IndiGo’s operations were thrown into further chaos on Saturday. As many 400 flights were cancelled from four major airports, a day after the airline secured temporary relaxations in the second phase of court-mandated flight duty and rest period norms for cockpit crew, media reports revealed.
Ahmedabad airport experienced long queues. Reports have emerged of passengers in tears at the Ahmedabad airport. Between 12 am and 6 am, seven arrivals and 12 departures were cancelled.
At Pune Airport, 42 planes reportedly didn’t take off, including 14 inbound services from cities such as Delhi, Nagpur, and Chennai, and 28 outbound flights to various domestic destinations.
Bengaluru saw an astonishing 124 planes cancelled (63 departures and 61 arrivals).
The situation was slightly less generous towards Mumbai.
India’s Maximum City saw 109 cancellations (51 departures and 58 arrivals).
Delhi recorded 106 cancellations, including 54 departures and 52 arrivals.
Hyderabad experienced 66 plane cancellations.
Chaos spread across major hubs, some flights continued to depart from Chennai, though with delays to cities such as Pune, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur, Coimbatore, and Kochi.
Srinagar faced severe disruption, with seven inbound and seven outbound IndiGo flights cancelled from a total of 36 scheduled services.
The disruptions came on the heels of Friday’s crisis, when IndiGo had cancelled over 1,000 flights.
The government responded swiftly, exempting IndiGo from the new cockpit crew rules until February 10, while also capping airfares to prevent exploitation of stranded passengers.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation ordered that all refunds be processed by December 7.
IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers broke three days of silence in a video message, apologising for the major inconvenience caused to passengers.
The political response was immediate. Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule demanded government action against IndiGo, pointing to “thousands of people” affected over the last five days.
“The Union Government must take action against IndiGo. Thousands of people have faced difficulties in the last two days. We have raised this issue in Parliament,” she was quoted as saying.
“Such large-scale disruption without any prior information has caused loss of time and crores of rupees. We did not expect this from IndiGo. The Centre must create five more companies like IndiGo and share details in Parliament about why IndiGo’s service collapsed and what the solutions are,” she added.
Amid the disruption, the railways stepped in to ease passenger woes. Northern Railway added extra coaches to popular Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains and ran special services to Sabarmati, Mumbai, Howrah, Patna, Darbhanga, and Thiruvananthapuram to meet rising demand.
South Central Railway also launched four special trains from Hyderabad to Chennai, Mumbai, and Shalimar (Kolkata).
Congress MP Sasikanth Senthil blamed the BJP for a “duopoly” in the aviation sector.
“This is not just irresponsible; it is outrageous. By scrapping rules specifically designed to prevent pilot fatigue, the BJP government has allegedly jeopardised passenger safety and thrown the well-being of cockpit crew into uncertainty,” Senthil was quoted as saying.
According to reports, he questioned why the DGCA failed to enforce the Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) rules introduced in January 2024, partially implemented from July 2025, and fully from November 1, 2025. “Did the government ever issue warnings or compliance notices to IndiGo, or was the airline protected from enforcement altogether?” he asked.
The situation became embarrassing on the international front. Singapore High Commissioner Simon Wong, scheduled to attend a staff member’s wedding in Jharkhand, had to join online.
Meanwhile, authorities deployed full ground-handling and security teams to manage congestion and assist passengers.
There was a brief respite when Jammu Airport saw nine of 11 flights resume.
The DGCA had placed FDTL orders in abeyance due to the nationwide disruption caused by IndiGo’s pilot-rostering issues.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram criticised both the DGCA and IndiGo for failing to enforce the mandatory rest period directive in a timely manner.
“DGCA had earlier given a directive to airlines to enforce a mandatory rest period for flying crew. And when they gave that directive, they should have done an impact assessment. The airline concerned, particularly IndiGo, also knew about the directive well in advance. So this is a failure on both parts of the DGCA and the airline in not complying with the directive that was issued…” Chidambaram said.
The government continues to monitor fare levels in real time, coordinating with airlines and online travel platforms. Officials warned that any deviation from the prescribed fare caps will attract immediate corrective action.
As IndiGo navigates the ongoing operational crisis, passengers continue to face disruption. Railways and regulators scramble to manage the fallout and maintain stability in India’s aviation and transport sectors.
Also Read: IndiGo Disruptions Spark Political Firestorm, Rahul Gandhi Demands Accountability, Slams Govt Monopoly https://www.vibesofindia.com/indigo-disruptions-spark-political-firestorm-rahul-gandhi-demands-accountability-slams-govt-monopoly/
