New Delhi, Dec 4 (UNI) The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday sought a detailed explanation from IndiGo for the cancellation of over 1,200 flights, which caused significant inconvenience to passengers, and demanded corrective measures to stabilize the airline’s services.
IndiGo’s flight operations were severely disrupted this week due to a combination of crew shortages, Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) rules, air traffic control (ATC) system failures, and other operational issues.
According to a press note issued by the aviation regulator, IndiGo cancelled 1,232 flights, attributing 755 of them to crew and Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) constraints. Another 92 flights were cancelled due to ATC system failures, while 258 were affected by airport or airspace restrictions. The remaining 127 cancellations were linked to miscellaneous operational issues.
The DGCA noted that a significant portion of cancellations stemmed from crew scheduling challenges and airspace-related factors, many of which were beyond the airline’s direct control.
IndiGo’s on-time performance (OTP) also saw a sharp decline, dropping to 67.70 percent in November from 84.1 percent in October. Key contributors to delays included ATC restrictions (16 percent), crew-related issues (6 percent), airport facility constraints (3 percent), and other operational factors (8 percent).
The regulator said it has clarified procedures related to the revised FDTL norms and directed IndiGo to streamline crew rostering and strengthen coordination with ATC and airport authorities.
IndiGo has informed DGCA that it is taking several steps to stabilise operations, including: Strengthening crew planning and rostering, enhancing coordination with ATC and airports, improving turnaround and disruption-management processes
Passengers have been advised to check flight status through official channels before travelling.
In a separate statement, IndiGo said, “We acknowledge that IndiGo’s operations have been significantly disrupted across the network for the past two days, and we sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience caused.”
The airline cited “unforeseen operational challenges” such as minor technology glitches, winter season schedule shifts, adverse weather, congestion in the aviation system, and the impact of updated FDTL rules. These factors, it said, had compounded operational pressures in a manner that was not anticipated.
To restore stability, IndiGo has implemented calibrated adjustments to schedules for the next 48 hours. The airline said its teams are working round the clock to ease passenger discomfort and that alternate travel arrangements or refunds are being offered where applicable.
Crew shortage was also cited by the airlines as the reason behind their grappling with the disruptions. “Implementation of updated crew rostering rules (Flight Duty Time Limitations) had a negative compounding impact on our operations in a way that was not feasible to be anticipated,” said an IndiGo spokesperson in a statement.
Along with crew-related challenges, IndiGo also pointed to other operational factors that together snowballed into the current disruption.
“Minor technology glitches, schedule changes linked to the winter season, adverse weather conditions, increased congestion in the aviation system, and the implementation of updated crew rostering rules (Flight Duty Time Limitations) had a negative compounding impact on our operations in a way that was not feasible to be anticipated,” an IndiGo spokesperson said in a statement.
DGCA seeks explanation from IndiGo over 1,200 flight cancellations
