IndiGo’s massive operational breakdown appears to be slowly steadying, with major travel portals now reflecting a dip in airfares for the coming week. Ticket prices had surged after the airline scrapped over 1,000 flights on Friday. The turmoil stemmed from an acute shortage of cockpit crew following the rollout of the revised Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules, which led to widespread cancellations and left numerous aircraft grounded. The chaos sent IndiGo’s on-time performance plunging, and all domestic departures from Delhi were halted for the entire day.
To ease the crisis, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has temporarily relaxed certain rest-related FDTL requirements for IndiGo pilots to help the carrier stabilise operations. On Friday, CEO Pieter Elbers issued a public apology, admitting that December 5 saw the airline suffer its worst disruption yet, with more than half of its daily flights being cancelled.