IndiGo flight cancellations trigger travel nightmare at Mumbai, Pune airports

Passenger frustration peaked at Mumbai and Pune airports on Thursday as IndiGorsquos nationwide operational meltdown triggered cascading delays and cancellations leaving hundreds stranded well past midnight and pushing airport operations into disarrayThe IndiGo staff at Mumbai Airport confirmed that the airline has cancelled 85 flights on Thursday which includes 41 arrivals and 44 departures The disruptions are part of a threeday crisis that has brought parts of Indiarsquos aviation network to a near standstillSources told PTI that IndiGo has cancelled over 180 flights on Thursday alone across Mumbai Delhi and Bengaluru as the carrier struggles with a severe shortage of crew following the implementation of the second phase of the revised Flight Duty Time Limitation FDTL norms for pilotsAt Bengaluru 73 flights were cancelled including 41 arrivals while Delhi Airport saw 33 cancellations Officials said the numbers could rise by the end of the dayThe airlinersquos OnTime Performance OTP plunged to 197 on December 3 across six major airports Delhi Mumbai Bengaluru Hyderabad Chennai and Kolkata down from 35 per cent a day earlierPublic outrage floods social mediaPassengers expressed anger and helplessness across social media as long delays sudden cancellations and lack of communication left them stranded for hoursInfluencer Elvish Yadav posted on X about the midnight chaos and inconvenience caused to travellersWaah Indigo Waah IndiGo6E DGCAIndia pictwittercomraPHmOVyqBmdash Elvish Yadav ElvishYadav December 4 2025Another YouTuber wrote ldquoIndiGo is in a terrible state Flights cancelled one after another chaos at the gates passengers arguing with crew zero communication My own flight has been delayed for over two hours with no updaterdquoIndiGo is in a terrible state right nowFlights getting cancelled one after another chaos at the gates passengers arguing with crew zero communicationMy own flight has been delayed with no clarity wersquove been at the airport for 2 hours just waiting for any updateIfhellip pictwittercomX2K8Q5Hpygmdash Arun Prabhudesai 8ap December 4 2025An X user added ldquoMy IndiGo flight has been delayed over eight hours and they still arenrsquot offering meals or assistance Pathetic servicerdquoMy IndiGo6E flight has been delayed for more than 8 hours yet they are not offering any help to the passengers At the very least they should offer meals to their flyersPathetic service of Indigo pictwittercomRTJNY7c6wtmdash Shubham Sharma Shubham_fd December 4 2025Sanjay an IndiGo passenger said that the airline had been experiencing glitches for the last two days reportedly due to a software update in Airbus systems Because of this flight schedules were disrupted and according to him IndiGo was not adequately supporting its passengers He mentioned that he missed his connecting flight as a result of the delays and even tried contacting the Aviation Ministry but no one respondedAnother passenger Jumman Ali Khan shared an emotional account saying his brother had passed away the previous day Despite urgently needing to travel the only ticket prices available were Rs 36000 Rs 38000 and Rs 40000 far beyond what his family could afford He explained that his late brotherrsquos parents were waiting helplessly unable to secure an affordable flight to reach their sonWATCH Mumbai Passengers complain as IndiGo suffers flight delays and cancellationsAn IndiGo passenger Sanjay says They are saying that IndiGo has been reporting glitches for the past 2 days The software update in Airbus is causing these glitches so their schedule hashellip pictwittercomDzq6bx1Tltmdash ANI ANI December 4 2025Regulatory scrutiny intensifiesThe Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA has launched an investigation into the widespread disruptions and asked IndiGo to submit reasons for the crisis along with its action plan to bring down delays and cancellationsPilot body Federation of Indian Pilots FIP alleged that IndiGo imposed a ldquohiring freezerdquo despite having a twoyear preparatory window before the new FDTL norms took full effectFIP has urged the DGCA not to approve airlinesrsquo seasonal schedules unless they have enough crew to operate safely and reliablyIt also suggested that the DGCA consider reevaluating and reallocating flight slots to airlines capable of operating them without disruption especially during the peak holiday and fog seasonsAviation network under strainOfficials warned that disruptions may continue as crew shortages persist causing delays to ripple through the system Passengers have been advised to keep checking flight status and prepare for extended waiting times at airports