India learned an uncomfortable truth this week: when IndiGo slows down, the nation’s airports slow down with it.

This week, IndiGo demonstrated just how quickly a single operational misstep can disrupt national mobility at a scale few sectors could absorb. What began as a scheduling strain inside the airline evolved into a nationwide collapse that stranded thousands, overwhelmed airports and exposed a structural over-reliance on a single carrier.

The root of the disruption lay in the implementation of Phase II of the Flight Duty Time Limitations. These norms, meant to strengthen fatigue management for pilots, reduced crew availability at a time when IndiGo had expanded its winter schedule. The airline admitted to misjudgment and planning gaps, and the numbers made that clear: more than 1,000 flights were cancelled across four days, with over 400 cancellations on a single day. On-time performance at six major airports crashed to an unprecedented 8.5 percent.

Delhi bore the hardest hit, recording 225 cancellations in one day including 135 departures and 90 arrivals. Bengaluru saw 102 cancellations, Mumbai 104 and Hyderabad 92. Goa lost 30 flights in one morning while Pune cancelled 32 between midnight and 8 a.m. Smaller hubs such as Chandigarh reported up to fifteen cancellations and twenty-five delays, with some departures pushed back by nine hours. At one point, Delhi halted all IndiGo departures until 23:59, illustrating how deeply the shockwave had spread.

Passengers encountered the collapse in its most painful form. Many reached airports without receiving cancellation notifications. Some waited ten to twelve hours with no consistent information. There were cases of passengers being told their flights were cancelled, sent home and then contacted again from the boarding gate. In another instance, a traveller carrying her father’s mortal remains was unable to reach her connecting flight for a scheduled ceremony. These failures highlighted not only operational stress but also communication breakdowns that magnified public frustration.

With IndiGo’s capacity sharply reduced, fares on other carriers skyrocketed. A Delhi to Mumbai ticket rose to between 22,000 and 24,000 rupees on competing airlines. Several passengers attempting same-day rebooking reported paying two to three times the usual fare, with prices ranging from 24,000 to 30,000 rupees per person. This escalation triggered widespread criticism of opportunistic fare spikes at a time when thousands were stranded with no alternatives.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation withdrew the instruction prohibiting substitution of weekly rest with leave, granting airlines temporary flexibility. It also allowed IndiGo specific exemptions for its A320 fleet until February 2026 while requiring fortnightly progress reports. The Ministry of Civil Aviation set up a 24-hour control room, arranged support for stranded travellers, required automatic full refunds for cancelled flights and pushed airlines to stabilise schedules immediately.

IndiGo launched its own recovery measures. The airline expanded call centre staffing, arranged thousands of hotel rooms for stranded passengers, offered refreshments at airports and introduced a full waiver for cancellations and rescheduling for travel between 5 and 15 December. IndiGo stated that the day with the highest cancellations would be followed by progressive improvement as systems reset and crew rosters realigned.

With IndiGo controlling more than 60 percent of the domestic market, any operational breakdown becomes a national issue rather than an airline-specific problem. The episode underscored the need for stronger workforce planning, coordinated regulatory transitions and more diversified capacity within the sector.

So, what do you think? Is India ready become one of the world’s largest aviation markets, or are we heading towards a national aviation breakdown if things remain unchanged? Let’s talk.