Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu told that operations are “gradually normalising” and full normalcy is expected within the next 3 days.
Published Dec 06, 2025 | 1:33 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 06, 2025 | 1:33 PM
Delhi's IGI airport saw 225 cancellations, Mumbai 109, Bengaluru over 120, and Hyderabad 69 – turning terminals into scenes of long queues, piled-up luggage, and flaring tempers.
Synopsis: IndiGo cancelled 470+ flights and hundreds are delayed, as of Saturday, 6 December. Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad are among worst hit. Chaos triggered by crew shortage from FDTL norms continues as fares spike to Rs 80,000. Meanwhile, DGCA has suspended new rule till Feb 2026. Normalcy can be expected in the next three days, and full recovery by 15 Dec. On the other hand, Railways and rival airlines have stepped in to provide relief.
India’s biggest aviation collapse refuses to end as IndiGo cancelled more than 470 flights and delayed hundreds others, marking the fifth straight day of widespread disruption that has stranded lakhs of passengers and sent domestic airfares through the roof.
Trigger remains the same – acute crew shortage after the sudden rollout of revised Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms, which created a domino effect across IndiGo’s 2,000+ daily flights.
IndiGo, India’s largest carrier with over 60 percent market share, cancelled more than 1,000 flights on Thursday and hundreds more on Friday, leaving thousands of passengers stranded and airfares on key routes skyrocketing to ₹80,000 one-way.
Delhi’s IGI airport saw 225 cancellations, Mumbai 109, Bengaluru over 120, and Hyderabad 69 – turning terminals into scenes of long queues, piled-up luggage, and flaring tempers.
Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu told media that operations are “gradually normalising” and full normalcy is expected within the next three days. The DGCA has already suspended the controversial FDTL rules until 10 February, 2026, and launched a high-level probe into IndiGo’s handling of the crisis.
IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers admitted the airline is still expecting fewer than 1,000 cancellations today – a marginal improvement from Thursday’s 1,000+ – and reiterated automatic refunds, free rescheduling, and hotel stays for affected passengers.
Message from Pieter Elbers, CEO, IndiGo. pic.twitter.com/bXFdqoB0Q2
— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) December 5, 2025
Other carriers stepped in to ease the pain: SpiceJet and Air India Express added over 100 extra flights on key metro routes, while Indian Railways ran six special trains from Mumbai and Pune and attached 116 additional coaches to 37 trains over the weekend.
At Delhi airport, domestic departures that were grounded until midnight Thursday slowly resumed Friday morning. Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad remained the worst-hit, with passengers reporting delays of 4–10 hours even on flights that eventually took off.
The crisis has reignited political outrage over India’s dependence on two dominant carriers – IndiGo and Air India Group. Opposition leaders demanded a Parliament statement, with NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule calling it a “complete failure of regulatory oversight”.
