Mumbai, Dec 3 (UNI) Severe disruption was reported at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Wednesday, December 3, as IndiGo faced widespread delays and cancellations triggered by an acute shortage of cabin and cockpit crew. Similar issues were recorded across major airports nationwide.
At Mumbai airport alone, about 32 flights—16 departures and 16 arrivals—were cancelled. Across the country, more than 130 IndiGo services were affected. Sources said the carrier cancelled over 70 flights, including several operating from Bengaluru and Mumbai. Separately, 38 IndiGo flights were cancelled from Delhi airport due to technical issues and operational requirements.
In an official statement, the airline acknowledged that its operations had been “significantly disrupted across the network for the past two days.” IndiGo apologised to passengers and said it had implemented calibrated adjustments to its schedules to stabilise operations. While it did not specify the total number of cancellations, the airline confirmed that these measures would continue for at least 48 hours to help restore punctuality.
IndiGo attributed the disruptions to multiple factors. A spokesperson cited “unforeseen operational challenges,” including minor technology glitches, winter-related schedule changes, adverse weather, increased aviation-system congestion and the implementation of updated crew rostering rules under Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL). These combined issues, the airline said, created a compounding operational burden that was difficult to foresee. IndiGo stated that passengers affected by cancellations were being offered refunds or alternate travel arrangements.
The turbulence came a day after a separate technical glitch disrupted check-in systems for several airlines, including Air India.
On Tuesday evening, multiple airports experienced check-in delays of at least 45 minutes due to a third-party system failure. Air India confirmed the issue in a post on X at 9:49 p.m., stating that the problem had subsequently been resolved.
