The IndiGo crisis worsened on Friday as more than 1,000 flights were cancelled across major airports in India, including Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru and Jammu & Kashmir. Airports saw chaotic scenes, with passengers stranded for hours and some even protesting. After the massive disruption, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers issued a statement apologising for the inconvenience.
IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers issued a public apology on Friday evening after the airline cancelled over a thousand flights, marking the “most severely impacted day” for cancellations. Elbers said the country’s largest airline had to cancel “more than half” of its daily flights. He added that while the disruption is expected to continue on Saturday, the airline expects fewer than 1,000 cancellations that day.
“Full normalisation is expected between December 10 and 15, but IndiGo warns that recovery will take time due to the scale of its operations,” Elbers said.
Centre orders probe
Following the disruption, the Centre ordered a high-level probe to find out the reasons and hold accountable those responsible. The crisis was linked to new rules that increased pilots’ weekly rest from 36 to 48 hours and limited night-time landings from six per week to two.
IndiGo blamed the cancellations on “misjudgment and planning gaps.” The government temporarily suspended the Flight Duty Limitation (FDTL) norms of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to ease the situation.
Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said urgent steps are being taken to address the ongoing disruption, particularly for IndiGo flights.
Pilots’ body objects to relaxation of rules
As the crisis escalated, the DGCA allowed private airlines a one-day exemption from stricter night duty rules. IndiGo told the regulator it was facing “significant transitional challenges in roster planning and crew availability under phase-2 FDTL requirement.”
However, the exemption upset the Airlines’ Pilots Association, which raised “strong” objections, saying the decision sets a “dangerous precedent” and undermines the purpose of the civil aviation rules.
Rahul Gandhi blames BJP government
The crisis also sparked political reactions. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi blamed the IndiGo “fiasco” on the BJP-led government’s “monopoly model.”
Sharing a column he wrote in The Indian Express, he said, “IndiGo fiasco is the cost of this government’s monopoly model. Once again, it’s ordinary Indians who pay the price – in delays, cancellations and helplessness.”
BJP MP Jagdambika Pal asked the government to make alternative arrangements for stranded passengers, noting that even MPs were affected.
Ticket prices soar
With so many flight cancellations, ticket prices shot up. On Friday, the only Mumbai-Delhi flight cost Rs 51,860 per passenger, and the sole Delhi-Mumbai flight was Rs 48,972.
Flights on other routes were fully booked, with high fares continuing on Saturday. Mumbai-Bengaluru flights were unavailable, while Delhi-Bengaluru tickets started at Rs 39,101. Delhi-Mumbai flights began at Rs 24,999, and Mumbai-Delhi flights from Rs 19,259.
IndiGo offers full refunds
IndiGo promised full refunds for cancelled tickets, which will be processed automatically through the original mode of payment.
The airline said, “We will offer full waiver on all cancellations’ reschedule requests of your bookings for travel between December 5 to 15. Thousands of hotel rooms across cities and surface transport have been arranged for the convenience of our customers. We are trying to ensure that food and snacks are being provided to our waiting customers at the airports.”
