Chaos continued across India’s aviation network on Sunday as IndiGo cancelled around 650 flights. This meant that nearly 28 per cent of its daily schedule of 2,300 flights did not operate. As a result, thousands of passengers faced delays, uncertainty, and long waits at airports.

Major hubs such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata were hit the hardest. These airports recorded the highest number of cancellations. Meanwhile, many travellers remained stranded as the disruptions stretched on for another day.

Over the weekend alone, the number of cancelled flights crossed 1,000. Similar chaos was seen on Saturday as well. Even before the weekend, frequent delays and last-minute cancellations had already caused widespread frustration.

Flight disruptions reach alarming levels

Since Tuesday last week, IndiGo has cancelled more than 2,000 flights across the country. The ongoing operational problems led to a ripple effect. Hundreds of flights were either grounded or delayed. As a result, thousands of passengers struggled to reach their destinations on time.

In a statement issued on Sunday, IndiGo announced that it now expects its network to stabilise by December 10. This is slightly earlier than the previous estimate, which was between December 10 and 15.

Refunds and baggage delivery update

At the same time, IndiGo cleared a major backlog of refunds. The airline processed pending refunds worth ₹610 crore for cancelled flights. The civil aviation ministry confirmed this in its official press release.

In addition, the airline delivered around 3,000 pieces of delayed baggage to passengers across the country. Sunday was also the deadline given by the ministry for clearing refunds, and IndiGo managed to meet that target.

IndiGo seeks more time from DGCA

Meanwhile, IndiGo requested extra time to reply to a show cause notice issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The notice was sent to its CEO and accountable manager over the ongoing disruptions.

In its reply, the airline asked for time until 6 pm on December 8 to submit a detailed response. Later in the day, the DGCA approved a one-time extension of 24 hours to allow the management to respond.

Regulator identifies the main cause

In the notice, the aviation watchdog clearly pointed out the root of the problem. According to the DGCA, the "primary cause" of the crisis was IndiGo’s failure to make "adequate arrangements" under the new Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) rules.

The regulator said the airline did not properly adjust its staffing, duty schedules and rostering system as required under these updated regulations. Because of this, operations were thrown into disarray.