IndiGo Issues Apology After Nationwide Flight Delays, Cites Crew Rostering Rules, Technical Snags and Weather as Key Factors

IndiGo, among India’s largest airline by market share, issued a formal apology on Wednesday following severe disruptions across its network, attributing the delays and cancellations to a combination of operational challenges that have unfolded over the past 48 hours. 

Crazy scenes at Mumbai Airport. Pic Via: Jagriti Chandra

The airline said it had taken corrective steps to stabilise operations and ease passenger inconvenience.

In a statement, IndiGo acknowledged the scale of the disruption, which impacted flights at major hubs including Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. 

The airline said it was grappling with “a multitude of unforeseen operational challenges,” including minor technology failures, congestion at airports, adverse winter weather, and new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules that affected crew scheduling.

IndiGo’s admission follows days of growing passenger frustration, as delays mounted and services ground to a near-halt in several locations. 

Data released by aviation authorities revealed that only about 35% of IndiGo’s more than 2,200 daily flights operated on time on December 2.

The carrier cited a cascading effect caused by simultaneous issues. “While individually manageable, their cumulative effect was not feasible to anticipate,” the airline said. 

It added that new crew rostering regulations—designed to ensure more humane work hours for pilots and cabin crew—have compounded staffing shortages, making it harder to manage disruptions effectively.

IndiGo also confirmed that the situation was further complicated on Wednesday by an unexpected failure in airport check-in systems, affecting not only its own services but those of other airlines as well. 

The outage, which hit multiple airports simultaneously, forced many airlines to switch to manual check-in procedures, slowing down passenger processing and triggering additional delays.

In response, IndiGo has implemented temporary schedule adjustments to bring short-term relief. These “calibrated changes” will remain in place for 48 hours and are expected to help normalise operations and restore punctuality across the network. 

The airline said affected travellers were being offered refunds or alternate travel arrangements where applicable.