IndiGo faces its worst-ever meltdown as over 900 flights across two days are cancelled amid crew shortages and FDTL chaos, triggering passenger anger, political attacks and a government crackdown.

By Friday morning, a new kind of travel advisory was trending on social media-not from a government body, but from ordinary flyers.

“Don't fly IndiGo.”“Never again.”“Worst airline experience ever.”

Across India's airports, stranded passengers were united in frustration as IndiGo-long known for punctuality and reliability-plunged into its worst-ever operational meltdown.

Over 550 flights were cancelled on Thursday, followed by more than 400 on Friday. Hundreds more were delayed, leaving flyers exhausted, angry and out of options.

What's happening with IndiGo? 10 hours lost + 2-hour delay even after boarding, and no information given. If you can't manage your flights, don't trap passengers inside. Very disappointing. @IndiGo6E @RamMNK @PMOIndia Dont fly with @IndiGo6E

- NIKHIL SHEJAWAL (@shejawal_nikhil) December 4, 2025

Guys please cancel the IndiGo flight and go home because the pilot will be too much stress anything can happen during the fly.. don't put your life in danger..@IndiGo6E @PMOIndia #dangerindigo

- Pradeep Kumar (@Pradeep68984638) December 4, 2025

MASSIVE CHAOS OVER INDIGO KOLKATA FLIGHT 6E 6722Delayed by over four hours now.4-5 gate changes officials lying. misleading passengers offered to even elderly, kids's flight was cancelled IndiGo flights delayed'T FLY @IndiGo6E NOW. twitter/zB6D6qodxH

- Abhijit Majumder (@abhijitmajumder) December 2, 2025

At Delhi's IGI Airport, over 220 flights simply didn't take off or land. Bengaluru saw more than 100 cancellations. Hyderabad, over 90.

Airports looked like makeshift dormitories. Travellers slept on floors. Business trips collapsed. Families missed weddings. Parents ran out of milk and formula for toddlers.

The common sentiment:“Why didn't IndiGo tell us earlier?”

Now it's 3:05 am and we don't know when we will fly our flight secluded 23:55 now it's been 4 hours we have been standing in line. One of the worst services of IndiGo @IndiGo6E @MoCA_GoI twitter/IhrLjvgeYa

- kunesh choudhary (@kuneshchoudhar9) December 3, 2025

WORLD-CLASS AIRPORT - WORST AIRLINE EXPERIENCE don't come to airports to shop or sleep. We come to fly on time again, you turned travellers' joy into tragedy.I cancelled my Tuesday ticket because I already know how untrustworthy this airline is - Indigo, please go... Shweta Mahendra (@ShwetaYMahendra) December 4, 2025

@IndiGo6E Don't ever fly this airline. I booked a connecting flight. I flew the first only to be learnt that the second flight got cancelled last min. Hydrabad to Pune B option isn't working. Indigo help care not helping. Starnded nowhere. Please help. #pathetic.

- UTPAL JHA (@sonu_utpal) December 4, 2025

As the crisis deepened, the political chorus grew louder. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi declared that the airline meltdown was symptomatic of a deeper malaise.

“IndiGo fiasco is the cost of this Govt's monopoly model. Once again, it's ordinary Indians who pay the price - in delays, cancellations and helplessness,” he said in a post on X.

He added:

“India deserves fair competition in every sector, not match-fixing monopolies.”

His remarks struck a chord with many stranded travellers who felt the weight of depending on a single dominant carrier.

At the heart of the disruption lies a technical but crucial set of rules: the Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) - norms that cap how long pilots can operate before taking mandatory rest.

IndiGo admitted to the aviation regulator that its planning went awry during the rollout of the second phase of the FDTL norms.

The airline told DGCA that the chaos was primarily due to:

• Misjudgment
• Planning gaps
• Underestimation of crew requirements

With night landing limits tightened and duty hours recalibrated, IndiGo suddenly needed more pilots than anticipated - a shortage that grew rapidly.

The numbers provided by the airline paint a stark picture:

• December availability: 2,357 captains, 2,194 first officers
• November requirement: 2,422 captains, 2,153 first officers
• October requirement: 2,186 captains, 1,948 first officers

The mismatch, especially during peak travel season, was enough to break the system.

Pilot unions didn't mince their words. The Airline Pilots' Association of India (ALPA) commented that the disruptions showed a failure in“proactive resource planning” by dominant carriers. The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) went further, alleging IndiGo had enforced a hiring freeze despite having two years to prepare for the norms.

According to FIP, the airline“inexplicably” halted new recruitment, worsening the shortage.

There were also murmurs within pilot circles that the airline might be using the crisis to pressure DGCA into diluting the new norms - a claim the regulator hasn't endorsed.

Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu held a high-level review meeting and expressed strong disapproval of IndiGo's handling of the transition.

The ministry said officers had been deployed inside IndiGo's operational control centres for real-time monitoring, while a DGCA team inspecting Delhi's Terminal 1 found the airline's ground staff“inadequate to manage disruption-induced crowding”.

IndiGo was instructed to:

• Inform passengers well in advance about cancellations
• Strengthen manpower at terminals
• Ensure no spike in airfares amid disruptions
• Submit a detailed roadmap on crew recruitment, roster restructuring and safety risk mitigation
• File fortnightly progress reports

It was an unprecedented level of oversight for a private airline - evidence of how deeply the crisis had cut into India's aviation ecosystem.

In a move likely to stir debate in pilot communities, IndiGo requested temporary exemptions from specific FDTL requirements for its A320 fleet until February 10, 2026.

DGCA will review the request, but it is clear the airline is attempting to stretch existing resources without compromising safety norms.

The airline told the regulator that operations would be“fully stabilised” only by February 10, acknowledging that more cancellations are expected until December 8, after which flight schedules will be trimmed to reduce chaos.

In a message to employees, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers offered a sober assessment:

Normalising operations and bringing back punctuality will not be an“easy target”.

Internally, the airline continues firefighting mode - rerostering pilots, rescheduling flights, reallocating aircraft and trying to maintain transparency with both regulators and passengers.

Behind all the numbers and official statements lies the real impact: families missing weddings, business trips collapsing, stranded travellers spending nights on airport floors.

For many, it wasn't just the cancellations - it was the silence. Passengers complained of:

• No proactive communication
• Delayed refunds
• Lack of ground staff
• Minimal assistance for rebooking

The disruption, now stretching into days, has shaken customer trust that IndiGo took years to build.

#IndigoDelayThe major crisis of Indigo flights...the suffering of passengers. Hours of waiting at the #airport live, the fire of hunger and thirst, and Indigo Airlines' staff shortage all at once. Distraught passengers wandering around, people enduring sickness, fever, and... twitter/LQPPEGpqNw

- Simply Shashi (@ShashiSimply) December 5, 2025

“मेरी बेटी को पैड चाहिए” “My daughter needs a pad” shouts a helpless father as lacs of flyers found themselves stranded at airports across the country after 550 Indigo flights got cancelled. Indigo holds a 64% share in India's domestic civil aviation market. The common man... twitter/lCWRZyVBIR

- Pankhuri Pathak पंखुड़ी पाठक پنکھڑی (@pankhuripathak) December 5, 2025

Thanks to Indigo for delaying flight to act against @IndiGo6E/ @MoCA_GoI twitter/SVDFvphrlN

- Squint Neon (@TheSquind) December 4, 2025

So the #Indigo fiasco yet again bares the poor state of civil aviation. Passengers left stranded for entire night not being given baggage to exit and Sadly some say they should not act entitled coz they didn't book a private jet. Budget airline or not accountability is non... twitter/sjHWrHCGbn

- Sumedha Sharma (@sumedhasharma86) December 5, 2025

Do not fly IndiGo. Passengers are being left stranded for hours - even overnight - with zero information or support. The airline's disregard for people is unacceptable, and it's shameful that they face no accountability. @MoCA_GoI @DGCAIndia @IndiGo6E #indigo #mumbai #airport twitter/SLjIMp6Yb6

- mmk666 (@mmk6664) December 4, 2025

The next few days are expected to remain turbulent as IndiGo trims schedules and readjusts crew duties. The airline's request for FDTL relaxations, if approved, could ease pressure but may invite scrutiny from pilot bodies.

What is certain is that India's aviation sector - from regulators to passengers - will look at IndiGo differently. A brand built on clockwork precision is now grappling with reputational turbulence.

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