When will the crisis end? IndiGo cancels 350 flights today; passengers suffer at airports

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Flight operations at several airports across India continued to remain disrupted as IndiGo’s schedules failed to return to normal for the seventh consecutive day. Persistent delays and cancellations caused major inconvenience to thousands of passengers at key airports.

Around 350 IndiGo flights had to be cancelled today alone across multiple airports. At Delhi Airport, 134 flights (75 departures and 59 arrivals) were cancelled, while Bengaluru Airport reported 127 cancellations. In Ahmedabad, 20 flights were cancelled, and seven were cancelled in Visakhapatnam. Major airports including Mumbai and Kolkata also witnessed heavy disruption. By 9:30 AM, confirmation of 289 cancellations had already been received.

IndiGo, the country’s largest airline, had cancelled more than 650 flights on Sunday, although this number was lower than the 1,000-plus cancellations recorded two days earlier.

Officials stated that more than ₹610 crore has been refunded to affected passengers. According to the airline, the crisis began due to a shortage of cockpit crew after full implementation of Flight Duty Time Limitations (rest-related rules for pilots). This triggered massive cancellations and widespread chaos at major airports.

Considering the situation, the government intervened and temporarily paused enforcement of the related regulations. While the timeline for complete normalisation remains unclear, operations are expected to stabilise by 10 December.

The Civil Aviation Ministry has instructed the airline to impose fare caps, speed up refunds, and follow other corrective measures. After receiving strict directives, IndiGo has so far processed refunds amounting to ₹610 crore for nearly 3,000 passengers. A high-level investigation into the matter has also begun.

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu clarified that the responsibility lies with the airline because pilot duty-related guidelines were issued a year in advance. On Sunday, the DGCA granted additional time to IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and accountable manager Isidro Porqueras to respond to the show-cause notice by Monday 6 PM.