IndiGo said on Sunday, December 7, shared a new date to restore normalcy in its schedules, announcing that it now expects its flight operations to return to normal by December 10, 2025, PTI reported. The revised timeline moves up its earlier date for stabilisation in the IndiGo operations, signalling that the airline anticipates a faster recovery of its schedules amid the ongoing cancellations and delays over the past week.
The country's largest carrier had earlier said that corrective actions were underway and that stable flight operations would be fully restored only by February 10 next year.
IndiGo operations across India remained severely disrupted for the sixth straight day on December 7, with as many as 650 flights cancelled across several airports on Sunday. This widespread chaos has left thousands of passengers stranded and increasingly frustrated.
Is the situation improving?
IndiGo is operating 1,650 flights of its 2,300 daily domestic and international flights on Sunday. This indicates that the airline's operations are gradually stabilising, even though 650 flights remain cancelled for the day.
In another development, the airline saw its on-time performance from six metro airports on Saturday improving to 20.7%, as per the Civil Aviation Ministry website.
The airline operated around 1,500 flights on Saturday, while about 800 flights were cancelled.
According to PTI, Decemver 5 turned out to be the worst day in IndiGo's history, with the airline forced to cancel around 1,600 flights due to acute crew shortage triggered by the rollout of the second phase of the court-mandated new flight duty and rest period norms, which are applicable to all domestic airlines.
However, the rules were later withdrawn by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation as the situation deteriorated, prompting more pilots to return to work.
Status of the refund and luggage process
For passengers affected by the disruptions, the airline said refund and luggage processes are in full action for both direct and indirect bookings. IndiGo has urged customers to check the latest flight status on its website before heading to the airport, as it continues working to stabilise operations.
“We continue to work closely with all authorities and stakeholders to ensure a swift return to full normalcy,” the spokesperson said.
Just a day before, the government directed the airline to trace and deliver all baggage that was separated from passengers due to flight cancellations or delays to their residential or chosen address within the next 48 hours. The Ministry of Civil Aviation also ordered IndiGo to clear all pending passenger refunds by 8 pm on Sunday.
