IndiGo’s operations remained severely disrupted on Wednesday, with more than 70 flights cancelled amid mounting crew shortages and cascading delays across major airports. Netizens claimed that more than 200 flights were cancelled. The carrier operates around 2,300 flights daily.
Disruptions are expected to persist for another 48 hours, as the airline may cancel and reschedule more services to stabilise operations.
According to sources, the cancellations spanned key hubs including Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai, where it struggled to mobilise adequate cockpit and cabin crew. Passengers FE spoke to at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the Capital, said that no ground staff were visible at the airport, frequent gate changes are being done with no updates by the airline on re-scheduled flight timings.
The situation, which had been deteriorating since early this week, worsened sharply on Tuesday and spilled into Wednesday, resulting in scores of flights being grounded or departing behind schedule. On Tuesday, IndiGo’s on-time performance at six major airports slumped to 35%, whereas Air India clocked 67.2%, Air India Express 79.5%, SpiceJet 82.50% and Akasa Air 73.20%, according to the civil aviation ministry website.
What’s the root of the problem?
The core of the problem, sources said, lies in an acute crew shortage, triggered by the second phase of the flight duty time limitation (FDTL) norms that came into force on November 1. The revised rules have introduced longer weekly rest periods, has extended the definition of night hours, and sharply restricted night landings, from six earlier to two now. With a fleet of 416 aircraft, of which 50 are currently grounded, IndiGo relies heavily on night-time operations, making it more vulnerable to FDTL-related constraints.
In a statement on Wednesday, IndiGo acknowledged that cancellations and delays had mounted in recent days. It attributed the disruptions to a mix of “technology issues, airport congestion, and operational requirements”.
What did IndiGo say?
In a second statement later in the day, it said its network had been hit by “a multitude of unforeseen operational challenges,” including minor tech glitches, winter-season schedule adjustments, adverse weather, congestion in the aviation system, and updated crew-rostering rules. The airline apologised to passengers and said teams were working round the clock to ease discomfort.
IndiGo said it has initiated calibrated adjustments to its flight schedules for the next 48 hours. The measures, which include cancellations and rescheduling, are aimed at restoring stability and progressively lifting punctuality levels, it said. While the airline did not specify the number of flights likely to be affected, it indicated that the steps were necessary to contain disruptions that were not feasible to be anticipated.
IndiGo said alternative travel arrangements or refunds were being offered to affected passengers as it works to normalise operations as quickly as possible.
Separately, there were reports of a system outage at several airports on Wednesday morning adding to delays. According to a PTI report, a message displayed for passengers at Varanasi airport cited a major global Microsoft Windows outage and said airlines had shifted to manual check-in and boarding processes. However, Microsoft denied any such outage, calling the claim factually incorrect. Real-time monitoring platform Downdetector also did not show any reports of disruption.