Travel chaos worsens in India with hundreds of flights cancelled

Travel chaos in India worsened after IndiGo, the country’s largest airline, canceled hundreds of scheduled flights on Friday after three days of grounding. Widespread disruption across its network.

The carrier, which has a 60% market share in India and operates more than 2,000 flights a day, is facing a shortage of pilots after failing to adapt to new crew rostering rules.

Thousands of passengers are stranded across India in a busy travel season, with all IndiGo flights from the capital Delhi cancelled.

IndiGo said operations would return to full normalcy only by February 10, and requested a temporary exemption from new rules calling for more rest hours and restricting night work.

The airline also said it will reduce its flight operations to minimize disruptions from December 8.

The government said it was monitoring the situation closely, with the Federal Aviation Minister expressing “clear dissatisfaction” with the way the airline handled the situation.

In a separate statement, India’s aviation regulator said the disruptions were primarily due to “miscalculation and planning gaps” in implementing the new maximum flight time rules.

The regulator has directed IndiGo to submit a detailed plan on crew recruitment, training, roster restructuring, safety risk assessments and other mitigation measures with immediate effect.

Meanwhile, the airline has drawn sharp criticism from the Indian Airlines Pilots’ Association, which said any exemption given to the airline on duty timings undermines the spirit of the new regulations and “seriously” jeopardizes the safety of the flying public.

Under the new rules, pilots are given more rest, with one of the key changes requiring pilots to make two night landings a week, down from six under the old rules.

Many passengers took to social media, expressing their anger at not receiving updated information and remaining stuck at the airport without food.

Singaporean High Commissioner to India Simon Wong said he was “at a loss for words” when he joined thousands stranded at the airport and had to miss his young employee’s wedding.

Major airports in Delhi, Mumbai and other cities have issued advisories asking passengers to check the status of their flights before heading to the airport.