IndiGo's flight cancelations leave over 7.75 lakh travelers stranded—Here's what happened
Since December 2, IndiGo has canceled more than 5,000 flights, disrupting travel plans for over 7.75 lakh people across the country.
The chaos was mainly caused by a sudden pilot shortage after new rest rules kicked in—something the airline didn't plan for.
What went wrong with IndiGo's planning?
New government rules now require pilots to take longer breaks and limit night flying hours.
IndiGo underestimated the impact and ended up short by about 300 pilots.
Pilot unions called out the airline for ignoring warnings and expanding its winter schedule anyway.
How are authorities fixing it?
Aviation regulators stepped in fast: they questioned IndiGo's top bosses about their planning gaps and gave a temporary break from some of the strict pilot rules until February 2026—but with close monitoring.
Why does this matter?
IndiGo's crisis shows just how much one big airline can shake up India's travel scene when things go wrong.
To handle the mess, IndiGo set up a Crisis Management Group to get operations back on track—reminding everyone how fragile air travel can be when there aren't enough backups in place.