA has also been directed to conduct strict real-time monitoring of IndiGo’s operations, including field inspections at major airports, with special emphasis on passenger-handling arrangements and timely communication during delays and cancellations. Officers have been deployed to IndiGo’s operational control centers for continuous oversight.
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