IndiGo Operations Hit Hard As Pilot Shortage Disrupts Flights

An escalating shortage of pilots at IndiGo Airlines has led to widespread flight cancellations and delays stretching up to as long as seven hours.

The situation worsened on Wednesday, 3 December 2025, after several cabin crew members of IndiGo failed to report for duty in Mumbai.

The pilot shortfall is a consequence of the full enforcement of stricter duty and rest regulations that came into effect on November 1.

In recent weeks, the airline’s operations department reportedly contacted pilots to curtail their sick leave and requested others to forgo their entitled privilege leave in order to manage schedules.

According to government data, only 35 per cent of the airline’s flights operated on time on December 2, while the on-time performance remained 49.5 per cent on December 1.

Further increasing the disruption, the absence of some crew members on Wednesday delayed multiple services, including the Mumbai–Maldives route.

IndiGo cancelled several flights at Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru, for the second day in a row.

Meanwhile, the airline cancelled as many as 19 of its flights, covering both arrivals and departures, at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad.

Multiple sources say the airline has deeply upset pilots by allegedly attempting to sidestep the newly implemented rest and duty rules to manage the manpower crunch.

The issue was also raised by the pilot body, the Airlines Pilot Association, during a meeting with the Director General of DGCA last week.

In a media statement, IndiGo attributed the cancellations to ‘multiple factors, including technical issues, airport congestion, and operational requirements.’

The airline added that its teams are working continuously to restore normal operations at the earliest.

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