The IndiGo crash continued to cause severe inconvenience to thousands of passengers who were stranded at airports across India after their flights were cancelled. More than 350 flights to and from Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru airports were reportedly canceled on Tuesday. Let’s look at the latest number of cancellations on December 9.
Delhi Airport: 152 canceled flights — 76 arrivals and 76 departures
Bengaluru Airport: 121 canceled flights — 58 arrivals and 63 departures
Hyderabad Airport: 58 canceled flights — 14 arrivals and 44 departures
Mumbai Airport: 31 canceled flights — 14 arrivals and 17 departures
Massive flight cancellations by IndiGo continued to cause chaos at major airports, including Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport and Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.
In a post on X, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinarapu said a high-level meeting was held on Monday to conduct a comprehensive review of IndiGo’s operations. At this control meeting, all senior officials of the Ministry were tasked with conducting ground control of air traffic.
The aviation ministry has reportedly issued instructions to officers at the level of deputy secretary, director and joint secretary to physically visit Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Guwahati, Goa and Thiruvananthapuram airports on December 9 to review and assess the overall situation.
A high-level aviation oversight committee has summoned top IndiGo executives over the massive grounding of IndiGo flights, India Today reported. IndiGo executives, including CEO Pieter Elbers, will meet representatives of the four-member panel on December 10.
Another major development slated for Wednesday is the revision of IndiGo’s winter schedule for 2025. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has directed IndiGo to modify its planned schedule and “submit the revised schedule by 10 December 2025 by 05:00 PM”. Amid flight disruptions and delays for the eighth straight day, the DGCA has asked airlines to cut 5% of flight operations as a penalty for not being able to operate scheduled flight schedules.
The operational crisis of the country’s largest airlines has prompted the government to launch an investigation. In an interview with DD News, Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu claimed that the problem affecting IndiGo passengers was not caused by the Aircraft Maintenance and Scheduling System (AMSS) but was related to the airline’s internal crew scheduling and operational planning.
The winter session of Parliament is debating the collapse of IndiGo
Addressing the winter session of Parliament on Tuesday, Ram Mohan Naidu said strict and appropriate action will be taken against the airlines as per the existing rules. Commenting on the IndiGo fiasco, Ram Mohan Naidu said, “No airline, however big, will be allowed to cause such inconvenience to passengers due to planning failures, non-compliance.”
Informing the lower house that the DGCA has issued provable notices to IndiGo’s top management and launched a detailed enforcement investigation, he added, “IndiGo’s operational disruption is stabilising; all other airlines are continuing to operate smoothly across the country. Airports across the country are reporting normal conditions, with no overcrowding or emergency. Refunds, baggage tracking and passenger support arrangements remain under ANI’s supervision.”
The government ordered airlines to cap the price of tickets after ticket prices soared following massive cancellations. “The price of tickets was limited ₹18,000. It starts from ₹7500 to 500 kilometers and more than 1500 kilometers ₹18,000,” a senior official told ANI.
(With input from agencies)
