New Delhi: IndiGo, India's largest airline, is facing one of its most severe operational breakdowns in recent years, with flight delays and cancellations sweeping across the country. Government data shows the airline's on-time performance plunging to just 35 per cent, a dramatic fall for a carrier long associated with punctuality.

The turbulence peaked on Wednesday, when airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad collectively reported over 200 cancellations, triggering widespread disruption for domestic travellers. A significant factor behind the chaos is a sharp shortage of crew, particularly pilots, following the introduction of revised Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms last month. The new rules mandate more rest hours and humane rosters, but IndiGo has been struggling to realign its massive network accordingly.

Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has launched a probe into the disruptions caused in IndiGo's network. DGCA has asked the airline to report to its headquarters and present the facts leading to the current situation. According to the press note, the airline told DGCA that "a total of 1,232 flights were cancelled."

Out of the total cancellations, 755 were attributed to crew constraints and 92 to ATC-related failures.

Sources said many flights had to be grounded because no cabin crew was available, while others faced delays stretching up to eight hours. With IndiGo commanding more than 60 per cent of the domestic market, the ripple effect from its disrupted schedule has been felt systemwide. “We acknowledge that IndiGo’s operations have been significantly disrupted across the network for the past two days, and we sincerely apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused.

A multitude of unforeseen operational challenges, including 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,” IndiGo said in a statement. Flight duty time limitation, or FDTL norms, cap the number of hours a crew member can be on duty. It limits flying to eight hours a day, 35 hours a week, 125 hours a month and 1,000 hours a year.

The rules also specify mandatory rest periods, requiring that every crew member receive downtime amounting to twice the duration of their flight time, with a minimum of 10 hours of rest within any 24-hour window. This was brought in by the DGCA to ensure pilots and cabin crew get sufficient rest and are not pushed into fatigue that could compromise safety.

“To contain the disruption and restore stability, we have initiated calibrated adjustments to our schedules. These measures will remain in place for the next 48 hours and will allow us to normalise our operations and progressively recover our punctuality across the network.