India’s Aviation Ministry on Friday revoked a new weekly rest policy for pilots after chaos caused by hundreds of flight cancellations by the country’s largest airline, IndiGo.
In a bid to improve the safety of air travel, Indian authorities have introduced new, stricter regulations that limit pilots’ flight times and impose tighter restrictions on their night flight operations.
Airports across India have been in disarray since Monday, with the private airline attributing the disruption to “unforeseen operational challenges.”
On Thursday, IndiGo admitted to aviation regulators that “errors in judgment and planning gaps” in adapting to the new rules led to the operational collapse, even though it had two years to prepare for the change.
The new rules came into effect last month with the goal of giving pilots more rest periods to improve passenger safety.
India’s civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said rules on “flight duty time limitations” “have been put on hold with immediate effect.”
“Without compromising air safety, this decision has been taken solely in the interest of passengers, especially senior citizens, students, patients and others who depend on timely air travel for their essential needs,” Naidu said in a statement.
Naidu said his ministry hoped that “flight schedules will begin to stabilize and return to normal tomorrow.”
IndiGo, which canceled all domestic flights on Friday from New Delhi and Chennai, apologized for “the immense inconvenience and distress” caused to travelers.
In a video statement, the company’s CEO Pieter Elbers said late Friday that the relaxation of the rules was “a great help” but that there was “still a lot of work to do.”
Friday was the “most affected day” with “more than a thousand” cancellations, Elbers said.
He added that the company expected cancellations to fall below 1,000 on Saturday before returning to normal between December 10 and 15.
IndiGo, which controls 60 percent of India’s domestic market, operates more than 2,000 flights a day.
The airline admitted it did not plan properly ahead of the November 1 deadline for the introduction of the measures. And with air travel approaching its December peak, it has forced widespread flight cancellations this week, stranding thousands of travelers.
“These last few days we have [had] “A serious operational crisis,” he said in a statement. “While this will not be resolved overnight, we assure you that we will do everything in our ability to assist you in the meantime.”
Following a request from IndiGo, India’s civil aviation authorities on Friday granted it a temporary exemption from some of the new rules to help it cope with the crisis.
IndiGo had previously signaled that it did not expect to fully restore operations until February 10, although on Friday it said there should be a “progressive improvement” from Saturday.
Other major Indian airlines, including Air India and Akasa, have not had to cancel flights due to the new rules.
Hundreds of flights canceled, passengers express their anger
On Friday, Delhi airport announced that all IndiGo departures had been canceled for the day, a figure one source put at 235 flights. Chennai airport also announced that all outbound IndiGo flights have been cancelled.
The airline canceled 165 flights in Mumbai, 102 in Bengaluru and 92 in Hyderabad, airport sources said, asking not to be identified. At other major metropolitan airports, IndiGo flights were canceled till 6 pm (5:30 pm PKT) on Friday.
At many airports across the country, crowds of stranded passengers vented their frustrations and argued aggressively with staff.
Social media platforms and local media were flooded with videos of angry travelers.
“Down with IndiGo! Down with IndiGo!” A group of passengers at the Bengaluru airport shouted in protest, a video posted on X showed.
Another video showed a father shouting at IndiGo crew members, demanding a sanitary pad for his daughter.
A post on X on Friday morning showed dozens of young children sitting inside a Delhi airport terminal.
“Children waiting since 4 in the morning for their IndiGo (flight)… hungry, tired, sleepy,” reads the caption of the post.
IndiGo receives exemptions from new pilot duty rules
IndiGo shares fell almost 3% on Friday, taking its weekly decline to 10.3%. India’s main opposition party has demanded a debate on the issue in parliament.
New rules on pilot duty require that pilots can only make two night landings per week, down from six previously.
India’s civil aviation regulator suspended that provision for IndiGo until February 10. The airline was also temporarily exempt from a rule specifying maximum periods of flight duty for pilots flying night flights.
IndiGo said it will offer waivers on all cancellations and rebookings for trips between December 5 and 15. The airline has also arranged ground transportation and thousands of hotel rooms for stranded customers, he said.
