Lt Col Ankit Sharma
ankit.cloudnine@gmail.com
IndiGo, India’s largest domestic airline, plunged into its worst operational crisis in years. What began as a crew-rostering problem triggered by new regulations quickly snowballed into a full-blown travel nightmare. Over days, flights across the country were cancelled enmasse, passengers were left stranded at airports, luggage went missing and the airline’s assurances of refunds and hotel stays rang hollow for countless travellers. What was presented as temporary chaos soon looked like systemic failure and many say the airline’s and regulator’s handling of the crisis amounts to a betrayal of public trust.
SCALE OF CANCELLATIONS AND THE WORST-HIT SECTORS
According to the media reports, by December 5, 2025, more than 1000 flights had been cancelled nationwide. On that day alone, all flights scheduled from the airport in Delhi, around 225 flights were grounded till midnight. Major airports across India, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and more, saw widespread disruption. On-time performance plummeted. Where it used to be a strong selling point, this dropped to as low as 8.5 percent on certain days. In short, chaos was nationwide, affecting all major travel hubs and hitting both business and leisure travellers alike.
STRANDED FAMILIES: ABANDONED AT UNWANTED STATIONS
The sudden cancellations left thousands of travellers, including families stranded far from home. Reports emerged of people left with no timely rebooking options and no adequate shelter or guidance from airline staff. Many found themselves sleeping on airport floors, waiting for updates that never came on time. One passenger, describing the chaos at the airport, said: I have been here for over 12 hours. Every time they are telling us one-hour delays, two-hour delays. Another recalled: ” My luggage has not arrived since two days. I came via Indigo… I have a baby; we badly need our essentials. With connecting flights cancelled and no clarity on baggage, for many families- especially those travelling with children or the elderly- this breakdown meant not only a logistical nightmare but emotional distress and real hardship.
NO CREW, MISSING LUGGAGE, NIGHTS SPENT IN TERMINALS
A key cause of this meltdown: inadequate crew planning. The underlying trigger was the new crew-rest and duty-time norms introduced by the regulator DGCA(Flight Duty Time Limitations, FDTL), which the airline clearly failed to anticipate in its staffing schedule. Passengers described chaotic scenes: empty check-in and boarding counters, no staff to answer queries, last-minute cancellations and confusion at every turn. Compounding the misery was missing baggage. Numerous travellers reported that their checked-in bags never arrived or were delivered late, even after days. Many families spent nights at airports, waiting for help that often did not come. For travellers relying on timely flights, for weddings, visas, business or long-haul trips, this was more than inconvenient. It was a breakdown of trust and safety.
CELEBRITY AND PUBLIC OUTRAGE
The crisis has drawn travellers’ outrage, and several public figures voiced their frustration as well.
* Actress-dancer Lauren Gottlieb, whose flight was cancelled, did not mince words. She reportedly said travellers should avoid Indigo, claiming the airport scene looked like an “apocalypse”.
* Industrialist Harsh Goenka took a more sarcastic route, mocking the situation with a viral AI-generated video, a rickshaw painted to look like an IndiGo plane, jabbing at the airline’s new fleet with no delays.
* Another wrote- Feeling bored at home? Fly IndiGo and be a part of the chaos and indulge in the adventure of finding your own luggage for days.
* Absolute chaos and mockery at #DelhiAirport. Passengers have been stranded forthe past 12 hours with no confirmation.
The flood of statements from celebrities to regular flyers underlines that the crisis hasn’t just erupted in travel. It has damaged the social license and public faith in the airline.
THE “REFUNDS AND HOTEL CLAIM- AND WHY IT RINGS HOLLOW
In an attempt to contain the backlash, the airline publicly announced that it would automatically refund passengers affected by cancellations between December 5- 15 , waive scheduling fees and arrange hotel rooms, transport, food/snacks, and lounge access, especially for senior citizens. By December 8, the airline claimed it had resumed ” nearly 1,800 flights” and that baggage deliveries were ongoing. However many passengers, especially those on urgent travel, with families or with special needs, say these measures were inadequate, delayed or never reached them. Social media revealed no alternate flights for days, no food or hotel stays, baggage still lost, staff indifferent, even refunds delayed or complicated. For many, the airline’s public claims painted a rosier picture than the ground reality. As one traveller put it: “I ended up having to book my own last-minute travel at crazy prices”. With so many saying “normalcy restored” felt like a slog of broken promises, trust in IndiGo has been severely shaken.
MORAL AND INSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY
This crisis was no accident; it was the result of poor planning, misjudged logistics and lack of contingency for a regulatory shift that was foreseeable. According to reports, the operational meltdown stemmed from the airline’s failure to anticipate the effects of the stricter FDTL norms enforced by DGCA. Given the scale of disruption, thousands stranded, baggage lost, families harassed, many argue this is more than a “service failure”. It’s a public interest failure. Therefore, accountability must be robust.
* Should the country’s aviation minister be held morally and politically responsible? After all, the Ministry oversees airline regulation and is responsible for ensuring airlines are prepared for regulatory changes. Critics argue that such a large-scale failure reflects poorly on regulatory oversight.
* Should the management and owners of IndiGo be tried, not just for negligence, but for harassing the common public, denying basic rights, luggage safety, timely refunds, and alternate arrangements that customer is entitled to.
* At the very least, there should be a transparent inquiry, either judicial or via DGCA, into operational preparedness, compensation owed and systemic failures to prevent recurrence.
In the absence of robust accountability and penal consequences, such a fiasco might simply repeat, with the public paying the price again.
CONCLUSION: WHEN ” NORMALCY RESTORED” RINGS HOLLOW
Lately, IndiGo has begun making public statements about refunds, hotel stays and return to normal operations. But for many stranded for days, luggage missing, plans ruined, “normalcy” remains a distant mirage. The crisis exposes an uncomfortable truth: that in India’s growing aviation sector, the largest carrier can still operate without adequate redundancy, that new regulations meant to ensure safety can become excuses for chaos when not managed properly and that customer trust once shattered is hard to rebuild with token gestures. The airlines must be held to the responsibilities they owe to passengers, not just in marketing messages but in actions. And if regulators and political overseers fail to ensure that, the burden of such failures will fall squarely on travellers’ shoulders. It’s time for more than just apologies and pressreleases. It’s time for real accountability. The Delhi High Court has categorically held that airlines must compensate passengers not just for the ticket price but also for the harassment they are subjected to during such failure. But an intermediate question arises- will that ever see the light of day? And if so, who will ensure that these directives aren’t reduced to mere paper orders? As long as regulatory bodies remain defensive of airlines rather than passengers, such judicial orders risk staying confined to courtrooms rather than being enforced on the ground.
A larger question that needs to be asked here is: Why should the common man continue paying the price for bureaucratic incompetence and corporate shielding?
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