Airports across India have descended into scenes of confusion and rising frustration as IndiGo continues to grapple with massive disruptions. For the fourth consecutive day, passengers have been stranded for hours, waiting in long queues, pleading at airline counters, and dealing with abrupt cancellations and delays that have paralysed the country’s largest airline.
More than 1,000 IndiGo flights have been cancelled over the last four days, severely affecting major hubs such as Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad. Hundreds of arrivals and departures have been scrapped in quick succession, leaving travellers with little clarity on when operations will return to normal.
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The airline has maintained that a “multitude of unforeseen operational challenges,” including minor technical issues, winter schedule adjustments, airport congestion and adverse weather, have contributed to the crisis.
What is the main reason behind the chaos?
But experts suggest the root cause runs far deeper. According to Sunando Ghosh, Senior Reporter at Ei Samay, IndiGo’s rapid expansion without proportional crew hiring created a fragile system. Ghosh explains, "When they started long way back, I remember Aditya Ghosh, Bengali guy, became CEO, and later president maybe, in the time recession when the other airlines are bleeding IndiGo saw profit, the planning was good then, now IndiGo grew as lowfare airlines, the management has changed they have share of 60 percent of airflights, and pilot recruitment is not that much, but they have increased aircrafts, they increased the flights but they don't have enough crew, in comparision, and pilots are burning out, they were calling sick day, they were asking for reduced duty times."
The situation worsened with the introduction of stricter Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL), new regulations on pilot rest and duty hours aimed at preventing fatigue. While these rules were framed in January 2024 after pilots demanded safer schedules for nearly two years, they were only enforced in November. Their impact has been dramatic.
Ghosh shares that the roster and the restrictions of the pilots fall under very complicated math; this is not just pilots burning out, there are other factors like flying hours, resting period. The airline can't accommodate everything in between now, so the whole roster is falling apart.
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Ghosh also notes that IndiGo’s heavy dependence on night flights has backfired. Previously, pilots could operate up to six landings in a duty cycle; under the new rules, this has dropped to two, drastically reducing crew availability. The timing of the enforcement coincided with IndiGo expanding winter flight frequencies on October 26, triggering a severe staffing mismatch.
Facing backlash, IndiGo has requested time until February 10, 2026, to stabilise operations. The airline has begun trimming flights and repeatedly urged passengers to check schedules, carry essentials, and opt for flexible bookings as recovery may take weeks.
