India’s largest airline, and dominant domestic carrier, IndiGo, has cancelled thousands of flights since 2 December, leaving passengers stranded across the country.
The exact number of cancellations is unclear. The Independent today reported that IndiGo has cancelled “at least 2,000 over the past week”. The Times of India yesterday wrote that 800 were cancelled on Saturday after the airline grounded 1,000 on Friday. Other news outlets have given a range of figures from 2,000-4,000.
Hyderabad airport received a bomb threat email late on 7 December for three flights: IndiGo’s Kannur–Hyderabad, Lufthansa’s Frankfurt–Hyderabad and British Airways’ London Heathrow–Hyderabad. All three aircraft landed safely, and authorities later declared the threats as a hoax.
But these events leave India’s airspace, and particularly IndiGo’s operations in turmoil.
What do we know?
This is the seventh consecutive day IndiGo has grounded much of its fleet.
The sudden cancellations have hit central travel hubs such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport recorded the highest number of cancellations so far, with 123 flights not operating as of 12:17 IST (06:47 GMT) today.
Ahmedabad airport cancelled 18 flights by 08:00 IST, and authorities also reported multiple cancellations in Mumbai, Chennai, Jaipur, and Guwahati.
Since the chaos started last week, air fares have risen sharply. Some tickets have reached up to five times their normal price on routes like Delhi-Mumbai, and Bengaluru–Delhi.
India’s aviation ministry capped air fares on Saturday, limiting domestic air fares to Rs 18,000 (US$217).
The authorities also sent a notice to IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers, demanding he explain why the airline should not face penalties or suspensions. He should issue a response today.
The airline was told to restore full flight operations and return all checked-in baggage within 48 hours of 8 December, while processing refunds promptly.
Today, IndiGo announced automatic refunds and waived rescheduling charges for passengers travelling between 5 December and 15 December. Recent reports suggest that the airline has issued refunds totalling Rs 610 crore ($73.5 million) and delivered over 3,000 pieces of lost baggage so far.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has set up a panel to investigate the disruptions. It is likely to summon the airline’s CEO, Pieter Elbers, and COO, Isidre Porqueras, on Wednesday for questioning.
The four-member panel’s mandate includes assessing manpower planning, fluctuating rostering systems, and the airline’s preparedness to implement new rules.
The Supreme Court acknowledged the scale of the disruption, but declined urgent intervention, noting that the government is already taking steps to address the situation.
The most recent update on The Times of India’s live feed page states that a total of 586,705 passenger name records (PNRs), which represent one or more passengers on a particular flight reservation, were cancelled and refunded between 1 and 7 December.
For the period between 21 November and 7 December, the PNR figure is at 955,591.
Today, IndiGo planned to operate just over 1,800 flights, cancelling approximately 500.
Why has this happened?
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation introduced stricter rostering rules known as Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) back in July. The rules rolled out in two phases, with the second phase taking effect on 1 November.
The new FDTL rules require pilots and cabin crew to have longer mandatory rest periods, cap night duties and night landings, and limit maximum duty hours per day and week, especially on long-haul flights.
Authorities also expanded the definition of “night duty” to cover midnight to 06:00 instead of ending at 05:00. The change aligns with when alertness in humans tends to dip.
While these measures are designed to reduce fatigue and enhance safety, they also mean airlines need more crew to cover the same number of flights. This makes scheduling more complex and contributes to operational challenges.
IndiGo claimed that these new rules complicated its normal working procedures such as crew rotas. Coupled with bad weather and technical problems, IndiGo is now in “operational crisis”.
IndiGo is the biggest airline in India, operating approximately 2,200 flights a day. As a result, even the smallest glitch in its crew scheduling results in a snowball effect.
Air India, for example, operates roughly half the number of daily flights in comparison.
Although the FDTL rules apply to all airlines, IndiGo’s large size and mismanagement caused the airline to suffer more severe disruption.
What is the next step?
IndiGo warns that it will not achieve stability until 10 February 2026. The airline will cancel more flights in the coming days.
The airline has requested more time to implement the new FDTL rules, which the aviation regulator granted on Friday.
Authorities have relaxed pilot night-time hour restrictions and raised the consecutive flying hour limit from 12 to 14 until 10 February.
This triggered concern online, with many fearing that IndiGo is risking safety and pressuring pilots to work while fatigued.
