IndiGo has historically been known for being incredibly operationally reliable, and it’s one of the things that has allowed the carrier to become the largest in India. However, the airline is having a meltdown of epic proportions, and unfortunately the carrier’s lack of planning is to blame. This is really rough…
In this post:
IndiGo cancels thousands of flights, with no end in sight
IndiGo has today canceled more than 1,000 flights, including all flights out of its New Delhi (DEL) hub. This is the fourth day of operational issues for the airline, though it’s expected that today will be the worst. For what it’s worth, IndiGo has 65% domestic market share in India, and operates around 2,300 flights per day.
So, what’s going on here? The core issue relates to new pilot fatigue rules. Indian regulators have progressively been introducing stricter regulations that require longer rest periods for pilots, and place more restrictions on nighttime flying. IndiGo operates a massive number of flights, and also does a lot of nighttime flying, so obviously the airline is greatly impacted by these rule changes.
The thing is, the airline had lots of time to prepare for this. The first round of restrictions were implemented as of July 1, 2025, and the second round of restrictions were implemented as of November 1, 2025. So why would that suddenly be causing a meltdown now, several weeks later? It seemingly comes down to a few factors.
IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers has internally blamed the meltdown on technology glitches, schedule changes, adverse weather conditions, heightened congestion, and the implementation of the new rules.
However, it’s pretty clear that IndiGo’s lack of planning for new pilot rest requirements is the primary issue here, and regulators have outright stated that the primary cause was misjudgment and planning gaps on the part of the airline.
IndiGo expects that operations will progressively improve starting tomorrow (Saturday, December 6, 2025). Initially the airline stated that it wouldn’t be able to fully resume normal operations until February 2026. However, regulators have decided to relax the new crew rest requirements for pilots for the time being, and the airline now hopes to resume normal operations between December 10 and December 15, 2025.
This is a really embarrassing meltdown for IndiGo
First of all, it’s really incredible to see how IndiGo got itself into this situation. While IndiGo has historically been a low cost carrier, the company has long been very well run, with leadership valuing safety and reliability over everything else.
So to see the airline misjudge this situation so badly is really shocking. And worst of all, this is something that can’t be fixed overnight. Fortunately regulators have relaxed the rules for the coming weeks, but otherwise, the only options are either to park planes (requiring flights to be cut) or to increase pilot hiring (which can’t happen overnight).
I also have to say that it’s really awful to see the scenes coming out of Indian airports. You have all kinds of passengers stranded for extended periods of time, with minimal information or help provided by the airline. By all accounts, the carrier’s handling of this situation has been abysmal. So it’s not just the meltdown in the first place, but also how the airline responded. As you’d expect, with increased scrutiny from regulators and the media, the airline is now taking this a lot more seriously.
For those who are stranded, though, please remember that the frontline employees aren’t in any way at fault for what’s going on. Trust me, they’re suffering as much as anyone, and they weren’t the ones who made the decisions that caused these outcomes.
I get that they’re the people in customer facing roles, but please treat them with respect. It seems that it’s pure chaos at many Indian airports, with people shouting endlessly at staff. The frustration is warranted, but misdirecting it is just bad for everyone.
Bottom line
IndiGo is having one of the worst airline meltdowns that we’ve ever seen, with over 1,000 flights canceled today alone. These operational issues stem from India’s new pilot fatigue rules, which the airline obviously hadn’t properly planned for.
While these rules had been implemented several weeks ago, the operation melted down now due to a variety of operational factors. So clearly the airline was planning staffing based on a best case scenario situation, when that never ends well for airlines.
What do you make of this IndiGo meltdown?
Indigo got some rules relief to help get their operation back on track but the real reason why this is such a big deal is because India allowed Indigo to become so large which itself is because Air India is so much smaller than it should be because it has been so badly run for so long.
the tier of LCCs and ULCCs below Indigo has not been as successful as Indigo is.
Indigo...
Indigo got some rules relief to help get their operation back on track but the real reason why this is such a big deal is because India allowed Indigo to become so large which itself is because Air India is so much smaller than it should be because it has been so badly run for so long.
the tier of LCCs and ULCCs below Indigo has not been as successful as Indigo is.
Indigo needs to adapt to higher labor standards but the implementation of these new rules is going to have to take time and India needs to push Indigo to get it right.
This is the result of systemic corruption, and something India brought onto itself
- India is a country that gives full support to Israel, creates bogus accounts to spout Zionist propaganda.
- India pretends to be an ally of the west, but is duplicitous with Putin
- India is also the financial scam capital of the world. Thousands of YouTube videos catching such scammers out.
Sometimes countries need pain to occur for a reset to happen.
"India is a country that gives full support to Israel, creates bogus accounts to spout Zionist propaganda."
Well, at least there's something good about India. Hopefully they'll supply Israel with some weapons to get rid of more Palestinians, especially the future terrorists.
Come back from the grave, Epstein? You are a disgusting person to wish death on children "especially the future terrorists"
This is CRIMINAL CORRUPTION.
The crews were too busy throwing (and eating!) poop at each other.
This is a classic case of being penny wise but pound foolish..
IndiGo was given ample time to adjust their flights / crew rostering ahead of the new FDTL regulations which of course meant having additional pilots and crew..
And having more pilots and crew and more flights would obviously lead to increased costs..
But IndiGo, in an attempt to avoid taking on this cost tried to kick the can down the road as much...
This is a classic case of being penny wise but pound foolish..
IndiGo was given ample time to adjust their flights / crew rostering ahead of the new FDTL regulations which of course meant having additional pilots and crew..
And having more pilots and crew and more flights would obviously lead to increased costs..
But IndiGo, in an attempt to avoid taking on this cost tried to kick the can down the road as much as they could..
However, now with the chaos that has happened, it has resulted in greater costs / reputational damage to the airline which is still ongoing and reeling from..
Perhaps, if IndiGo actually had made additional arrangements with an increase in their costs / expenditure, we would not be having this situation in the 1st place..
The cost of performing additional flights and crews is comparatively lesser compared to the cost of cancelling thousands of flights (including connecting flights) and refunds and not to say about the damage to their reputation and brand.
Hi all,
I spent many years working in the crew scheduling department of a major airline in Brazil and one of my team’s core responsibilities was partnering with our crew scheduling software vendors to update the system whenever new fatigue regulations were introduced. Beyond adjusting the technology, we also had to model the operational impact of these rules on future schedules to ensure we would have enough qualified crew available.
This was never a simple...
Hi all,
I spent many years working in the crew scheduling department of a major airline in Brazil and one of my team’s core responsibilities was partnering with our crew scheduling software vendors to update the system whenever new fatigue regulations were introduced. Beyond adjusting the technology, we also had to model the operational impact of these rules on future schedules to ensure we would have enough qualified crew available.
This was never a simple process. Implementing new fatigue standards required extensive system changes, detailed scenario analyses, and quite often the hiring and training of additional pilots. And as many of you know, recruiting and qualifying new flight crew takes considerable time. In my experience, if new fatigue regulations demand increased staffing, you need at least a one year runway to adjust systems, run simulations, assess risk, and bring additional pilots onboard.
With that in mind, if regulators in India announced new fatigue measures without providing a sufficient transition period for carriers to perform all of the above, a disruption of this magnitude was not just foreseeable, it was inevitable. It is likely that no comprehensive trial run of the schedule was performed under the new rules or that crew capacity planning never fully incorporated the regulatory changes.
Interestingly, I stepped into the role of manager for crew scheduling systems and crew capacity planning at my former airline precisely during a similar meltdown caused by inadequate long term crew planning. At the time I was working as a project manager and was tasked with leading the root cause analysis to understand exactly how and why the breakdown occurred.
Great insight, thanks for the perspective Bruno.
DGCA said it gave Airlines between 1-1.5yrs to implement the changes.
That's more than enough time I believe to adjust.
If they weren't able to hire enough pilots, they could have reduced operations slightly to balance out till they have the required crew to scale back up.
It is not just about planning, if they have operated to the letter of the law right exactly at the border line. Then a reduction of the number of night flights and night flying hours per pilot plus an increase in rest time will create a need for more pilots. And it does take time to ramp up the number of pilots.
As an LCC they probably scheduled to the max of the law to reduce operating expenses.
I think India has a problem
Any Good News out of India lately?
Let’s see… ‘Putin, Modi agree to expand and widen India-Russia trade, strengthen friendship…’ oh, so, no, there’s no Good News out of India lately. Sorry. Normally I wouldn’t disparage an entire country, but, in this case… Oof. Yikes. C’mon guys. That’s awful. Eww.
Indian poop throwing festival?
Most pro Zionist accounts are based in India too
This is unrelated to the post, but as someone who's been on a very long hiatus from this blog, what happened to the other contributers to OMAAT such as Tiffany/Travis etc?
lndigo deserves this and more than this
they were having unhealthy competition against AI, spicejet
they antogonized govt by leasing aircraft from turkish airlines
whose president was anti india god punished them
thanks now their market share will drop substantially and
director general of civil aviation will slap the with hefty fine
for their failure to implement new crew duty time limitation
cdtl rules. and the airlines who...
lndigo deserves this and more than this
they were having unhealthy competition against AI, spicejet
they antogonized govt by leasing aircraft from turkish airlines
whose president was anti india god punished them
thanks now their market share will drop substantially and
director general of civil aviation will slap the with hefty fine
for their failure to implement new crew duty time limitation
cdtl rules. and the airlines who collected excessive fares from
public (grey market in india it is called black market) will also be
fined heavily i will also write to DGCA new delhi about this
unfair business practices.
Who was God punishing when he crashed the Air India 787?
So in other words, IndiGo deserves to suffer because it isn't Hindutva Airlines. Presumably you also work for SpiceJet, which has been a complete joke for years.
Go throw some more poop.
@Natarajan Sivsubramanian
You are a joke and a good example of the corrupt and ill informed #godiMedia. Your PM Modi is a criminal.
If I didn’t want to adopt a new rule and I controlled 65% of the market, and I knew passenger chaos would result in a relaxation of said rule…. then it’s plausible that I might just decide to not implement the rule and let the authorities deal with it in hopes that the new rule gets waived.
One hell of a risky bet to take though, so it’s not something I would feel comfortable doing.
If I didn’t want to adopt a new rule and I controlled 65% of the market, and I knew passenger chaos would result in a relaxation of said rule…. then it’s plausible that I might just decide to not implement the rule and let the authorities deal with it in hopes that the new rule gets waived.
One hell of a risky bet to take though, so it’s not something I would feel comfortable doing.
They carry 65% of domestic passengers and since they partner with a number of airlines it means missing onward connections so it’s going to cost them a fortune.
Whilst they apologised to passengers, they failed to apologise to all the front line staff who had to put up with the mess and abuse.
Apparently this was intentional. Due to Indigo's large market share and effect of cancellations, the new safety guideline has been postponed. Pretty pathetic and I hope they get heavily fined.
India fatigue
Welcome to India and gross mismanagement which is a norm! Why is anyone even surprised
The CEO of Indigo is Dutch (former CEO of KLM).
If they don’t hand out delft blue houses, it doesn’t count
What do I see? What I see day in and day out. Senior management never wanting to get into the nitty gritty of running a company and thinking AI is going to be the savior. Didn't anyone sit down and plan out for longer pilot rest requirements?
AI gonna save the day... no, clearly, Air India is not going to save IndiGo... *wink*