Over the past four days, India’s largest airline, IndiGo, has faced an unprecedented operational meltdown, resulting in the cancellation of more than 1,000 flights nationwide. Major airports including Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai have borne the brunt, leaving thousands of passengers stranded in long queues, enduring extended delays, and facing confusion over flight status. Social media platforms have been flooded with videos and images of frustrated travellers, many of whom have spent hours, or even overnight, waiting at airports for updates or assistance.

The airline, which operates over 2,200 flights daily—nearly double the number flown by Air India—was already under immense operational pressure due to the winter schedule expansion and high-frequency operations. Even a small disruption, therefore, has the potential to cascade into a large-scale crisis affecting hundreds of flights at multiple hubs simultaneously.

The Origins of the Crisis

While IndiGo initially attributed the chaos to “a multitude of unforeseen operational challenges” including minor technical glitches, winter schedule adjustments, airport congestion, and weather conditions, aviation experts and insiders point to a deeper, structural cause: the recent enforcement of Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL). These new crew rest and duty-hour rules were designed to prevent pilot fatigue and ensure aviation safety.

Introduced in January 2024, the FDTL rules were not enforced until now. They include:

• Mandatory 48 hours of weekly rest for crew members, up from the previous 36 hours.
• Extended night duty windows from 00:00 to 06:00 hours.
• A restriction limiting pilots to only two night landings per week.
• A cap of 8 flying hours during night operations.

These regulations forced a large number of pilots into compulsory rest just as IndiGo had ramped up its winter schedule starting October 26. The situation worsened when an Airbus A320 software advisory triggered a series of delays over the weekend, pushing flights into late-night operations. With the FDTL rules now fully enforced, these delays transformed into cascading cancellations, as pilots were unavailable to operate rescheduled flights.

IndiGo’s Scale: A Double-Edged Sword

IndiGo’s enormous operational scale has amplified the impact of even minor disruptions. At Delhi airport alone on Friday, 135 departures and 90 arrivals were cancelled, while Bengaluru reported 52 arrivals and 50 departures affected. Hyderabad experienced 92 flight cancellations, and Chennai remained disrupted until late evening. Across the country, more than 600 flights were scrapped in just 48 hours, marking one of the most significant operational crises in the airline’s 20-year history.

DGCA Intervenes: Temporary Relief for IndiGo

Recognising the severity of the crisis, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued an order on Friday relaxing a key provision in the FDTL rules. The regulator withdrew the clause that prohibited substituting leave for weekly rest, providing airlines with much-needed flexibility in crew rostering. This decision was implemented immediately and is expected to ease crew availability constraints, allowing IndiGo to progressively stabilize operations. The rollback represents the first significant amendment to the FDTL framework since its enforcement, signalling government acknowledgment that the industry, particularly high-frequency carriers like IndiGo, was caught unprepared for the transition.

Pilot Unions Point to Management Shortcomings

Pilot unions have been vocal about the airline’s role in precipitating the crisis. According to the Federation of Indian Pilots, IndiGo ignored multiple warnings about the new FDTL rules, failed to adequately plan staffing rosters, and maintained lean manpower strategies that left the airline vulnerable. Specific complaints include:

• A prolonged hiring freeze despite the knowledge that stricter rest rules were imminent.
• Maintaining a lean workforce to minimize costs.
• Pay freezes and non-poaching agreements that limited talent acquisition.
• Winter schedule planning that did not account for the new rest regulations.

Pilot representatives argue that these management choices, rather than the rules themselves, caused the operational breakdown. Some unions have also criticised the DGCA for approving the winter schedule without ensuring that adequate pilot availability aligned with the new norms. Aviation experts have even speculated, though unconfirmed, that some operational disruptions could have been leveraged by the airline to secure regulatory relaxations—a move that pilots warn could compromise safety.

The Passenger Perspective

For passengers, the crisis has been chaotic and stressful. Many stranded travellers report waiting at airports for over 12 hours without food, lodging, or clear communication. Frustration has been widespread, particularly as IndiGo’s on-time performance plummeted to 19.7% on Wednesday, a stark contrast to its historically strong reliability record. Social media is replete with stories of families unable to reach sick relatives, business travellers missing critical meetings, and travellers repeatedly being told to “wait just a few more hours” as flights continued to be postponed or cancelled.

When Will Operations Stabilize?

IndiGo has publicly acknowledged the scale of the crisis and sought time until February 10, 2026, to fully stabilize operations. The airline has started proactively reducing flights over the next few days to contain operational damage and facilitate better crew allocation. IndiGo continues to urge passengers to check their flight status in real-time, consider flexible or refundable bookings, and carry essential supplies when heading to airports.

The Broader Implications

The crisis has highlighted a critical tension in the Indian aviation sector: high-frequency, low-cost operations can be severely constrained by stricter fatigue-control norms unless staffing levels are adjusted proportionately. IndiGo carried 118 million passengers in the previous financial year, and its scale has been both a competitive advantage and a vulnerability. The current disruption underscores the need for airlines to align growth strategies with regulatory compliance, crew welfare, and safety standards.

Pilot unions are now advocating for DGCA to approve flight schedules only after airlines demonstrate sufficient crew availability, ensuring that operational plans do not compromise safety. For IndiGo, the current period represents a tough but necessary reckoning: aggressive expansion and cost optimization strategies must be balanced with regulatory adherence, workforce adequacy, and operational resilience.

Conclusion

IndiGo’s operational meltdown serves as a cautionary tale for the aviation sector. A combination of high-frequency operations, stringent new rest rules, staffing limitations, and minor technical disruptions has created one of the most significant service failures in the airline’s history. While DGCA’s recent relaxation of FDTL rules provides temporary relief, the airline must undertake comprehensive workforce planning, adaptive scheduling, and strategic operational reforms to prevent a recurrence. For passengers, the immediate lesson is vigilance: always check flight status before leaving for the airport and be prepared for contingencies in an evolving aviation environment.

For now, IndiGo faces the daunting task of restoring both operational stability and passenger confidence, navigating what may be its toughest challenge since becoming India’s largest airline.