| Date | 2 December 2025 – present |
|---|---|
| Location | India |
| Type | Flight cancellations |
| Cause | Failure to adjust schedule to new crew worktime and rest rules |
| Perpetrator | IndiGo |
| Outcome | 3,400-4,000+ flights cancelled as of 8 December [1] |
In December 2025, IndiGo, the largest airline in India by fleet, experienced a scheduling crisis after failing to adjust to new crew flight time limitations. The disruption, the worst in the history of the airline as well as the Indian aviation, has resulted in thousands of flight cancellations across the country. [1]
In late 2025, IndiGo was India's biggest airline by passenger share, holding 60%-65% of the domestic market, over twice as much as its nearest competitor Air India. The airline's low fares and punctuality were major selling points, with an average on-time performance exceeding 90%, the best of any airline in India. [2] [3] IndiGo also maintained low cancellation rates, for example 0.51% reported on October 2025 as opposed to 0.69% of Air India Group, 2.35% of Star Air, 4.31% of SpiceJet and 4.97% of Alliance Air. [4] IndiGo's market share is notable for being one of the highest in Indian aviation history as well as having the highest domestic market share at the time compared to airlines across the world, partially due to the failure of competitors such as Jet Airways and GoAir over increased expenses and debt. [5] [6]
In 2024, the Indian government announced it would implement new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules in June that year, which increased pilot rest periods and reduced night work in order to combat pilot fatigue. IndiGo and other airlines pushed back on the changes, delaying implementation until 2025. [7] [8] IndiGo was able to complete the first phase from July 1 without issues, but due to its low cost and staffing level model could not meet the full implementation of the rules as ordered on November 1, particularly the limitation on night landings for crew dropping from six to two per week. Leading upto the winter 2025 service disruptions, the DGCA had approved winter schedule effective October 26 of 15,014 weekly departures for IndiGo marking a 6% increase from summer schedule of the same year and a 9.66% increase compared to the previous winter, based on an estimated higher aircraft availability at 403 against 351 in the summer while the airlines was observed to be able to operate only 339 in October and 344 in November. [9] IndiGo had reported 1,232 flight cancellations in November to the DGCA, 755 of which were due to crew and FDTL-related constraints, 258 were due to airspace and airport restrictions and 92 were due to air traffic control system failure incidents while the airline's on-time performance (OTP) had also worsened from 84.1% in October, to 67.7% in November. [7] [10] Notably IndiGo had also seen slower post-pandemic growth of pilot and cockpit strength relative to the expansion of its fleet among other airlines with 1,247 pilots added for 91 additional aircraft from financial year 2022 to 2024, compared to addition of 1,420 pilots corresponding to 61 added aircraft for Air India in the same time period. [11]
According to the airline, other factors behind the disruptions included technology issues (such as the A320 software update), seasonal schedule realignment, airport congestion, and adverse weather conditions. IndiGo apologised for the inconvenience and initiated temporary schedule adjustments to stabilise operations over the following 48 hours. [12] [7] [12] In response to the disruptions, the Federation of Indian Pilots pointed out that other airlines had adapted without major impact and that IndiGo's challenges stemmed from "years of lean manpower planning" and delayed hiring, non-poaching arrangements and other short-sighted planning practices. [7] [12] Travel to and from weddings in particular was severely interrupted as the disruption coincided with India's peak wedding season during the winter months. [13]
| Date | Flights cancelled | On-time Performance |
|---|---|---|
| October | 84.1% [7] | |
| November | 1,232 total | 67.7% [7] |
| 1 December | 49.5% [14] | |
| 2 December | 35% [14] | |
| 3 December | 200+ [15] | 19.7% [16] |
| 4 December | 550 [17] | 8.5% [16] |
| 5 December | ~1600 [18] | |
| 6 December | ~800 [18] | |
| 7 December | 650 [18] | |
| 8 December | 650 [19] | |
| 9 December | ~400 [20] |
The crisis is considered to have begun on 2 December observing increasingly severe number of flight cancellations, peaking at roughly 1,600 cancellations on a 5 December alone. [19] [18] On 5 December 2025, to cope with the management issues, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) granted IndiGo a temporary exemption from some of the new FDTL rules, notably, the night duty rules and Leave-For-Rest norm. [21] The exemption will last until 10 February, with reviews of crew utilisation every 15 days and a roadmap to full compliance required. [19] The move was criticised by pilot unions as compromising on safety. [22] The Ministry of Civil Aviation setup 24x7 hotline to assist passengers affected by the service disruption and the Central Government ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident. [14] [23] The Ministry of Railways decided to add 116 more coaches in 37 premium trains for the convenience of travellers, in response to the crisis. [24] While cancellation of flights on 4 December plunged Indigo's on time performance to 8.5% from 19.7% of the previous day, [16] Indigo promised full refunds for those affected by cancellations spanning 5 to 15 December. [17] As fares rose on other airlines in response to the disruptions, the government placed price caps on 6 December, and additionally ordered IndiGo to complete all pending refunds for the disruption by the next day. [25] [26] The DCGA sent a show cause notice to IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers asking for a response within 24 hours pending regulatory action to be taken against the airline. [27] [28] IndiGo estimated that normal operations would be restored between 10-15 December. [5] Citing the inability to conduct flight operations efficiently, DGCA ordered 5% cuts on IndiGo flight schedule that was later amended to 10% by the Civil Aviation Ministry, with a focus on major routes also served by competitors. [9] [29]
The CEO of IndiGo, Pieter Elbers, made a public apology on social media acknowledging the severe disruptions and promised a return to function of normalisation of services. [10] Additionally, the airline stated that its board had set up a crisis management group on 7 December. [30]
Minister of aviation K. Rammohan Naidu deliberated in Rajya Sabha that the government will take “very, very strict action” against IndiGo for its recent flight-disruption fiasco, blaming the chaos on poor crew-roster management rather than technical glitches. He said that this was not just about punishing one airline, but about setting an example for the entire civil-aviation sector. [31]
Some commentators saw IndiGo's market dominance as a factor, with Air Deccan founder G. R. Gopinath critiquing the "duopoly" between IndiGo and Air India and stating the former would possibly be unable to recover from the crisis, [32] [33] while MP Shashi Tharoor decried the lack of responsibility taken by and poor response from IndiGo and civil aviation authoirities as well as profiteering in the aviation market during the disruptions [34] Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that the crisis represented a failure of the "Gov't monopoly model", calling for "fair competition in every sector, not match-fixing monopolies". Naidu replied by claiming that the government "has always aimed to increase competition" and that the disruption were not a political but rather a public issue. [35]
While the stock was reported to have shed almost ₹40,000 crore in market value from 2 to 9 December marking more than 15% decrease, BofA securities and Goldman Sachs maintained a 'buy' position while slashing target price with the former estimating 9% cuts to Q3FY26 net income and the later expecting the IndiGo stock to remain volatile but placing confidence in IndiGo due to its dominant market position, lowest-cost structure, strong visibility on fleet additions, and benefits of expanding demand in India. [36] [37] Meanwhile, Moody's downgraded IndiGo’s human capital issuer score to 4 from 3, terming the disruptions as "credit negative" for IndiGo but adding that fundamentals of its Baa3 rating remain strong, including its leading market share and healthy demand for air travel in India, predicting IndiGo's long-term leverage to be sustainable below 3.5x. [38] Jeffries removed IndiGo from its India model portfolio for 2026. [39]
https://uptaknews.in/indigo-flight-updates-%e2%82%b9750-crore-refund/