India Amid Travel Turmoil as Indigo Cancels Hundreds of Flights across Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and more While FDTL Fallout Sinks On-Time Performance, New Update

Published on December 4, 2025

The skies over India are in chaos. IndiGo, the country’s biggest airline, faces a massive crisis. Hundreds of flights were suddenly cancelled or delayed in early December 2025. This situation has left thousands of passengers stranded at major airports like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai. The situation is creating travel turmoil nationwide. The core reason for this breakdown? A crippling crew shortage.

The Alarming Collapse of Punctuality

IndiGo’s famous on-time performance (OTP) has crashed. For years, the airline sold itself on punctuality. Now, government data shows a stunning failure. On Tuesday, December 2, 2025, only 35% of IndiGo flights managed to run on time. This is the worst score among all major airlines in India. This single statistic tells a powerful story of operational collapse.

The problem started earlier. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) revealed shocking numbers for November 2025. IndiGo cancelled an enormous 1,232 flights in that single month. An overwhelming 755 of those cancellations—more than 61%—happened because of crew shortages and new flight duty rules. This meant one out of every 1,232 flights was grounded due to pilot fatigue concerns. This data showed the operational cracks were appearing long before the December crisis hit Delhi and Mumbai.

FDTL Rules: The Trigger for Disaster

The primary cause of the sudden mass cancellations is a government mandate. The DGCA enforced its revised Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules. These rules are crucial. They protect pilots and passengers from fatigue. The DGCA made these changes following a Delhi High Court directive.

The new FDTL norms became fully effective in November 2025. They forced major changes. Pilots must now get a minimum weekly rest of 48 hours, up from 36 hours. Furthermore, the rules severely limit nighttime operations. Pilots can now perform only two night landings, down from six previously.

This immediately reduced the total available flying hours for every pilot at IndiGo. IndiGo is known for its high-frequency operations. They rely heavily on using aircraft and crew for maximum time, including many late-night flights. These new safety-focused rules directly shattered IndiGo’s operating model. The airline simply did not have enough trained crew to fill the roster gaps created by the new rest requirements. The safety standards demanded by the DGCA exposed a fundamental flaw in IndiGo’s planning.

Why IndiGo Suffered More Than Others

Why did only IndiGo face such a total meltdown? The answer lies in their staffing strategy. Pilot associations like the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) blamed the crisis on IndiGo’s “lean manpower strategy.” They accused the airline of poor planning. The DGCA’s rules were not a surprise. IndiGo had months of notice to hire more pilots and adjust training schedules. They did not.

Sources close to the operation suggest IndiGo wrongly assumed the DGCA would postpone the tougher rules. They maintained a hiring freeze. This left their crew stretched thin. An airline official revealed that the crucial “buffer” of extra crew, usually four percent, vanished when the new rules took effect. The major hubs of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad became choke points.

A further blow came from outside India. Reports indicated a major international airline, Emirates, was holding a massive recruitment drive right in Delhi and Mumbai during this time. Many IndiGo crew members reportedly left immediately to attend. This compounded the domestic shortage and pushed the airline past its breaking point.

The Ground Reality: Chaos at the Airports

The operational chaos quickly spilled over into passenger trauma. On Wednesday, December 3, 2025, IndiGo cancelled over 200 flights. The total number of scrapped and delayed flights over the two-day period exceeded 300.

• Delhi Airport saw up to 67 cancellations.
• Mumbai Airport grounded around 70 flights.
• Bengaluru Airport witnessed a similar high number of disruptions, affecting passengers flying to Chennai and other major cities.
• Hyderabad Airport alone recorded 13 departures cancelled.

Passengers were left stranded for hours, sometimes overnight. The cascading effect meant a flight delayed in Delhi caused another cancellation in Bengaluru, which then affected the return flight to Chennai or Hyderabad. The airline was forced to issue a formal apology, citing a mixture of technical glitches, bad winter weather, airport congestion and the FDTL rules.

The Regulator Steps In: DGCA Demands Answers

The DGCA is not standing by. They immediately launched an investigation into the extensive disruptions. The regulator acted swiftly to protect consumers and uphold safety standards.

The DGCA sent a clear order to IndiGo. The airline must report to the DGCA Headquarters. They must formally explain the exact facts that led to this national crisis. Most importantly, IndiGo must present a clear, concrete plan to fix the ongoing delays and cancellations.

The airline, in response, promised a 48-hour recovery plan. They initiated “calibrated adjustments” to their schedules. This means they are temporarily reducing the number of flights they operate. They hope this will allow their overstretched crew and aircraft to realign with the strict FDTL limits. This move aims to bring punctuality back to the IndiGo network, easing the pressure on major travel points like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

This event is a severe warning. It shows that safety regulations, when strictly enforced by the DGCA, will expose any airline that prioritizes cost savings over necessary operational buffers. India’s largest airline faces its greatest challenge yet. They must now rebuild trust and stability across the entire country’s air travel system. The focus for IndiGo must shift from low-cost efficiency to robust, compliant operations that place safety and punctuality first.