IndiGo's flight chaos: What went wrong?

India Dec 16, 2025

IndiGo had a rough December 2025, canceling over 5,000 flights in just 10 days—on top of nearly 900 cancelations the month before.
The main reason? New DGCA rules kicked in, changing how much rest pilots need and throwing IndiGo's crew planning off balance.

Crew shortages, passenger headaches, and big refunds

Because of mismanaged schedules and not enough pilots (they were short by 65 captains), passengers faced long delays, non-working help desks, and even staged protests.
The DGCA stepped in with a temporary fix until February 2025.
All this led to about 12.5 lakh travelers being affected and forced IndiGo to shell out ₹1,100 crore in refunds.