India's travel chaos has worsened after the country's largest airline IndiGo cancelled hundreds of scheduled flights on Friday after three days of widespread disruption across its network. The carrier, which has a 60% market share in India and flies more than 2,000 flights a day, has been facing pilot shortages after it failed to adapt to new crew rostering rules.
Thousands of passengers are stranded across India in what's a busy travel season, with all IndiGo flights from the capital Delhi cancelled. IndiGo has said operations will return to full normalcy only by 10 February and has sought temporary relief on the new rules that call for more rest hours and restricted night-duty.
The airline has also stated it will reduce its flight operations to minimise disruptions from 8 December. The government has said it is closely monitoring the situation, with the federal aviation minister expressing clear displeasure with how the airline handled the crisis. In a separate statement, India's aviation regulator indicated that the disruptions were primarily due to misjudgment and planning gaps in implementing the new flight duty time limitation rules.
The regulator has requested IndiGo to submit a detailed plan on crew recruitment, training, roster restructuring, safety-risk assessments, and other mitigation measures immediately. Local media reports suggest IndiGo has been granted a waiver from the new pilot rest rules, and the ban on combining pilot leave with weekly rest has been eased to stabilise operations. However, the Airline Pilots Association of India criticized this decision, asserting that any relief undermines the spirit of the new regulations and jeopardizes public safety.
Under the new rules, pilots now have increased rest periods, significantly reducing their night-time landings per week. December, a peak travel period, coincides with school holidays and wedding season in India, heightening the urgency of the situation.
IndiGo announced it would waive cancellation or reschedule requests for travel between 5 and 15 December and is arranging accommodation and meals for affected passengers. Many travelers have taken to social media to voice their frustration over inadequate communication and being stranded at the airport without food.
Among those affected is Singapore's High Commissioner to India, Simon Wong, who expressed his disbelief at missing his staff member's wedding due to flight cancellations. Major airports in cities like Delhi and Mumbai have begun issuing advisories urging passengers to check their flight statuses before heading to the airport.
Thousands of passengers are stranded across India in what's a busy travel season, with all IndiGo flights from the capital Delhi cancelled. IndiGo has said operations will return to full normalcy only by 10 February and has sought temporary relief on the new rules that call for more rest hours and restricted night-duty.
The airline has also stated it will reduce its flight operations to minimise disruptions from 8 December. The government has said it is closely monitoring the situation, with the federal aviation minister expressing clear displeasure with how the airline handled the crisis. In a separate statement, India's aviation regulator indicated that the disruptions were primarily due to misjudgment and planning gaps in implementing the new flight duty time limitation rules.
The regulator has requested IndiGo to submit a detailed plan on crew recruitment, training, roster restructuring, safety-risk assessments, and other mitigation measures immediately. Local media reports suggest IndiGo has been granted a waiver from the new pilot rest rules, and the ban on combining pilot leave with weekly rest has been eased to stabilise operations. However, the Airline Pilots Association of India criticized this decision, asserting that any relief undermines the spirit of the new regulations and jeopardizes public safety.
Under the new rules, pilots now have increased rest periods, significantly reducing their night-time landings per week. December, a peak travel period, coincides with school holidays and wedding season in India, heightening the urgency of the situation.
IndiGo announced it would waive cancellation or reschedule requests for travel between 5 and 15 December and is arranging accommodation and meals for affected passengers. Many travelers have taken to social media to voice their frustration over inadequate communication and being stranded at the airport without food.
Among those affected is Singapore's High Commissioner to India, Simon Wong, who expressed his disbelief at missing his staff member's wedding due to flight cancellations. Major airports in cities like Delhi and Mumbai have begun issuing advisories urging passengers to check their flight statuses before heading to the airport.
