Regulatory changes cause havoc in the skies nationwide, IndiGo flights hit

Passengers at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport faced major inconvenience on Thursday after several IndiGo flights were delayed and cancelled due to operational issues. At Hyderabad alone, 74 flights were affected, including 37 arrivals and 37 departures. The disruptions led to long queues, confusion, and frustration among travellers who waited for hours with little clarity on revised timings. Airport officials confirmed that key passenger areas experienced heavy congestion.

Meanwhile, Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport witnessed even more severe disruptions for the second consecutive day. Multiple IndiGo flights were delayed or cancelled, and Terminal 1 operations were hit hardest due to technical glitches and a shortage of crew members. With limited seating available, the terminal became overcrowded, leaving several passengers sitting on the floor, while elderly travellers and families with young children struggled to cope with the situation.

According to industry sources, the primary cause of the crisis is a shortage of pilots and crew, worsened by the enforcement of Flight Duty Time Limit (FDTL) regulations. Although the FDTL rules were announced well before their enforcement on 1 November 2025, Thursday’s disruption reflects a sudden surge in operational impact, showing that crew planning and recruitment did not fully anticipate the effect of the rules on daily schedules. The regulations mandate longer rest periods, limit consecutive night landings, and restrict extended shifts, which reduced crew availability and triggered widespread cancellations and rescheduling across India.

Passengers expressed anger over poor communication from the airline, with some staging protests at IndiGo counters, claiming they were not informed properly about their departure status. “Our urgent work plans have been ruined because of these delays,” one passenger said. Reports suggest more than 200 flights were cancelled nationwide over the past two days, prompting additional security deployment to manage crowds.

Some industry observers noted that the current turbulence in IndiGo’s operations could create opportunities for other players in the aviation market to expand their presence, though no formal moves have been announced.

The disruptions were at their worst on December 3, when over 200 flights were cancelled in a single day. Hyderabad alone saw over 40 cancellations that day, while Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru also reported large-scale interruptions. The situation underscores the challenge of enforcing safety rules in a high-traffic network and the heavy burden on passengers when airline planning falls short.