Govt steps in as IndiGo faces 200 daily flight cancellations; DGCA orders corrective plan

India’s largest airline, IndiGo, is facing one of its most significant operational crises in recent years, with large-scale flight cancellations across its network triggering a review by the Union Civil Aviation Ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The disruptions, which began in late November 2025, have escalated sharply, with the carrier cancelling 170–200 flights per day—far higher than its normal levels.

More than 300 flights were cancelled on Thursday, with many others delayed. In November alone, the airline saw 1,232 cancellations along with widespread disruptions across its network.

Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu and senior officials from the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) held an urgent review meeting with IndiGo’s top management to assess the situation. The Ministry said it is closely monitoring network-wide disruptions and has activated additional oversight measures. The Minister also directed the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to alert all airport directors to closely track passenger handling and ensure full support for stranded travellers. The DGCA has additionally been instructed to monitor airfares amid concerns that cancellations could push prices higher.

DGCA conducts detailed review

The DGCA on Thursday convened a detailed meeting with IndiGo’s senior leadership, seeking explanations for the steep rise in cancellations. IndiGo attributed the disruptions to transitional challenges arising from Phase II implementation of the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms, crew-planning inefficiencies, and winter-season operational constraints.

The revised FDTL Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR), implemented on July 1 and November 1 following court directions, are designed to improve fatigue management and enhance flight safety. IndiGo acknowledged during the meeting that it underestimated the crew requirement under the new norms, leading to planning gaps and inadequate staffing.

The airline said cancellations would continue for the next two to three days as it attempts to stabilise its schedule. Starting December 8, IndiGo will cut back on flight operations to reduce passenger inconvenience. IndiGo has sought temporary operational exemptions from specific FDTL clauses—relating to night duty definitions and operations encroaching night hours—for A320 aircraft until February 10, 2026. It committed to restoring normal operations by that date.

Crew shortages, night-duty constraints

IndiGo presented detailed crew availability data showing increased requirements under the new fatigue rules and reduced availability during peak night-time slots. With many airport slots available only at night, the sharper duty-share requirements have worsened crew shortfalls and operational bottlenecks.

Field inspections

The DGCA has instructed its regional offices to conduct real-time inspections at major airports to assess IndiGo’s disruption management. A DGCA team inspecting Delhi Airport Terminal 1—one of the worst affected—found inadequate manpower for handling stranded passengers and directed IndiGo to immediately scale up ground staff deployment across impacted airports.

Action plan ordered

DGCA has issued a series of directives requiring IndiGo to:

Submit a detailed roadmap for crew recruitment and aircraft induction.

Provide plans for crew training, revised rostering, safety risk assessments, and mitigation steps.

Present an operational stabilization plan outlining immediate measures to reduce cancellations.

File fortnightly progress reports covering crew availability, operational metrics, and schedule stability.

Submit requests for required FDTL relaxations for DGCA evaluation.

The aviation regulator said it will maintain strict, real-time monitoring of IndiGo’s performance, restoration efforts, and passenger-handling measures over the coming weeks.

IndiGo CEO speaks

IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers on Thursday issued an apology after hundreds of flights were cancelled and delayed, causing widespread chaos at airports across multiple cities over the past three days. In an internal email to staff, now viral on social media, it was acknowledged by Elbers that the airline had not been able to deliver on its promise to passengers.

"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," he said.

In the internal communication, a set of challenges impacting the airline’s performance in the last 48 hours was outlined. Gratitude was also expressed by Elbers to “all of his colleagues” at the operational front, including pilots, cabin crew, engineers, and others supporting daily operations.

“An accumulation of several operational challenges, including minor technology glitches, schedule changes, adverse weather conditions, heightened congestion in the aviation ecosystem, and the implementation of the FDTL norms, was experienced. These factors compounded negatively to create a cascading impact on our operations,” he wrote.

“I would like to express gratitude and appreciation to all the colleagues in operations…” he further noted.