Chaos continued to unfold at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport over the weekend as IndiGo, India’s largest airline, struggled to stabilise its operations amid an escalating staffing and scheduling crisis. Passengers arriving from across the country and abroad found themselves stranded for hours—and in many cases, days—after the airline cancelled dozens of flights, leaving terminals packed, tempers frayed and families exhausted. On Sunday morning alone, Delhi airport reported the cancellation of 37 departure flights and 49 arrivals, adding to a nationwide wave of disruptions that has now affected thousands.

For three days, 29-year-old Supriya Singh has been navigating the chaos of Terminal 1, clutching her one-year-old daughter as she desperately tries to find a way home. Singh had taken a flight from Varanasi and was scheduled to board a connecting IndiGo flight to Surat on Wednesday. That flight was suddenly cancelled, setting off a chain of logistical nightmares. “Since then, I have been wandering around the airport trying to figure out how to get home, tracking down my luggage — which is still missing — and taking care of my daughter,” Singh said. “Her health is being affected as she is not getting proper food, milk or water here.” As she pushed through crowds of anxious passengers gathered near airline counters, her infant daughter cried in discomfort, highlighting the distress caused by prolonged uncertainty and lack of support services.

Singh’s ordeal was far from unique. Terminal 1 was filled with stranded passengers seeking answers about rescheduled flights, refunds, missing baggage and basic care. Many expressed frustration at the lack of clear communication from the airline, noting that updates were sporadic or incomplete. The cancellation of 86 flights in Delhi alone — a combination of arrivals and departures — left thousands scrambling for alternatives. The heart of the crisis lies in IndiGo’s ongoing struggle to comply with newly implemented crew duty-time norms, which require more rest hours for pilots and crew members and have left the airline short-staffed and overwhelmed since early November.

Saikat Chandra, a 34-year-old returning from a holiday in Georgia, was among those stranded without warning. He and his wife had a connecting flight to Bengaluru scheduled for 10:30 am. Just three hours before departure, they received a notification that their flight had been cancelled, with no further details. “We’re being told that there’s no flight before Monday,” Chandra said. “This will be a big problem for my wife as she does not have any leave and will face salary cuts.” The couple had been waiting at the counter for hours, hoping for alternate arrangements, but were told repeatedly that nothing could be done.

For others like Nanda Kumar, the disruptions have caused painful personal consequences. Kumar, a 45-year-old father, had planned to return to Chennai in time to celebrate his daughter’s fourth birthday on Sunday. “I had a 5:30 flight to Chennai yesterday, but it was cancelled,” he said. “I had come here with two of my employees for an event, so I needed to arrange flights for them first. IndiGo did not give us any rescheduled flight or accommodation, creating further expenditure for us.” Despite being aware of the delays in recent days, Kumar had hoped the situation would improve by the weekend. “I wanted to be back by tonight so that I could be with my daughter on her birthday, but there’s nothing we can do now.”

Another stranded passenger, 52-year-old Ashwini Singhal, expressed anger over the airline’s handling of luggage. “My flight to Hyderabad was at 5:30 am yesterday. Not only did my flight get cancelled, but I have not received my checked-in luggage,” he said. Singhal had been wandering around the airport for more than a day in the same clothes, having had to buy a new phone charger and skip multiple office meetings. “If the delays have been going on for multiple days, why did the airline check in the luggage in the first place?” he asked. “It cannot be that they found out about the cancellation only when the flight was going to depart.”

The lack of assistance compounded challenges for those travelling with heavy baggage. Arjun Kumar, a 26-year-old arriving from Dubai, said he had been struggling with two large suitcases filled with gifts for his family in Lucknow. His connecting flight was cancelled without sufficient information about the next available option. “Now I’m being told to go from one place to another in the airport and have to drag the suitcases with me,” he said. “I’ve been here the entire morning and haven’t been able to eat, rest or even go to the bathroom.”

The root of the crisis dates back to November, when IndiGo began cancelling an average of 25 flights a day as it struggled to comply with new crew rostering norms introduced by aviation regulators. The situation escalated sharply this week, with the airline cancelling approximately 1,600 flights since Tuesday — including 1,000 flights on Friday alone. The disruptions reached a tipping point, revealing the severe operational strain on the carrier, which operates about 60 percent of India’s domestic air traffic.

In an attempt to mitigate the crisis, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) intervened on Friday. After receiving a representation from IndiGo, the regulator temporarily exempted the airline’s Airbus A320 fleet from certain night-time pilot duty hour restrictions. Additionally, the DGCA permitted IndiGo to call back pilots who had been deputed elsewhere and withdrew a rule that prevented airlines from counting pilot leave as weekly rest under the new guidelines. These measures were designed to provide IndiGo temporary relief in terms of crew availability, though it remains unclear how quickly the airline can stabilise its operations.

Despite the regulatory concessions, the impact of the cancellations has continued to ripple across India’s major airports, with Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad also reporting significant disruptions. Industry experts say IndiGo’s overdependence on tight crew schedules, coupled with a shortage of trained pilots and an expanding flight network, contributed to the meltdown.

Back at Delhi airport, the mood remained tense but resigned as passengers tried to come to terms with the lack of immediate solutions. Airport staff struggled to manage the crowds, while food outlets and rest areas became overcrowded. For many travellers, the experience has raised serious questions about airline accountability and preparedness, especially during peak travel periods.

With no immediate end in sight, thousands of passengers remain uncertain about when they will finally reach their destinations. For now, the only certainty is that the crisis has exposed the fragility of India’s aviation infrastructure — and the far-reaching consequences of disruptions in a sector on which millions depend.