New Delhi, Dec 5 (UNI) After days of hundreds of flights being cancelled and many more delayed, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) withdrew a contentious provision on pilot working hours that had caused major operational turbulence across airlines.
IndiGo, the country’s largest airline, grappled with widespread flight cancellations and delays triggered by pilot shortage triggered by the newly implemented duty-time regulations.
The withdrawn clause, part of the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms introduced in late November, had expanded mandatory weekly rest requirements for pilots.
Airlines argued that the sudden change, introduced during the peak winter schedule, exacerbated existing crew shortages and destabilised rosters nationwide.
IndiGo which was the worst affected, with over 750 flights cancelled on Friday, following more than 550 cancellations on Thursday.
The disruption entered its third consecutive day, forcing IndiGo airline to suspend all 235 domestic departures from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport until 11:59 pm on Friday. Sources indicated that disruptions may extend well into saturday despite the revocation of the order.
Major airports—including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai—also faced significant operational strain. In Chennai, IndiGo’s schedule is expected to remain disrupted until at least 6 p.m.
In its official statement, IndiGo apologised to passengers and industry stakeholders, describing the situation as the result of “unforeseen events”.
The airline said ground staff were providing assistance, arranging refreshments, handling baggage retrieval, and offering hotel accommodations or full refunds where applicable, it said. Passengers had earlier taken to the social media highliting inadequacies in providing food, water and hotel stay for stranded passengers.
“With the cancellations affecting one of the country’s busiest travel hubs, significant congestion and delays are expected across terminals,” the airline said, urging passengers to check flight status before heading to the airport.
The DGCA’s decision to pull back the contentious rest-day proviso which said holidays and rest days cannot be clubbed followed feedback from airlines, who said strict FDTL implementation was impossible in the short term.
IndiGo has informed authorities that full compliance with the revised FDTL framework is unlikely before February 2026 and has requested partial exemptions to stabilise its network.
In a review meeting chaired by union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu, the airline acknowledged that the new norms—though designed to improve pilot well-being—had added immense pressure amid an industry-wide cockpit crew shortage.
Following the regulator’s rollback, the DGCA said it would continue consultations with operators to ensure passenger convenience while balancing pilot safety.
IndiGo says teams are working closely with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, DGCA, BCAS, AAI, and airport operators to contain the ripple effect of the disruptions.
“We are fully committed to restoring and streamlining operations as swiftly as possible,” the airline said.
As thousands of passengers remain stranded and cancellations continue to ripple across major airports, authorities are monitoring the situation to help airlines return to stable schedules over the coming days.
IndiGo operations in turmoil; light at end of tunnel as DGCA withdraws pilot duty rule cancellations
