IndiGo’s stock came under pressure today, slipping 3% after the airline was forced to cancel close to 200 flights across major hubs including Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru in recent days. Sources told NDTV that the disruptions are closely tied to the implementation of India’s updated flight duty-time limitation (FDTL) norms, which came into effect last month and have triggered widespread operational turbulence for the country’s largest airline.
People familiar with the situation said IndiGo is struggling with a significant pilot and crew shortage caused by the complexities of enforcing the new rostering rules. The revised FDTL regulations were introduced to improve crew welfare and reduce fatigue, but airlines have been racing to adapt, and IndiGo appears to have faced the steepest hurdles so far.
In its official statement, the airline explained that the cancellations are not the result of a single issue but an accumulation of several operational setbacks. IndiGo noted that weather disruptions, winter schedule adjustments, technology bottlenecks, congestion across the aviation ecosystem and the new crew-duty rules collectively placed unexpected pressure on its network. The company described these events as “a multitude of unforeseen operational challenges” that compounded faster than the airline could anticipate or counter.
IndiGo’s struggles were most visible in November, when the airline cancelled more than 1,200 flights, according to a press note released on Wednesday. A majority of these, around 755 flights, were directly tied to FDTL-related constraints and crew shortages. With the winter travel season underway and passenger traffic remaining high, the cancellations have raised concerns among travelers and investors about potential continued disruptions if staffing challenges persist.
