Fresh waves of flight cancellations involving IndiGo, Akasa Air, and SpiceJet are once again disrupting travel across India, with over a dozen services scrubbed from schedules at major hubs including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad. The latest round of disruption follows a turbulent season for Indian aviation, where regulatory changes, crew availability issues, and winter weather have combined to create one of the most challenging operating environments in recent years. For travelers planning domestic or connecting international journeys, understanding what is behind these cancellations and how to prepare has never been more important.
What Is Happening Across India’s Major Airports
In recent days, Indian passengers have faced cancellations and delays across key metro airports, particularly on busy trunk routes linking Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad. According to recent industry and media reports, more than 20 flights in some 24-hour windows have been cancelled across multiple carriers, with IndiGo, Akasa Air, and SpiceJet among the most affected operators. While the absolute numbers may appear modest against India’s vast daily schedule, the concentration of cancellations on peak routes and at peak times has caused outsized disruption.
IndiGo, India’s largest airline by market share, has been at the center of the crisis, following a broader scheduling breakdown that began in early December 2025 and led to thousands of cancellations over several weeks. The latest cancellations now being reported at airports such as Delhi, Mumbai, and Ahmedabad are effectively aftershocks of this wider operational storm, as the carrier continues to recalibrate its network and staffing to comply with tighter crew duty regulations while managing seasonal weather constraints.
Akasa Air and SpiceJet, though operating on a much smaller scale than IndiGo, have also withdrawn or rescheduled flights on select routes, compounding the impact on passengers who attempt to rebook at short notice. As seats on alternative services dry up, airports are experiencing familiar scenes of long queues at airline counters, crowded waiting areas, and mounting frustration among travelers who receive notification of cancellations only hours before departure.
The strain is particularly visible at major metro hubs where multiple carriers rely on narrow buffers in gate availability, runway slots, and crew rotations. Even a relatively small number of cancellations in one part of the schedule can ripple into delays and further cancellations later in the day, meaning disruption can persist long after the original trigger has passed.
Why IndiGo, Akasa Air, and SpiceJet Are Cancelling Flights
The reasons behind the current wave of cancellations are multi-layered, but three broad factors stand out: regulatory changes in crew duty-time rules, longer-running staffing and scheduling issues, and seasonal weather patterns. These pressures have converged to leave airlines with little room to absorb unexpected shocks.
The most significant structural change has been the implementation of stricter Flight Duty Time Limitation norms by India’s aviation regulator. These rules expand the definition of night duty, increase mandatory rest periods, and cap the number of night landings that pilots can perform within a given period. While designed to enhance safety and improve crew welfare, they also require airlines to deploy additional pilots and cabin crew or redesign schedules so that existing staff are not stretched beyond regulatory limits.
IndiGo, in particular, struggled to adapt its vast network to these new requirements ahead of the winter schedule. The airline, which normally operates around 2,300 flights a day, acknowledged a combination of factors including technology glitches, winter timetable changes, and airspace congestion, all compounded by the new rostering rules. That combination produced a cascading effect in early December that saw thousands of flights cancelled over a matter of days.
Akasa Air and SpiceJet have faced their own constraints, from aircraft availability and maintenance requirements to tighter operating margins that limit the ability to keep spare capacity in reserve. When disruptions hit, these carriers have fewer back-up aircraft and crew to draw upon. As a result, selective cancellations on less profitable, off-peak, or overlapping routes can become the only viable option to keep the remainder of their schedules intact.
The Cities and Routes Most Affected Right Now
Recent cancellations have been concentrated on some of India’s busiest domestic corridors, particularly those linking national and commercial capitals with secondary metro hubs. Flights between Delhi and Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, Mumbai and Chennai, and services connecting these metros to Ahmedabad and Kolkata have seen multiple cancellations or significant delays in recent weeks.
At Delhi, India’s largest aviation hub, cancellations have periodically spiked as airlines adjust to fog conditions, runway restrictions, and revised crew rosters. Many of the withdrawn flights have been short-haul domestic services that normally operate at high frequency throughout the day, such as shuttle routes to Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Ahmedabad. Even when only a small percentage of departures are cancelled, the effects magnify because these routes carry substantial numbers of connecting passengers bound for regional destinations.
In Mumbai and Bengaluru, which both act as crucial domestic and international gateways, travelers have reported sudden cancellations of early-morning and late-night departures operated by IndiGo and other low-cost carriers. These time bands are especially difficult to staff under the new duty rules, as they count more heavily toward pilots’ night-duty limits and rest requirements. Some airlines are therefore reshaping their timetables away from late-night arrivals and departures, resulting in reduced frequencies and gaps in previously dense schedules.
Ahmedabad, Chennai, and Kolkata have also reported cancellations of trunk-route flights operated by IndiGo, with visible impacts on business travelers and those making religious or medical trips. In Gujarat, for example, several key IndiGo services linking Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, and Surat to major metros have been cancelled or delayed, leaving passengers stranded and scrambling for onward connections. Similar pressure points have emerged in Chennai, where waves of cancellations on services to Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, and Kolkata have coincided with strong demand, driving fares sharply higher on any remaining seats with rival carriers.
Government and Regulator Response to the Ongoing Disruption
The scale and persistence of cancellations have prompted an assertive response from India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. In the wake of IndiGo’s scheduling crisis, regulators demanded detailed explanations from the airline’s leadership, citing concerns about planning, oversight, and resource management. Show-cause notices and formal inquiries have stressed that massive, repeated disruptions are not acceptable in a market where millions of passengers depend on air travel for work, education, healthcare, and family commitments.
At the same time, regulators have sought to balance accountability with the practical constraints of the industry. While the DGCA has insisted that the new duty-time rules remain essential for safety and crew welfare, it has granted temporary relaxations and phased implementation for some requirements, including for IndiGo, to prevent a complete breakdown in capacity. These exemptions, however, are time-bound and conditioned on airlines presenting credible plans to rebuild resilience and avoid recurrent crises.
The government has also intervened on the consumer-protection front. During the height of the cancellations in December 2025, authorities moved to cap airfares on certain domestic routes and ordered airlines to process refunds promptly. These measures were aimed at preventing a price spiral in which stranded passengers would face exorbitant last-minute fares on competing carriers, a pattern already observed in several metro-to-metro markets.
Looking ahead, officials have signaled that closer monitoring of airline capacity planning and contingency arrangements will continue. There is growing recognition that India’s aviation sector is now large and critical enough that systemic failures in a single major airline can ripple across the entire transport network, requiring proactive regulatory oversight rather than purely reactive enforcement.
How Airlines Are Trying to Stabilize Operations
IndiGo, Akasa Air, and SpiceJet are all engaged in intensive efforts to restore predictability to their schedules, though each carrier faces distinct challenges. IndiGo has pledged to normalize operations across its network, committing to a phased restoration of flights and what it has described as calibrated adjustments to match crew and fleet availability with demand. To achieve this, the airline has trimmed frequencies on select routes, restructured some night-time rotations, and prioritized core metro and high-demand sectors.
A key part of the stabilization strategy involves revising crewing and rostering systems to align accurately with the updated duty-time regulations. IndiGo and other airlines have had to rapidly scale up recruitment and training of pilots and cabin crew, while also integrating new software tools and planning models capable of handling stricter rest and duty constraints. This transition is complex, particularly for carriers that expanded aggressively in recent years and relied on tightly optimized schedules to maintain low costs and high utilization.
Akasa Air, which is still in a growth phase, has been more cautious in expanding capacity amid tight resource conditions. By selectively withdrawing some flights, the airline aims to protect on-time performance on its remaining network and avoid the kind of large-scale meltdown that has hit its larger rival. SpiceJet, meanwhile, continues to juggle financial and operational constraints, often consolidating services or swapping aircraft types in response to demand and maintenance requirements.
Across the sector, airlines are also investing in more robust passenger-notification tools and self-service options. Many now encourage travelers to track their flight status through mobile apps, sign up for proactive alerts, and use online rebooking or refund channels to reduce pressure on airport counters. While these measures do not eliminate disruption, they can make it easier for passengers to adapt plans quickly when cancellations occur at short notice.
What This Means for Travelers: Practical Steps to Reduce Risk
For passengers planning to fly within India over the coming weeks, the latest disruptions serve as a reminder to build more flexibility and contingency planning into their journeys. Travelers connecting to international flights, in particular, should consider longer connection windows than they might have chosen in previous seasons, especially when their domestic leg is on a low-cost carrier that has been directly affected by the new duty-time rules and recent cancellations.
It is wise to monitor your booking closely from 24 hours before departure, checking not only the live status of your flight but also news updates about broader operational challenges affecting your airline. Many cancellations during this period have been announced on the day of travel, often only a few hours ahead of scheduled departure, so staying informed can give you a critical head start on rebooking alternatives or adjusting ground transport and accommodation plans.
Travelers should also familiarize themselves with their airline’s policies on refunds, credits, and rebooking in the event of cancellations. IndiGo, Akasa Air, and SpiceJet all offer varying combinations of automatic refunds, free date changes, and waivers of change fees when the airline is responsible for a disruption. However, the exact options can depend on how the ticket was booked and whether it forms part of a larger itinerary issued by a third-party agency or international carrier.
Finally, comprehensive travel insurance that covers missed connections, additional accommodation costs, and alternative transport can offer valuable financial protection in a season of heightened disruption. While such coverage will not spare you the inconvenience of a cancelled flight, it can significantly soften the financial blow and give you more freedom to make quick decisions, such as booking a last-minute ticket on another airline when your original flight is scrapped.
Longer-Term Implications for India’s Aviation Landscape
The turmoil surrounding IndiGo, Akasa Air, and SpiceJet is more than a temporary operational hiccup; it is a stress test for India’s broader aviation ecosystem. The industry has grown at a remarkable pace over the past decade, helped by aggressive low-fare competition and expanding middle-class demand. Yet the recent crisis has exposed how vulnerable this growth model can be when regulatory, staffing, and infrastructure constraints tighten simultaneously.
One likely outcome is a renewed focus on operational resilience over pure capacity expansion. Airlines may scale back some of their most aggressive scheduling practices, maintaining larger buffers in aircraft and crew deployment to handle weather disruptions, airspace congestion, or future regulatory changes. This could, in turn, lead to fewer ultra-low promotional fares and more moderate growth in route frequencies, as carriers prioritize reliability and profitability.
The episode also highlights the importance of coordination between regulators, airlines, and airport operators. As India pushes ahead with ambitious airport expansion projects and aims to connect more tier-two and tier-three cities by air, there will be increasing pressure to ensure that staffing, training, and safety regulations keep pace. The recent experience suggests that introducing well-intentioned rules without sufficient transition planning can trigger severe short-term instability, even when the long-term goal is improved safety and working conditions.
For travelers, the new normal may involve slightly higher fares and fewer last-minute bargains, but also, over time, a more reliable and transparent operating environment. If airlines and regulators succeed in learning the right lessons from this period of disruption, passengers could eventually benefit from better-rested crews, more realistic schedules, and clearer communication when things do go wrong.
Key Takeaways for Your Upcoming Trip
For now, the message for anyone planning to fly with IndiGo, Akasa Air, or SpiceJet in the coming weeks is to stay alert and flexible. Check your flight status frequently, especially from 24 hours before departure, and be prepared for the possibility of schedule changes on short notice, particularly on routes linking Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, and Ahmedabad.
If your itinerary includes critical time-sensitive commitments, such as visa appointments, medical procedures, or onward long-haul connections, consider building in additional time or even traveling a day earlier than strictly necessary. While this may add to the cost and duration of your trip, it can provide a vital cushion in the event of sudden cancellations.
Make full use of your airline’s digital tools, from mobile apps to web-based rebooking platforms, and keep documentation of all communications and receipts should you need to claim refunds or insurance reimbursements. Where possible, choose fare types that allow changes with low or no penalties, as flexibility has become one of the most valuable assets in the current travel environment.
India’s aviation sector is in the midst of an important transition, balancing rapid growth with heightened regulatory oversight and new safety standards. While the latest round of cancellations involving IndiGo, Akasa Air, and SpiceJet is undeniably disruptive, it also reflects deeper efforts to create a more sustainable and secure framework for air travel. For now, informed, flexible, and well-prepared travelers will be best positioned to navigate the turbulence and keep their journeys on track.