The IndiGo Crisis: What Went Wrong? The airline says it has a plan of action and has started taking measures. However, experts suggest this crisis could have been avoided

IndiGo's current crisis is a textbook case of what airlines must avoid. As chaos unfolds at IndiGo counters in airports across the country, with angry outbursts, desperate requests and helplessness, all airlines must take notes.

IndiGo, the major domestic airline with over 2,200 flights per day has been hit, with flights being delayed and cancelled all across its sectors.

The major reason for the cancellation of over 1,200 flights was due to the introduction of the new FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitation) norms introduced by DGCA. However, taking cognizance of the crisis, India's aviation regulator DGCA withdrew, with immediate effect, one part of the Flight Duty Time Limitations rules, the first phase of which kicked in July 1 - which said 'no leave shall be substituted for weekly rest' - to resolve the operational crisis that has affected IndiGo.

The DGCA notification read, "In view of the ongoing operational disruptions and representations received from various airlines regarding the need to ensure continuity and stability of operations…the instruction contained in the referenced paragraph that no leave shall be substituted for weekly rest is hereby withdrawn with immediate effect." The DGCA's relief came after IndiGo sought relaxations for two months.

Under the new FDTL rules, the rest period of pilots was increased from 36 hours to 48 hours and the night flying was reclassified from 00:00 – 04:00 am to 00:00 – 06:00 am. After DGCA revoked the new norms, the pilot association has expressed displeasure.

"It is with profound concern & deep disappointment that we write to you regarding the recent selective dispensations granted to #IndiGo Airlines in respect of the implementation of the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations CAR (Phase II). This decision, taken despite repeated representations with your esteemed office, has undermined the very spirit of the FDTL regulations and gravely compromised the safety of the flying public," Airlines Pilots Association (ALPA) wrote to DGCA.

How did the crisis start?

The crisis situation started with delays and cancellations almost a week ago, due to the new directive from Airbus for upgrade of certain software to mitigate the risk of Solar interference. "The airline's aircraft were affected and were grounded for the software upgrade, causing delays and cancellations. However the airline was able to still maintain and operate most of its flights. But the updated FDTL rules affected the number of hours a pilot could be available for flying. The entire rostering of the crew had to be changed and with the new rules in place, there was an immediate shortage of crew. As IndiGo operates on the hub-and-spoke model with one aircraft connecting more than two cities, the entire sequence was affected leaving flights delayed and not reaching the smaller destinations," said Arun Lohiya, chief operating officer, CAD Ventures Pvt Ltd, a Cadila group company.

Was this chaos avoidable?

The new DGCA duty time regulations were ordered by the Delhi High Court last year; however, airlines like IndiGo, Air India, AI Express, etc sought one year to recruit and train pilots before implementing the new rest periods in June 2025. In mid-2025 they sought further time, and the High Court granted a final extension until November 2025.

Airlines are required to simulate their schedules on rosters, using DGCA FDTL rules prior to a new schedule, "All airlines must have done so, thus it seems inexplicable that such a major disruption could occur. No airline could now claim to be unprepared for the new rules after 18 months of lead time," said Sanjay Lazar- CEO, Avialaz Consultants.

Why IndiGo had not planned its winter schedule like all airlines normally do? "IndiGo may not have done that or not got the correct results. In fact, IndiGo, despite having fewer pilots, chose to operate 900 more flights in winter, and stopped pilot recruitment six months ago," Lazar added.

This crisis will continue for a few days more, until the schedule is trimmed and new rosters are made. "The DGCA has given IndiGo dispensation for the weekly off and also the provisions of the CAR (Civil Aviation Requirements) until Feb 10. This will provide a major breather to all airlines and has effectively stopped the new DGCA CAR," Lazar explained.

This disruption has been used as an excuse to delay the much-needed FDTL rules to alleviate pilot fatigue, and enhance passenger safety, which have been hanging fire for years. "In all this, the passenger has been forgotten. Passengers have been stranded due to missed connections and delays during peak season. This brings into focus the lack of proper passenger protection in India, unlike the European Community nations," Lazar added.

What is IndiGo doing to navigate the crisis ?

"We do deeply apologize and understand how difficult the past few days have been for many of you. While this will not get resolved overnight, we assure you that we will do everything in our capacity to help you in the meantime and to bring our operations back to normal at the earliest," the company said in a statement.

December 5th has the highest number of cancellations, "As we are doing all that is necessary to reboot all our systems and schedules for progressive improvement starting tomorrow. Our teams are working to reinstate regular operations in alignment with the Ministry and DGCA. Short term proactive cancellations are being made to ease operations, decongest the airports to prepare for starting stronger tomorrow. We will ensure that all refunds for your cancellations will be processed automatically to your original mode of payment," the statement added.

Pieter Elbers, CEO of IndiGo, said that December 5th was impacted with the number of cancellations well over 1,000, or more than half of the daily flights.

The airline has listed three lines of action: Firstly, customer communication and addressing needs, the airline has stepped up call center capacity. - Secondly, due to yesterday's situation it has customers stranded mostly at the nation's largest airports. "Our focus was, for all of them to travel today itself, which will be achieved. For this, we also ask customers whose flights are cancelled not to come to airports as notifications are sent on this," the CEO assured.

"Thirdly, cancellations were made for today as to align our crew and planes to be where they need to start afresh tomorrow morning. Regrettably, earlier measures of the last few days have proven not to be enough. So we decided today for a reboot of all our systems and schedules, resulting in the highest number of cancellations so far, but imperative for progressive improvements starting tomorrow onwards. With these actions we expect tomorrow to have cancellations below 1,000. The support of DGCA in providing specific FDTL implementation relief, is of great help. Still, there is lot of work in progress, but going forward from here, in alignment with Ministry of Civil Aviation and DGCA, we expect to further improve every day. Given the size, scale and complexity of our operations, it will take some time to return to a full normal situation," said Elbers.

IndiGo will have to rework on its schedules, reduce the number of flights and go on an hiring spree to fulfil the gaps in the crew availability.

"It is easier said than done as aircraft scheduling itself is an art and science together as peak traffic hours, availability of slots, availability of airports which operate only during day and to mesh with the existing schedules of the other airlines," noted Arun Lohiya.