IndiGo Flight Chaos: Why Thousands Are Stranded Amid Pilot Shortage Crisis

At Delhi's Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station, Runa Kumari, an IT professional, expressed frustration over the lack of alternatives. Although the Indian Railways is running several special trains, she stated that alternative should be given to book tickets on another airline.

Speaking to ANI, she said, "I have a return ticket on 21st December...I am a working woman associated with the IT industry. I have reached here by train, but the return ticket is for a flight. So, my hours will suffer. Similarly, those with medical emergencies or some urgent work will be affected. Trains will take 12-13 hours to reach, however fast it might be. Ideally, passengers should have been given the alternative to book tickets on another airline," she said.

The chaos is not limited to the national capital but across the major metropolitan cities of the country. At Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, a passenger shared her concerns amid cancellations.

Pravita Hari said, "My flight's departure time is 9.50 am. I am going to Mumbai with IndiGo. I got the message for web check-in at 3 am. So, I have to check whether my flight is leaving."

Similarly, at Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati, passengers are grappling with rescheduling issues.

Arnav, a traveler from Kolkata, said, "My flight today has been cancelled, I got the information last evening itself. I had a flight to Kolkata today at 7.20 am. I came here to check about the availability of flights. IndiGo operations are almost shut. If I go to other counters like Air India, Akasa - they have limited flights and they are really costly. It's not affordable. I got a flight for tomorrow. I am figuring out my stay here. So, it is becoming a little tough. I also had to take a leave at my office...Several passengers are facing a similar problem..."

Since last week, the civil aviation industry in India has been hit by massive disruptions, with cancellations, severe delays, and the rescheduling of many flights by IndiGo, primarily due to a sudden shortage of pilots and crew following the implementation of revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms issued by the DGCA last year.

This has led to thousands of passengers facing significant inconvenience, long queues, and inadequate facilities, with some stranded at the airport for hours. Passengers have also urged the airline to provide timely updates and support to minimise inconvenience.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has formally issued a show-cause notice to IndiGo's Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers--holding the airline accountable for large-scale operational disruptions in recent days and pointing to "significant lapses in planning, oversight and resource management."

Meanwhile, the carrier has issued an apology following the disruption, noting that the carrier had "operated little above 700 flights yesterday connecting 113 destinations".

- ANI