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IndiGo Flight Chaos: Scores of passengers have been stranded at airports across the country after IndiGo, India’s largest airline by market share, cancelled over a thousand flights on Friday, with CEO Pieter Elbers terming it as the “worst day” in terms of operational disruption for IndiGo.
The crisis, now in its fourth day, triggered a full-scale intervention by the Centre, which ordered a high-level probe, put Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms in abeyance, and directed the airline to initiate automatic refunds for all cancelled flights.
Here’s All What Happened Today
1. Over 1,000 Flights Cancelled: On Friday, over 1,000 IndiGo flights were cancelled across major hubs. IndiGo cancelled till midnight all its domestic flights departing from the Delhi airport as the airline
continues to grapple with significant operational disruptions.
The disruptions, primarily caused by a shortage of pilots that was not anticipated due to planning deficiencies, have entered their fourth day.
Operating 2,300 flights daily with a fleet of over 400 aircraft, IndiGo has seen its punctuality plummet with the operational disruptions that are expected to continue for many more days.
2. Aviation Minister Directs Airports To Prioritise Children, Senior Citizens: Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Friday said that special attention must be given to vulnerable passengers as airports deal with the ongoing IndiGo crisis. Speaking about the disruptions, he said airport authorities have been told to take extra care of those who need help the most.
“We have instructed airport authorities that topmost priority needs to be given to children, mothers and senior citizens, that they should not face any problem,” Naidu said.
As passengers have been stranded across several airports in the country, the minister said officials have been directed to assist passengers promptly and ensure that basic support is provided without delay. He also directed IndiGo to implement several operational measures to restore normal services at the earliest.
3. Aviation Minister Warns IndiGo Of Penalties: Naidu has also warned the airline of necessary action while asserting that nobody can “arm-twist” the government. In an exclusive interview with CNN-News18, the minister said “people are our top priority”, stressing that accountability would be fixed and penalties determined only after the probe panel submits its report. “How much fine will be imposed will be defined following the inquiry. But let me assure passengers — action will be taken,” he said.
4. Centre Orders Probe: The Central government on Friday ordered a high-level inquiry into the large-scale disruption of IndiGo flights, after thousands of passengers were left stranded at airports across the country. The probe will look into what went wrong within IndiGo’s operations, identify who should be held accountable, and recommend steps to prevent such incidents from recurring.
“The Government of India has decided to institute a high-level inquiry into this disruption. The inquiry will examine what went wrong at Indigo, determine accountability wherever required for appropriate actions, and recommend measures to prevent similar disruptions in the future, ensuring that passengers do not face such hardships again,” the PIB release said.
The government also established a 24×7 aviation control room to monitor passenger issues even as airports from Delhi and Mumbai to Chennai and Bengaluru struggled with last-minute cancellations, long queues and irate travellers demanding clarity.
5. Four-Member DGCA Committee Formed: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has also set up a four-member high-level committee to conduct a comprehensive review of the circumstances that led to IndiGo’s widespread operational disruptions over the past week. The committee, comprising Sanjay K. Bramhane, Joint Director General, Amit Gupta, Deputy Director General, Capt. Kapil Manglik, SFOI, and Capt. Lokesh Rampal, FOI, will submit findings and recommendations in 15 days.
6. IndiGo CEO Expects Normalcy By December 15: IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers on Friday acknowledged major operational turmoil and assured passengers that IndiGo is working round the clock to restore normalcy and expects operations to stabilise between December 10 and 15.
“I want to share with you that we have experienced severe operational disruptions for the past few days. Since then, the crisis continues to aggravate, with today, December 5th, being the most severely impacted day with the number of cancellations well over a thousand or more than half of our number of daily flights,” Elbers said in a video message on Friday.”
7. Railways Adds Extra Coaches To Several Trains To Ease Travel Woes: Amid flight chaos, Indian Railways (IR) has stepped in with additional arrangements to ease travel woes. It has announced the introduction of extra coaches on several major trains and is planning further measures to accommodate stranded flyers. The Railways has added one 3rd AC coach with 72 seats to the Jammu–New Delhi Rajdhani Express (12426) for the next seven days. Officials said the decision was taken to ensure passenger facilitation and comfort.
8. DGCA Eases Pilot Duty Rules: According to the Civil Aviation Ministry, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) orders have been placed in abeyance with immediate effect.
In a special order, the aviation regulator approved a one-time exemption, applicable only to IndiGo, from certain night-duty limits for pilots.
The regulator allowed IndiGo pilots to operate up to six night landings, a significant relaxation from the current Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms, which cap night landings at two per pilot.
The DGCA has also eased restrictions on consecutive night duties, temporarily withdrawing the rule that bars pilots from undertaking more than two back-to-back night shifts.
9. Passengers Stranded: Scores of passengers have been stranded at airports across the country amid the IndiGo chaos. A Bengaluru woman wanting to give a respectful farewell to her father, a group of 25 pilgrims, including the elderly, children and women, wanting to return to Silchar from Jeddah, those returning from Sabarimala – these are among the passengers stranded.
Even as the authorities are trying to resolve the crisis with temporary relief amid thousands of flight cancellations and widespread delays, travellers are grappling with severe stress, non-cooperative staff and lack of clarity.
10. Newlyweds Attend Reception Online After Flight Gets Cancelled: In an unexpected scene in Karnataka’s Hubballi, a newlywed couple attended their own reception virtually, after numerous IndiGo flights got cancelled and prevented them from travelling to the city. The ceremony, planned at Gujarat Bhavan for newlyweds Medha Kshirasagar and Sangam Das, was forced online after flights were repeatedly delayed and eventually cancelled.
11. Flight Charges Skyrocket: Passengers already reeling from IndiGo’s unprecedented wave of cancellations are now facing a fresh blow—one-way airfares on key domestic routes have surged to eye-watering levels, making last-minute travel from the capital almost impossible for many. A New Delhi–Chennai one-way ticket shot up to Rs 65,985, while the New Delhi–Mumbai route, one of India’s busiest, climbed to Rs 38,676 for a single journey. Even the Delhi–Kolkata route crossed Rs 38,699, with only a handful of seats left.
