IndiGo flight cancellations and delays have disrupted the travel plans of thousands of passengers. This happened because of the DGCA’s new rules on mandatory rest for pilots and crew. However, seeing the uncontrollable chaos, the DGCA has now made urgent changes to these rules to help IndiGo manage its ongoing flight crisis. Keep reading for more details.
IndiGo Flight Crisis: DGCA Rolls Back Pilot Rest Rules
On Friday, December 5, the DGCA withdrew a part of the Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) rules. Specifically, the regulation stating that leave could not be counted as a substitute for weekly rest for pilots has been removed. According to News18, under the revised rules, leave granted to a pilot now counts as weekly rest. How does it work? If a pilot takes 48 hours of earned leave, it will be treated as the required weekly rest.
The DGCA has temporarily allowed airlines to operate night-time flights until February 10, even if the usual rest rules for pilots are not fully met. But airlines must create a 30-day plan showing how they will follow all rules properly. To make sure the airline is complying with all rules, the DGCA will check their operations every 15 days.
This is the second big change to the pilot rules in less than a day. Earlier, the DGCA allowed pilots to fly up to 14 hours in a row instead of 12. These changes came after IndiGo admitted it did not have enough pilots to follow the new rules, which increased the required weekly rest from 36 to 48 hours.
Also Read: Online Reception? IndiGo Chaos Pushes Engineer Couple To Attend Their Reception On Video Call
Airline Operations Disrupted
The shortage of pilots has hit IndiGo’s operations very badly. In the past four days, the airline cancelled nearly 1,300 flights. On Thursday alone, 550 flights were cancelled across multiple airports, including Delhi. On Friday, Delhi airport temporarily stopped all IndiGo departures until midnight, reported News18.
Flights from Chennai to Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Hyderabad were also affected, with cancellations till 6 PM due to operational reasons. IndiGo has apologised to passengers multiple times, acknowledging the disruption and promising to restore normal operations by February 10, 2026.
Also Read: IndiGo To Cut Flights From Dec 8; Delhi Domestic Flights Cancelled, Operations To Resume By 2026
Cover Image Courtesy: Canva Pro/ Kelly (Representative Image)