The Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Friday withdrew its instructions to airlines on weekly rest for the crew after IndiGo’s operations were disrupted for the fourth consecutive day.
The regulator said it was necessary to review the provision, which states that “no leave shall be substituted for weekly rest”, in view of the disruptions and requests from airlines to ensure continuity and stability of operations.
The instructions were withdrawn after a shortage of pilots and crew disrupted flights operated by IndiGo beginning Tuesday. The airline had not made sufficient adjustments to its roster to accommodate new government regulations.
In January 2024, revised rostering norms were issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation after concerns about pilot fatigue and were meant to take effect on June 1. However, airlines asked for delayed implementation because of staffing shortages and operational challenges, and the key changes were eventually introduced on November 1.
IndiGo had sought relief from some provisions that limit pilot duty hours at night, Reuters reported.
On Friday, the regulator also granted IndiGo a one-time exemption from night-duty rules for pilots, Reuters reported.
Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu on Friday said that the Union government will institute a high-level inquiry into the disruption.
“The inquiry will examine what went wrong at Indigo, determine accountability wherever required for appropriate actions, and recommend measures to prevent similar disruptions in the future, ensuring that passengers do not face such hardships again,” Naidu said.
The airline, India’s largest by market share, on Friday cancelled all its domestic flights from Delhi till midnight. Its services in other cities were also affected, leaving passengers stranded at airports.
This is Kochi airport between 2 am to 5 am. People sleeping on floor, fighting, crying. Aircrafts available but no pilots. Worst, while crew gets mandatory rest time, ground staff is working double shifts, sleepless in total chaos #Indigo @DGCAIndia @IndiGo6E #FlightCancellations pic.twitter.com/hoRubnaOUM
— Tabassum Barnagarwala (@tabassum_b) December 5, 2025 A senior-level manager of the airline in Kochi told Scroll that flight systems had stopped working and ground staff had no information on scheduled routes or crew rosters.
“We have been constantly advising the senior management to announce cancellations,” the official said. “But the airline is unwilling to announce cancellation. As a result, the crowd is surging at airports.”
While the pilot and crew have been allotted mandatory working hours, the ground staff told Scroll that they have been handling multiple shifts and working overnight to handle the crowd.
“We are not able to leave the counter,” said a ground staff of IndiGo, who did not want to be identified. “At one point, at least a dozen passengers are around us in queries.”
IndiGo had cancelled more than 550 flights on Thursday and about 400 on Friday, The Indian Express reported. It told the regulator on Thursday that its operations would be fully restored by February 10, Reuters reported.
On Friday, IndiGo apologised to its customers. The airline said that while the problem “will not get resolved overnight”, it was making efforts to bring its operations back to normal.
“Today [Friday] should be the day with highest number of cancellations, as we are doing all that is necessary to reboot all our systems and schedules for progressive improvement starting tomorrow,” it said.
The airline said it was making “short-term proactive cancellations” to ease its operations and decongest airports “to prepare for starting stronger tomorrow”.
IndiGo said it will process refunds for cancellations automatically and will offer a full waiver on cancellations and rescheduling requests between December 5 and December 15.
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that the disruption was “the cost of this government’smonopoly model”.
“Once again, it’s ordinary Indians who pay the price - in delays, cancellations and helplessness," Gandhi said on social media. “India deserves fair competition in every sector, not match-fixing monopolies.”
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