Nation
IndiGo cancels over 180 flights from 3 major airports
Sources say Mumbai is worst hit with 86 cancellations, Bengaluru logs 73, and Delhi 33 — figures likely to rise as delays ripple through
Domestic skies descended into fresh turbulence on Thursday as IndiGo scrapped more than 180 flights across three of India’s busiest airports, the latest sign of an airline buckling under an acute crew crunch triggered by newly implemented flight-duty and rest-period norms.
According to sources, Mumbai bore the brunt of the disruption, with 86 cancellations — 41 arrivals and 45 departures — while Bengaluru saw 73 flights grounded, including 41 incoming services. Delhi airport, too, witnessed 33 cancellations, with the tally expected to rise by day’s end as cascading delays continued to ripple through the system.
The operational strain was stark: IndiGo’s once-vaunted on-time performance plunged to a staggering 19.7 per cent on 3 December at six major metros — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — a dramatic fall from the already diminished 35 per cent the previous day.
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Insiders said the chaos stems from a “severe crew shortage” following the rollout of the second phase of the Flight Duty Time Limit (FDTL) norms, which tighten night-time landing limits and extend mandatory rest periods. The new rules, aimed at enhancing pilot safety, have left the country’s largest carrier scrambling to staff its dense winter schedule.
Regulator DGCA has already stepped in, launching an investigation and demanding a comprehensive explanation and recovery plan, even as passengers flooded social media with accounts of long queues, unanswered queries, and airport-floor protests.
Adding to the turbulence, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) accused IndiGo of having “inexplicably” frozen hiring despite a two-year window to prepare for FDTL compliance. In a sharply worded letter to the DGCA, the pilots’ body urged the regulator to deny seasonal schedule approvals to airlines that cannot demonstrate adequate staffing — and even suggested reassigning some IndiGo slots to carriers such as Air India or Akasa during the peak holiday and fog season.
As the airline races to stabilise its operations, what began as routine winter-weather strain has now spiralled into one of IndiGo’s most significant operational crises — a storm that shows little sign of clearing without decisive intervention.
With PTI inputs
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