Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tore into the Centre over what he described as utter chaos in the country’s aviation sector amid IndiGo’s spiralling flight cancellations and disruptions, laying the blame squarely on the government’s “monopoly model.”
In a post on social media, the Lok Sabha Opposition Leader demanded “fair competition” in the aviation space to prevent such breakdowns.
With IndiGo reportedly cancelling over 550 flights on Thursday alone and more than 450 flights on Friday so far, throwing the travel plans of hundreds of passengers into disarray, Rahul Gandhi came down heavily upon the ruling party.
Rahul Gandhi said ordinary Indians “pay the price in delays, cancellations and helplessness”.
“IndiGo fiasco is the cost of this Govt’s monopoly model. Once again, it’s ordinary Indians who pay the price – in delays, cancellations and helplessness,” he posted on X.
“India deserves fair competition in every sector, not match-fixing monopolies,” he was quoted as saying.
Endorsing Rahul Gandhi’s views on the government’s “monopoly” approach, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said numerous sectors across the country have been concentrated in the hands of a few.
“We all know that throughout the country, most things belong to a few people and that is the doing of this government, and that is not healthy. It’s not healthy for the economy, it’s not healthy for democracy, it’s not healthy for the country,” she said.
Meanwhile, IndiGo is mired in a major crisis, reportedly cancelling over 450 flights across major airports for the third straight day.
Of these, 225 flights were cancelled at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport alone, while Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport saw over 100 cancellations and Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International recorded 90.
The airline has attributed the sweeping disruptions to cabin crew shortages and operational challenges, and issued an apology to passengers on Thursday via X.
IndiGo has also requested temporary exemptions from specific Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) rules for its A320 fleet until February 10, 2026, assuring the DGCA that operations will stabilise by then.
Media reports added that during a review meeting, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) observed that the airline’s operational disruptions were tied to transitional challenges in implementing Phase 2 of the revised FDTL norms, gaps in crew planning and winter-season pressures.
These updated fatigue-management regulations, introduced following court directives, were rolled out in two phases on July 1 and November 1, 2025.
Earlier, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi submitted a notice under Rule 180 in the Rajya Sabha, urging Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu to make a statement on the widespread disruption of IndiGo’s operations, which has caused significant inconvenience to passengers nationwide.
She described the situation as one of ‘urgent public importance,’ raising concerns about passenger safety and convenience.
She wrote, “The widespread disruption in IndiGo Airlines’ operations on Wednesday, resulting in severe delays of up to seven hours and cancellation of more than 70 flights nationwide, including major airports such as Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, was caused by an acute shortage of crew and other operational issues.
“The situation led to significant hardship for passengers, with several key domestic routes and international services such as the Mumbai-Maldives flight severely affected during peak hours.”
She said that when thousands of passengers are stranded and normal airport operations are thrown into chaos, the issue has to be of public importance.
She mentioned that recurrent, large-scale disruptions exposed the urgent need for government action, strict accountability, and firm safeguards to prevent a repeat.
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