(MENAFN- Live Mint) IndiGo, the country's largest airline, remained engulfed in operational turmoil on Thursday as more than 180 flights were cancelled nationwide for a third consecutive day. While the airline attributed the cascading disruption to stricter government rules on pilot fatigue, weather conditions and technical glitches, the chief of India's top pilot union has reportedly alleged that the crisis is partly“artificially created” by airlines to pressure the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

What triggered IndiGo's latest wave of mass flight cancellations?

By Thursday morning, at least 180 flights had been cancelled, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at major airports including New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune and Bengaluru.

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On Wednesday, the cancellations were estimated at over 150 flights. The widening disruption comes just weeks after India implemented updated flight duty time limitation (FDTL) rules designed to improve pilot rest and safety.

The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) said IndiGo failed to recalibrate its roster adequately before the new norms took effect on 1 November, according to an ANI news agency report. The updated rules expand mandatory rest periods and introduce tighter limits on night operations.

IndiGo has acknowledged the regulatory change as a factor, saying only that“stricter flight duty time limits” had contributed to the cancellations.

Shares of InterGlobe Aviation, IndiGo's parent company, fell 3.4% during the day and are down 6% for the week.

Did airlines create 'artificial disruptions'? What does the pilots' body allege?

Speaking to news agency PTI, Airline Pilots' Association of India (ALPA India) President Sam Thomas accused airlines - and IndiGo in particular - of resorting to deliberate operational slowdowns to resist regulatory tightening.

“I wouldn't put this as unprecedented. It happens from time to time, particularly with mostly IndiGo Airlines,” he told PTI, adding that ALPA has repeatedly cautioned the DGCA.

According to Thomas,“anytime rules that are promulgated are not in favour of the airlines, they, like spoiled children, tend to delay flights, bring in disruptions causing a lot of public inconvenience so as to put pressure on the ministry or the DGCA in order to get their way - and this is putting it mildly.”

Also Read | IndiGo Flights Cancellation News Live: 180 flights cancelled; share price drops

The ALPA India chief argued that India remains an outlier globally in prioritising schedule reliability over crew rest.“This is the only country in the world where passenger convenience takes preference over passenger safety,” he was quoted as saying in the report.

Why is IndiGo under so much pressure?

The updated FDTL norms were announced last year and implemented in phases. Thomas criticised airlines for failing to prepare despite having“sufficient time”.

“Despite their crying and DGCA bending backwards to implement it in phases, we now find ourselves in a position where the airlines do not have the requisite number of pilots - or so they claim - to operate these flights in a timely manner.”

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The ALPA India chief suggested that airlines had reduced pilot numbers due to“commercial interests”, treating aviation staffing like other corporate sectors.

“Reduction of the number of pilots has been seen by HR as something... you know, the way they treat a software engineer or an FMCG company. The same yardstick is being applied to pilots and this is one of the results.”

He warned that flight disruptions were likely to worsen in northern India as winter fog sets in, amplifying fatigue-related risks.

Are IndiGo's punctuality claims exaggerated?

Thomas also accused IndiGo of misleading passengers with artificially shortened flight schedules.“IndiGo goes one step further in trying to show that they are on time. These are fictitious times... they declare that a flight from Bangalore to Bombay takes 2 hours, then reach there in 1 hour and 40 minutes and announce that this is IndiGo Standard Time. These are fraudulent practices,” he told the news agency.

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He said ALPA India had notified the DGCA, which is now“taking a serious look”.

What happens next? Will the disruption continue?

IndiGo, which operates more than 2,000 domestic flights daily, has been under pressure to stabilise its network quickly. The DGCA is examining the scale of cancellations and the airline's preparedness for the roster transition.

With IndiGo holding over 60% of the domestic market, any prolonged instability is likely to disrupt the wider Indian aviation ecosystem.

The ALPA India chief expressed hope that regulators will remain firm.“We hope that this time the DGCA and the ministry will not succumb to these kinds of pressures put forward by low-cost airlines or airlines in general,” Thomas was quoted as saying in the report.

Passengers have been advised to check their updated flight status before heading to the airport as delays and cancellations may persist.

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