An operational crisis has grounded IndiGo forcing hundreds of flight cancellations due to new DGCA Flight Duty Time Limits (FDTL). Read the impact on passengers and crew scheduling.
IndiGo Flight Chaos DGCA Roster Norms Impact
The Indian aviation landscape was recently rocked by a significant operational crisis at IndiGo, the nation’s largest carrier. Over a two-day period, the airline was forced to cancel upwards of 250 flights, leading to widespread passenger frustration and chaotic scenes across major airports like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru. This unprecedented disruption was not primarily due to typical factors like bad weather or technical faults, but rather a direct consequence of the airline’s inability to smoothly integrate the new, stricter DGCA Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms into its operational roster.
The root of this IndiGo flight chaos lies squarely with the revised FDTL guidelines, whose second and more stringent phase became effective recently. These aviation safety regulations, introduced by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to combat pilot and crew fatigue, fundamentally changed how aircrew can be scheduled. Key changes include extending the mandatory weekly rest period to 48 hours—a crucial 100% increase—and significantly restricting the number of night landings permitted per duty cycle from six down to just two.
For an airline like IndiGo, which operates a high-frequency, tightly packed schedule with a considerable number of night flights, these new rules created an immediate and acute crew shortage. The system, designed for optimized efficiency under the old norms, simply could not generate enough legally compliant rosters to cover its vast daily network of over 2,200 flights. As crew members hit their new, reduced flying hour limits or required longer mandated rest periods, entire flight rotations had to be scrapped, demonstrating a failure of proactive resource planning.
The fallout was immediate and severe. IndiGo’s typically robust On-Time Performance (OTP), once the airline’s hallmark, plummeted dramatically to shocking lows of just 19.7% on the worst affected days. Thousands of travelers were left stranded, their meticulously planned itineraries thrown into disarray, leading to understandable passenger frustration. Reports circulated of long delays, cancelled connections, and exhausted ground staff struggling to manage the escalating crisis. This incident serves as a stark reminder of the delicate balance between operational efficiency and aviation worker wellness.
