Turbulence Hits Indian Skies |
Anyone regularly flying domestic airlines in India knows that they have limited flight operator choices: either Air India or IndiGo, with the latter being more probable as it controls a whopping 65 percent of the aviation sector. So, it is not surprising that when IndiGo cancelled more than 1,500 flights between December 3 and 5, chaos unspooled across airports in the country. 1,000 flights were cancelled on December 5 alone. The cancellations continued through the next week. IndiGo operates 2,200 flights every day.
The scenes that played out at airports were nothing short of a nightmare, with stranded passengers including senior citizens and crying infants. Viral videos of passengers squatting on the tarmac waiting for flights to take off, arguments breaking out between angry passengers and IndiGo’s ground staff, flooded social media and news channels. Passengers were rerouted through multiple flights that were again canceled.
December is peak travel season in India. It is the prime wedding season, and children have holidays from school. Winter also sees flights and trains running late because of fog-induced delays. IndiGo’s mass cancellation of flights resulted in schedules for weddings, funerals, exams and other appointments going awry.
Not only IndiGo but also the Ministry for Civil Aviation was in the dock and answerable to an angry public.
What led to the spate of cancellations was not a sudden event, but a long-planned implementation of Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules mandated by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the country’s aviation safety regulator.
According to the revised FDTL rules, pilots are to be rested 48 hours per week, instead of the earlier 36 hours. Moreover, night landings have been limited to two from six earlier. The revised FDTL norms were notified in January 2024 and had to be strictly implemented following High Court order of April 2025. While........