IndiGo cancels 550 flights after pilot rest rules exceed crew forecasts at Mumbai, Bengaluru hubs

IndiGo axes 550 flights over pilot rules; Minister raps airline on planning gaps

Last updated:
2 MIN READ
Passengers line up at an Indigo Airlines kiosk at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru on December 4, 2025.
Passengers line up at an Indigo Airlines kiosk at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru on December 4, 2025.
AFP

Mumbai: IndiGo cancelled over 550 domestic and international flights this week, snarling operations at key airports including Mumbai with 85 disruptions, Bengaluru at 73, Hyderabad at 68, Chennai at 31 and Delhi at 30.

Passengers at Hyderabad vented frustration with slogans as delays piled up. The airline blamed misjudged planning around new pilot rest norms effective from November 1.

Top IndiGo executives met Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu and DGCA chief Faiz Kidwai, pledging to cut flights from December 8 to stem the chaos. Disruptions will linger for two to three more days.

New rules spark crew shortfall

The airline admitted its crew needs outstripped forecasts under revised Flight Duty Time Limitations focused on night flying curbs. IndiGo sought exemptions from specific FDTL rules for A320 flights until February 10, 2026, while assuring full normalization by then. DGCA directed the carrier to submit a roadmap on crew hiring, training and rostering tied to aircraft growth.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation held a review with IndiGo leadership over 170 to 200 daily cancellations since late November, far above normal. Factors included FDTL transition pains, crew scheduling snags and winter pressures. The norms rolled out in phases from July and November to bolster fatigue management and safety.

Naidu voiced sharp displeasure at IndiGo's handling, noting ample lead time for the rules. He tasked the heads of the Airport Authority of India with aiding stranded passengers and ordered the DGCA to monitor airfares. IndiGo must add airport staff for better support and avoid fare hikes.

At Pune airport, nine of ten bays sat blocked overnight by IndiGo planes lacking pilots, crippling slots for rivals. CEO Pieter Elbers told staff the network's scale amplified the mess, demanding multi-front fixes. MoCA continues close monitoring.

Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Business Editor at Gulf News, covering aviation, financial markets and commodities. A business and financial journalist with a strong interest in multimedia storytelling, she regularly takes complex financial and economic subjects beyond the written word, producing explainer videos that make them easier for a wider audience to understand. Nivetha has interviewed senior policymakers, business leaders and global financial figures both on and off camera. Her past guests include UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, a member of the House of Saud and the founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu. She has also hosted and moderated panels, conferences and awards shows, bringing her newsroom experience to live conversations on business, finance and the economy. An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha is drawn to stories that affect people directly and to reporting that gives a platform to voices that might otherwise go unheard. She was among the first journalists to speak to Petrofac employees in the UAE about unpaid salaries, broke the news of the planned demolition of Dubai’s well-known “Toyota Building”, and helped set the record straight on widely circulated claims that a giant replica of the Moon was coming to Dubai. More recently, her exclusive interview with EDGE Group CEO Hamad Al Marar revealed how the UAE-based defence group deployed its systems along the country’s shore border and established a geofence around the UAE within 48 hours of the February 28 escalation. Prior to joining Gulf News, Nivetha worked at ITP Media, where she helped launch Finance Middle East, a new publication covering the region’s financial sector. Her role spanned reporting and editing, video production, interviews and events. Across print, digital, and video, she focuses on finding the people behind business stories and explaining why those stories matter to the audience reading or watching them.

Sign up for the Daily Briefing

Get the latest news and updates straight to your inbox