Over 200 IndiGo Flights Cancelled in a Day Amid Crew Shortage; Passengers Lash Out
Airline blames operational challenges as travellers across major airports report chaos, delays and last-minute cancellations.
New Delhi: IndiGo cancelled more than 200 flights and delayed many others on Wednesday as a severe crew shortage disrupted operations across airports nationwide. This is the second day in a row that India’s largest airline has struggled to maintain its schedule.
According to data from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, IndiGo recorded just 35% on-time performance on December 2—its poorest showing and the lowest among major carriers. A DGCA release issued earlier revealed that the airline had cancelled 1,232 flights in November, with 755 cancellations linked to crew-related issues and revised Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules.
Sources told The New Indian Express that IndiGo is currently facing an acute shortage of both cockpit and cabin crew as many employees are attending recruitment drives conducted by Emirates in Delhi and Mumbai this week. However, the airline said Wednesday’s disruption resulted from a combination of “unforeseen operational challenges.”
The scale of cancellations was widespread: 67 flights were cancelled at Delhi’s IGI Airport, 13 from Hyderabad, and more than 70 flights each from Mumbai and Bengaluru through Wednesday evening. Flights to Kolkata and Srinagar were also affected.
A senior aviation source, commenting on the crisis, said that while new FDTL norms have impacted all carriers, the scale of disruption at IndiGo points to “mismanagement.” The updated rules, enforced from November 1, include increasing pilots’ weekly rest from 36 to 48 hours and reducing the number of allowed night landings from six to two.
Passengers vent frustration
Travellers across the country expressed anger over delays and last-minute changes.
P. Nataraj, who was booked on IndiGo’s Chennai–Kochi flight 6E-534 for early December 4, said he was shocked to receive a message announcing cancellation, followed by an alternative booking nearly 36 hours later. “I had no choice but to cancel my trip,” he said.
Several passengers took to social media platform X to describe their ordeal.
Ashish K. Singh, flying from Mumbai to Ahmedabad on flight 6E-534, wrote that passengers were left stranded for “1–2 hours,” noting the difficult situation faced by senior citizens and families.
Another flyer, Satish, compared IndiGo unfavourably to rail travel, saying the airline took “five hours from Tirupati to Hyderabad,” a route Indian Railways covers in about eight hours.
N. Pradeep from Hyderabad criticised poor coordination at the airport, writing: “Experienced your gate-changing circus and delays for over four hours… shut down your pathetic service.”
IndiGo issues apology, outlines steps to stabilise operations
In a statement, IndiGo acknowledged that its network had been “significantly disrupted” over the past two days and apologised to customers. It attributed the meltdown to “a multitude of unforeseen operational challenges,” including minor tech glitches, winter schedule adjustments, weather issues, increased airspace congestion, and the implementation of updated crew rostering rules.
The airline said it has begun “calibrated adjustments” to its flight schedules to contain disruptions and expects operations to stabilise over the next 48 hours.
