IndiGo: Chaos continued for the seventh straight day after IndiGo, the largest airline of India, cancelled more than 500-600 flights across the country.
Reasons behind the Chaos
Effective November 1, 2025, new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules slashed the flying hours of pilots while mandating stricter rest. This caught IndiGo off-guard amid its winter schedule expansion. The airline admitted to misjudgment on crew requirements, with 61 percent of November’s 1,200+ cancellations tied to FDTL shortages, worsened by an Airbus A320 software glitch that pushed flights past midnight.
IndiGo went on a repair mode and announced cancellations and full refunds for those affected, especially those who booked tickets between December 5 to 15.
Passengers have been left stranded at airports for long hours. The Indian aviation industry has today become a witness to astonishingly high prices with tickets from Delhi to Udaipur costing as much as Rs. 68000 for one side. Is this a self-inflicted crisis from corporate greed, or proof that regulators finally enforced long-ignored safety rules?
Pilots Blame Top Management
IndiGo pilots blamed the top management and cited “a systematic collapse of ethics and safety”. It was remarked that top level executives have been long pushing crew members beyond mental and legal limits while blindly chasing profits.
What Next?
IndiGo’s parent company, InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., has finally woken up. It constituted a Crisis Management Group (CMG) comprising of senior board members and top executives to address passenger grievances and stabilize operations.
Regulatory Reckoning and Fallout
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has slapped a show-cause notice on CEO Pieter Elbers, demanding refunds by December 7 and warning of action. Meanwhile, the airline has sought FDTL exemptions till February 2026, planning cuts from December 8, with normalcy eyed by December 10-15. IndiGo CEO CEO Elbers called it a “necessary reboot,” but stranded flyers rage online.
Controversial Questions That Deserve an Answer
Was IndiGo’s cost-cutting a deliberate gamble on pilot fatigue, prioritizing profits over safety until rules forced accountability? Was the airline hiring fewer pilots than required even when it was clearly dominating 60 percent of the market with 2,300 daily flights? Will this spark a pilot hiring war, or just more taxpayer-funded bailouts? Should DGCA ground IndiGo until crew shortages end?
