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Aviation Minister told the root of chaos in IndiGo; This is the reason for delay and cancellation

By Samira Vishwas

Amid huge delays and hundreds of cancellations in IndiGo flights across the country, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Friday (December 5) explained the reason behind this chaos. He pointed to the root of the crisis, saying it was a major failure of the airline’s crew management and internal planning. The minister said that after the implementation of the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules, all the other airlines from Air India to SpiceJet adjusted their operating arrangements in time, but IndiGo did not do so.

Speaking to ANI, Naidu said that the chaos had become so severe that the ministry had to give temporary relief to the airline. Under this relief, some important provisions of the new FDTL rules for IndiGo, especially the rules related to services from 12 midnight to 6:50 am and rest-hours of pilots, have been partially postponed till 10 February 2026. Along with this, DGCA has also removed the clause in which the pilot’s leave was not considered a part of the weekly rest.

The minister said, “DGCA implemented new FDTL rules from November 1…The rest of the airlines took over, but there has been a serious lapse in crew management in IndiGo. This mismanagement is the reason for this situation.” He said that this relief has been given to IndiGo to stabilize the network so that operations can become normal.

Naidu said, “…we have constituted a committee which will investigate all this to find out where the irregularities occurred and who committed the irregularities. We will take necessary action on this also. This matter should not be ignored. We are taking strict action on this so that whoever is responsible for this will have to pay the price.” He said that the government’s priority is to provide relief to passengers and reduce chaos at airports.

The minister said that initially the government had asked IndiGo to normalize the situation in two days. But as the delays continued, the ministry directed the airlines to cancel a large number of flights so that the jam-like situation at the airport could be relieved. “When the delays did not reduce, we asked them to cancel major operations to reduce inconvenience to passengers and crowding,” he said.

On Friday, the airline’s focus was on clearing the backlog, with priority given to senior citizens and disabled passengers. The minister advised the staff to maintain empathy and clear communication towards the passengers. Naidu says the situation is now improving and “crowds and long waits at airports are expected to end from tomorrow.”

Regulator DGCA has also blamed IndiGo’s miscalculation and lack of planning for the crisis. The Center has directed all airlines to provide timely refunds to the affected passengers. However, the relief given to IndiGo has been criticized by ALPA (Airlines’ Pilots Association of India), saying it could pose a safety risk and sets a worrying precedent.

IndiGo’s operations are slowly getting back on track, but the recent crisis has raised serious questions on the operational efficiency and internal management of the country’s largest airline.

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