650 flights cancelled as chaos at IndiGo stretches into Day 6

IndiGo’s operational meltdown stretched into its sixth straight day on Sunday, with 650 flights cancelled and several more delayed, even as the Civil Aviation Ministry asserted that air travel across the country was stabilising and IndiGo’s flight numbers were rising.

Passengers at airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and other major cities continued to face disruptions through the day despite assurances of improvement.

“To reduce passenger inconvenience at airports, multiple stakeholder engagements were held and real-time airport situations have been monitored continuously over the past four days. Regular meetings were convened with all operators, airport directors, ground-handling agencies and all other stakeholders. The operators were instructed to provide all essential facilities for stranded passengers, with special care for senior citizens and Divyang passengers,” said Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu.

Meanwhile, pilot union ALPA India said in line with the DGCA’s appeal to all pilot associations, it stood ready to fully support the DGCA and the ministry in resolving the current situation and helping passengers in every way possible.

“However, rolling back the revised flight duty time limitations (FDTL) civil aviation requirements (CAR) puts fatigue protections and passenger safety at risk,” the association said.

The airline said it expected operations to fully stabilise by December 10 and confirmed that 137 of its 138 destinations were back in service. It claimed that it had operated around 1,650 flights on Sunday, up from 1,500 a day earlier, and reported an improvement in on-time performance to 75 per cent from 30 per cent on Saturday.

The Civil Aviation Ministry said IndiGo’s operations had risen significantly, from 706 flights on December 5 to more than 1,565 on December 6. The ministry also said all other domestic airlines were operating smoothly and at full capacity. Airport directors in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Goa reported normal conditions at the terminals, with no crowding at check-in, security or boarding points.

The Centre has moved swiftly to contain the impact of IndiGo’s mass cancellations. With airfares shooting up on several routes, the ministry imposed an immediate cap on fares to prevent overcharging. It also directed IndiGo to deliver all separated baggage within 48 hours, clear refunds without delay and ensure that passengers faced no additional fees for rescheduling flights affected by cancellations. According to the ministry, IndiGo has already processed refunds worth Rs 610 crore, and support cells have been set up to help stranded passengers.

A day after issuing a show-cause notice to the airline’s CEO on his failure, the DGCA has also issued a show-cause notice to IndiGo’s accountable manager and said significant lapses in planning and oversight led to the crisis. IndiGo has been asked to explain within 24 hours why enforcement action should not be taken.

Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol on Sunday said passengers had endured mental distress and harassment due to IndiGo’s failures. He said accountability would be fixed once the inquiry report was submitted and added that instructions had been issued to ensure all cancelled passengers “receive refunds”.

As the crisis unfolded, an unverified open letter claiming to be written by an IndiGo employee began circulating widely on social media. The letter accuses CEO Pieter Elbers and senior leaders of fostering a culture of intimidation, mismanagement and fatigue-driven rostering. It alleges that Elbers was on holiday in the Netherlands as the crisis escalated. The identity of the author remains unknown, and none of the executives named in the letter have responded. IndiGo has not commented on the claims.

IndiGo said in a statement that its board met on the very first day of disruptions and subsequently activated a high-level crisis management group. The group includes Chairman Vikram Singh Mehta, board directors Gregg Saretsky, Mike Whitaker and Amitabh Kant, along with CEO Pieter Elbers.

The airline said the group had been meeting regularly to monitor the situation and support efforts to restore operations, while ensuring that refunds and fee waivers were extended to affected passengers.

As thousands of passengers remain affected, the Northeast Frontier Railway announced special trains from Dibrugarh to New Delhi and from Guwahati to Howrah, along with 20 additional coaches attached to 18 trains to manage the rush.

Despite some improvement, IndiGo said stabilisation of the network would take until December 10.