IndiGo flight operations hit by pilot shortage after new fatigue rules

At least 150 cancellations leave passengers stranded across major Indian airports

India’s largest airline, IndiGo, faced widespread disruptions on Wednesday as a pilot shortage triggered by new government crew rest regulations forced the cancellation of at least 150 flights and delayed dozens more, according to airport sources.

The disruptions left thousands of passengers stranded at major hubs, including New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. A Reuters reporter inside Delhi airport described chaotic scenes at IndiGo counters as frustrated travellers struggled with shifting departure times and repeated gate changes.

“The 6 p.m. flight is delayed by two hours, and the gate has changed four times,” said a passenger attempting to travel from Mumbai. “Staff are cooperating, but they frankly say they don’t know what’s happening.”

Three airport officials and an IndiGo pilot said the airline had been caught short of crew after India implemented new pilot fatigue-mitigation rules on July 1 and November 1, which extend mandatory rest periods. The changes have complicated roster planning at a time when IndiGo operates more than 2,200 daily flights and continues to expand internationally.

In a statement, IndiGo acknowledged that its operations had been “significantly disrupted” over the past two days. The airline cited a combination of factors, including bad weather, airport congestion and the rollout of the new rostering rules, saying these had a “negative compounding impact” that could not have been foreseen.

Bengaluru airport reported 62 IndiGo cancellations on Wednesday alone.

The disruptions come as India seeks to expand its aviation sector as part of broader economic development goals. They also follow a separate systems outage at Delhi airport last month that delayed hundreds of flights.

It remains unclear why the impact of the new pilot work-hour limits escalated this week. India’s civil aviation ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

IndiGo’s on-time performance plunged to just 35% on Tuesday—its worst among Indian carriers—compared with typical levels above 80% at major airports.

With more than 60% of India’s domestic market, IndiGo is considered critical to the country’s aviation growth strategy. The latest turmoil underscores the challenge facing regulators and airlines as they attempt to balance rapid expansion with pilot welfare and operational reliability.