All flight schedules expected to stabilize by midnight
What's the story
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has said it expects all flight schedules to stabilize and begin returning to normal at Friday midnight, with full services and stability expected over the next couple of days. The announcement was made as IndiGo announced cancellations of all flights in several states. "In the event of flight cancellation, IndiGo will ensure an automatic full refund for tickets. A 24x7 control room at the Ministry of Civil Aviation is constantly monitoring the situation," it announced.
Ministry
Measures for immediate implementation by airlines
The ministry has also taken measures for immediate implementation by airlines, especially IndiGo, to resolve the severe disruption in flight schedules and stabilize services without delay. It said two orders have been issued to mitigate the problems faced by passengers and restore the stability of services, especially by IndiGo. The measures include putting up passengers at hotels if they are stranded, providing senior citizens with lounge access, and providing passengers of delayed flights with refreshments and other necessities.
Passenger support
IndiGo arranges accommodation, transport for stranded passengers
IndiGo Airlines on Friday also announced it will provide full refunds for all flights canceled between December 5 and 15. These refunds will be automatically processed to the original mode of payment. Passengers can also cancel or reschedule their flights without any additional charges during this period. To further ease passenger inconvenience, IndiGo has arranged thousands of hotel rooms and surface transport options. Food and snacks are also being provided at airports.
Operational crisis
Flight cancelations peak, IndiGo's on-time performance plummets
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), IndiGo apologized to travelers for the ongoing flight disruptions, saying it was "deeply sorry" for the chaos at major airports across India. Friday witnessed the highest number of flight cancellations, with over 750 flights affected. This was a sharp increase from 550 cancelations on Thursday and 85 on Wednesday. Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad were the worst-hit cities, with hundreds of passengers stranded. The airline canceled all 235 flights in Delhi alone.
Cause of disruption
IndiGo blames pilot shortage, winter-schedule pressures for chaos
IndiGo, India's largest airline with a fleet of over 400 aircraft and around 2,300 daily flights, has blamed the disruptions on a pilot shortage and winter-schedule pressures. On Friday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) temporarily withdrew the rule that prohibited airlines from substituting weekly rest with accumulated leave "in view of the ongoing operational disruptions and representations received from various airlines regarding the need to ensure continuity and stability of operations."
Punctuality decline
IndiGo's on-time performance drops to 8.5%
IndiGo's operational crisis has severely impacted its On-Time Performance (OTP), a key measure of airline punctuality. The OTP fell from 35% on Tuesday to 19.7% on Wednesday and further plummeted to just 8.5% on Thursday, according to data from the Union Civil Aviation Ministry. This is a significant drop for an airline that has always prided itself on punctuality as one of its hallmarks.