The civil aviation ministry has directed airlines, particularly IndiGo, to immediately put measures in place to address the serious disruption in flight schedules and stabilize services without delay, an official statement said.
Two orders have been issued to resolve the issues faced by the public and restore stability of services, especially on IndiGo.
The order said: “All flight schedules are expected to stabilize and begin to return to normal by midnight tonight; Full services and stability should return within the next few days; Passengers can monitor delays, if any, from home through the information system installed by IndiGo and others; In case of flight cancellations, IndiGo will provide automatic full refunds for tickets.”
“In case passengers are stranded, they will be accommodated in hotels where accommodation has been booked by air carriers. Special measures have been taken to ensure that senior citizens are not disadvantaged in any way. They will be allowed lounge access, passengers of delayed flights will be provided refreshments and other essentials; the 24×7 dispatch center at the Ministry of Civil Aviation is constantly monitoring the situation further on a time basis,” he added.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation said that the central government is fully aware of the air passenger woes and is constantly consulting all stakeholders. “All possible measures, including exceptions to the rules announced by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Friday, will be taken to restore plans and ensure stability to alleviate public inconvenience,” the statement added.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) earlier today granted IndiGo Airlines a one-time temporary exemption from specific crew duty regulations to help stabilize flight operations and reduce passenger disruption.
The regulator said the exemption applies to the night duty provisions from 0000 to 06:50 hours and the night operation restrictions of the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) Section 7 of the Civil Aviation Requirements Series J Part III Rev 2 Phase II applicable to the airline’s A320 fleet and is valid until 10 February 2026.
In its decision, the DGCA noted that although the operator is primarily responsible for passenger inconvenience, the exemption is granted in the public interest to ensure continuity of essential air services. The regulator also stressed that safety requirements must continue to be strictly adhered to and reserves the right to withdraw the exemption if safety is compromised.
IndiGo had earlier said in a statement that Friday is expected to be the day with the highest number of cancellations. “Today should be the day with the highest number of cancellations as we are doing everything necessary to restart all our systems and plan for incremental improvements starting tomorrow,” it said in a post on X. “Short-term proactive cancellations are being implemented to facilitate operations, relieve the airport to prepare for a stronger tomorrow,” the airline added.
Hundreds of flights were canceled and delayed, leaving passengers stranded at airports as flight disruptions continued for a fourth day on Friday. IndiGo apologized profusely for the disruption and said the situation would not be resolved overnight.
