NEW DELHI: Air travel across India plunged into chaos as a severe pilot shortage forced IndiGo, the country’s largest airline, to cancel more than a thousand flights.
The turmoil entered its fifth day, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at major airports, including New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, and cities across Gujarat.
Officials and media reports said IndiGo struggled to assign pilots after new government regulations on work hours and night-time operations came into effect on 1 November.
The airline admitted it had failed to plan adequately before the deadline, triggering sweeping scheduling conflicts at the peak of the December holiday season.
IndiGo grounds flights nationwide
IndiGo operates a fleet of about 400 aircraft and runs around 2,300 flights daily. However, poor scheduling, combined with tighter duty rules, led to widespread cancellations.
IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers apologised to passengers in his first public comments since the crisis began. He said the disruptions had “shaken customers’ belief in IndiGo’s reliability” and warned that it would take time to return to “a full, normal situation”.
He anticipated normal operations may resume between 10 and 15 December.
Aviation sources, cited by Reuters, said “well over” 1,000 flights were cancelled on Friday alone. Delhi airport announced that all IndiGo departures were cancelled for the day.
A source placed that number at 235 flights. Cancellations included 165 flights in Mumbai, 102 in Bengaluru, and 92 in Hyderabad.
Passengers demand answers
Crowds of stranded passengers gathered at terminals across the country. Local media and social media were flooded with videos of frustrated travellers confronting airline staff.
One video from Bengaluru airport showed passengers chanting “Down with IndiGo!” Another widely shared clip from Delhi airport showed dozens of young children sitting on the floor.
The caption said they had been waiting since 4 a.m., “hungry, tired, sleepy”.
Passengers reported missed weddings, business engagements, and personal events. Many complained of poor communication at airports as airline staff struggled to manage the crisis.
Regulator grants temporary relief
India’s civil aviation regulator granted IndiGo temporary exemptions from some of the new rules after the airline requested relief.
The regulator suspended until 10 February a provision limiting pilots to two night-time landings per week, down from six previously.
IndiGo also received temporary relaxation on a rule setting maximum flight duty periods for pilots operating certain night flights.
However, authorities did not exempt IndiGo from the stricter requirement increasing pilots’ mandatory weekly rest from 36 to 48 hours.
Regulators stressed they remained committed to implementing pilot rest and duty rules “in letter and spirit”. The head of the regulator appealed to pilots for cooperation during the crisis.
#WATCH | Gujarat: A passenger weeps at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, long queues of passengers seen here as a few IndiGo flights stand cancelled yet again.
The Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) orders of the DGCA have been placed in abeyance with… pic.twitter.com/8qmI72w2uN
— ANI (@ANI) December 6, 2025
Government officials said they were working with the airline to resolve scheduling issues and reduce cancellations. India’s main opposition party called for a parliamentary discussion on the crisis.
IndiGo told authorities earlier that it did not expect full operations to be restored until 10 February. On Friday, it said it expected “progressive improvement” from Saturday.
ALSO READ: India’s Skies in Turmoil: IndiGo Flight Cancellations Cripple Operations
Other major carriers, including Air India and Akasa, were not affected by the new rules and did not cancel flights.
Financial impact
IndiGo’s shares closed 1.2 percent lower on Friday. The stock fell 9 percent during the week, marking its worst weekly performance since June 2022.
The airline said it would offer waivers on all cancellations and booking changes for travel between 5 and 15 December. It added that it had arranged ground transport and thousands of hotel rooms for stranded passengers.
#WATCH Delhi | On IndiGo flight cancellations, Congress MP Kumari Selja, “…Hundreds of flights have been cancelled, and passengers are having to bear the losses. The fares of other airlines have increased a lot. The government should intervene immediately…” pic.twitter.com/zpaNwk1WAg
— ANI (@ANI) December 5, 2025
Aviation experts warned that unless airlines improve workforce planning, similar disruptions could occur in the future.
The crisis highlighted long-standing staffing and management challenges in India’s fast-growing aviation market.
