Since December 2, 2025, India’s leading carrier IndiGo has cancelled over 1,000 flights, leaving thousands of passengers stranded. This post unpacks why the collapse happened, what regulators and the airline have done, and how travellers can handle the disruption.
IndiGo Flight Cancellations
What’s Going On: A Flight-Cancellation Crisis
In early December 2025, IndiGo — India’s largest airline by market share — plunged into a deep operational crisis. Between December 2 and December 5, the airline cancelled over 1,000 flights nationwide. On December 5 alone, more than 500 flights were cancelled. Major airports including Indira Gandhi International Airport (Delhi), Kempegowda International Airport (Bengaluru), Mumbai Airport, and Hyderabad Airport were worst hit. In Delhi, all IndiGo departures for the day were cancelled.
Travellers across the country faced stranded flights, chaotic queues at airports, luggage issues, confusion over rescheduling or refunds, and soaring fares on alternate airlines. Many reported waiting for hours with minimal communication and support.
Declared Reasons: Why Did This Happen?
The immediate trigger was the enforcement — and attempted second-phase rollout — of new duty-time norms for pilots by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). These regulations, known as Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL), limit number of night-landings and mandate mandatory weekly rest for pilots. According to IndiGo, the airline underestimated how many pilots they’d need under the new rules — leading to a sharp gap between crew availability and flight schedule demands. The airline itself accepted the disruption arose from “misjudgement and planning gaps.”
Regulatory response: DGCA U-turn
Facing widespread chaos, the DGCA withdrew a crucial clause of the norms that had barred substitution of “weekly rest” with “leave.” This rollback was intended to ease immediate pressure on crew scheduling. Even so, the airline continues to grapple with resource constraints and logistical spill-overs.
What Airlines & Regulators Have Promised
- IndiGo has assured that all bookings between 5–15 December will get full cancellation waivers or reschedule/refund options.
- Efforts have been made to arrange hotel stays, food, lounge access for senior citizens and ground transport for stranded passengers.
- The Ministry of Civil Aviation and DGCA said they expect flight schedules to stabilize soon; but full restoration may take weeks. IndiGo has reportedly targeted February 10, 2026 as the date by which it hopes to normalize operations.
Traveller Impact: What It Means for You Right Now
- If you’re booked with IndiGo — check your flight status online or via app before going to the airport. IndiGo has asked customers not to go to airports if flights are cancelled.
- Be prepared for delays, cancellations, long wait times, crowding, and unpredictable alternate-fare hikes: alternate flights with other airlines have seen sharp surge in fares.
- If your travel is non-urgent and unavoidable — consider postponing or opting for alternate routes/modes until operations stabilize.
- For passengers already stranded: hold onto booking communications; utilise rights for refunds or resecheduling, and reach out to airport support desks if accommodation or food is required.
What This Means for the Aviation Sector & Beyond
- The crisis underscores the fragility of pilot-crew planning — especially when strict crew-duty norms intersect with aggressive growth or high flight frequency.
- It raises questions about whether airlines are structurally prepared for regulation-driven staffing constraints, especially considering budget-carrier scale and market dominance.
- For regulators, the backlash and disruption may prompt rethinking of FDTL norms, flexibility provisions, and contingency protocols for large carriers.
- For travellers and the broader public — the trust in budget-air travel’s reliability may erode; airlines’ market share and airline-competition dynamics could shift if customers migrate to more stable carriers.
