IndiGo meltdown in photos: Baggages pile up, thousands stranded —airport scenes paint a grim picture

IndiGo crisis: India’s civil aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has issued a show-cause notice to Pieter Elbers, the CEO of InterGlobe Aviation, the parent company and operator of IndiGo, demanding an explanation for one of the country's most severe air travel disruptions.

IndiGo, which commands nearly 66% of the domestic aviation market, cancelled hundreds of flights last week, leaving thousands of passengers stranded across major Indian airports. The crisis was triggered by an acute pilot shortage, as the airline failed to adequately prepare for new, stricter pilot duty rules, which mandate increased rest hours, effective 1 November.

The airline confirmed its planning failure, stating it did not make timely arrangements to implement the stricter regulations governing night flying and weekly pilot rest. This misstep, compounded by the December peak travel season for holidays and weddings, led to the immediate collapse of its flight roster.

In the notice issued on Saturday, the DGCA asserted that CEO Elbers "failed" in his duty to “ensure timely arrangements for conduct of reliable operations and the availability of requisite facilities to the passengers.”

In response to the crisis, IndiGo's stock plummeted by as much as 8% on Monday, marking its steepest decline in eight months. The airline initially expressed confidence that normal operations would stabilize by Wednesday, but the civil aviation watchdog gave the company only 24 hours to explain why it should not face regulatory action.

Concurrently, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu announced that the government is launching an inquiry into the matter, promising to take action that will "set an example" for all airlines.

Blaming the airlines for its failure to manage the crew and duty roster through its day-to-day operations, Naidu said: “We are not taking this situation easily. We are doing an inquiry. We will take very, very strict action not only for this situation but also as an example.”

The operational disruption continued this week, with IndiGo cancelling 127 flights in Bengaluru and 32 in Mumbai on Monday alone, airport sources told Reuters.

The peak of the crisis saw over 1,000 flights cancelled on Friday, representing nearly half of the carrier’s typical daily services. The cancellations led to chaotic scenes captured on social media, showing frustrated passengers clashing with and confronting front desk staff, demanding updates or simply the return of their checked-in luggage.

“IndiGo will definitely be taken to task by the government,” Vandana Singh, chairperson at Federation of Aviation Industry in India, told Bloomberg Television on Monday.

The government “is putting things in bold font that this kind of abuse of dominance or artificial adjustment is not going to work,” Singh added.