Passengers across India are facing a fresh wave of disruption as a string of flight cancellations by IndiGo, SpiceJet, Akasa Air and other carriers snarls air travel through some of the country’s busiest hubs, including Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bengaluru.

The latest round of schedule cuts and same-day cancellations has left hundreds of travellers stranded at terminals, scrambling for alternative connections and paying sharply higher last-minute fares on remaining flights.

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Fresh Cancellations Hit Metro Airports After Weeks of Turmoil

The newest bout of travel chaos comes on the heels of a broader operational crisis that has gripped Indian aviation since late 2025, when IndiGo, the country’s largest airline, began cancelling and delaying flights on an unprecedented scale. In early December, data from major airports showed close to 200 IndiGo flights cancelled in a single day across Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, even as more than a thousand services were scrapped nationwide over the month.

At the height of the disruption around December 5 and 6, reports from airport operators indicated that all IndiGo departures from Chennai up to 6 p.m. were cancelled, while Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Pune each reported dozens to hundreds of grounded flights. On some days, IndiGo’s on-time performance plunged into single digits, a dramatic reversal for a carrier long seen as a byword for punctuality.

Although IndiGo has since promised to stabilise operations by early February 2026 and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has ordered it to trim schedules by 5 percent to ease the strain on pilots and crew, the ripple effects are still being felt. Other budget and full-service carriers, including Akasa Air, SpiceJet and Air India, have added or adjusted services to pick up demand, but they too have cancelled a number of flights in recent days as aircraft and staff are stretched across India’s overtaxed domestic network.

Stranded Passengers Sleep on Terminal Floors as Fares Spike

For travellers, the numbers translate into long, uncertain hours inside packed terminals. At Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport and Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, stranded passengers have been seen sleeping on the floor or on luggage trolleys, with long queues at airline counters as customers seek rebooking, refunds or basic information. Similar scenes have unfolded in Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata, where early-morning cancellations left passengers with no immediate options to reach their destinations.

With capacity suddenly constrained on busy metro routes, airfares on remaining flights have surged. During the worst days of the IndiGo crisis in December, one-way economy tickets on some same-day metro sectors such as Delhi–Mumbai and Kolkata–Mumbai were reported at three to four times their usual price, with some direct services pricing over 60,000 rupees and certain one-stop options running even higher. Other airlines including SpiceJet, Akasa and Air India saw rapid spikes in bookings and yields as they attempted to fill the gap left by IndiGo’s grounded aircraft.

Travel agents say that even when a cancelled IndiGo flight is covered by rebooking options, alternatives are often impractical because they leave far later in the day, involve inconvenient connections, or arrive too late for business meetings, international transfers or family events. In many cases, passengers have opted to accept full refunds and then purchase last-minute seats on rival carriers at inflated prices, or abandon air travel altogether and turn to trains and overnight buses.

Operational Strain, Crew Fatigue Rules and Winter Weather Blamed

Airlines and regulators point to a convergence of factors behind the latest wave of cancellations. IndiGo has cited a combination of minor technical issues, winter-related constraints, airspace congestion and adjustments to winter schedules. However, industry analysts and government data suggest that the primary driver has been the sector’s struggle to comply with tougher crew rest rules introduced in phases through mid and late 2025.

The updated flight duty time limitations require airlines to give pilots and cabin crew longer mandatory rest periods and place stricter caps on night-time and early-morning flying. As carriers shifted rosters and cut back on so-called redeye services to remain compliant, schedules that had been built around aggressive aircraft utilisation suddenly became harder to sustain. The impact was most pronounced at IndiGo, whose large domestic network and heavy reliance on high-frequency trunk routes left it little room to absorb last-minute crew shortages.

Government figures for November 2025, the first full month under the new fatigue rules, show that more than 269,000 domestic air passengers were affected by denied boarding, cancellations and long delays. IndiGo alone accounted for almost 90,000 passengers hit by cancellations and over 75,000 by significant delays during that month, far surpassing other carriers. SpiceJet, Akasa Air and the Air India group also reported thousands of disrupted travellers as they adjusted their own rosters.

Weather has added another layer of unpredictability. Dense winter fog in northern India continues to affect operations at Delhi and other north Indian airports, where low visibility forces aircraft into holding patterns or diversions and disrupts tightly packed schedules. While airlines routinely plan for such seasonal challenges, this year’s conditions are hitting an already stretched system still trying to recalibrate after the pandemic, rapid traffic growth and the new regulatory environment.

Government Orders Flight Cuts, Refunds and Emergency Price Caps

As passenger anger mounted in early December, the Civil Aviation Ministry and the DGCA intervened with an unusual set of directives aimed at stabilising operations and protecting consumers. Regulators ordered IndiGo to cut its planned winter schedule by around 5 percent, effectively grounding over 100 flights a day across its network. The airline was also told to process refunds and alternate travel arrangements without delay for customers whose flights were cancelled or severely disrupted.

Authorities simultaneously moved to rein in airfares on affected routes, imposing temporary caps to prevent a repeat of the extreme price surges seen when IndiGo’s initial wave of cancellations hit. Officials acknowledged that ticket prices on some metro-to-metro sectors had jumped to as much as four times normal levels as remaining carriers adjusted to demand in real time. The caps are expected to stay in place until IndiGo’s operations meet a more predictable and sustainable pattern.

In parallel, the government has released updated data on cancellations and their causes across the industry as lawmakers and consumer groups press for stricter accountability. Figures presented to Parliament show that in the first half of 2025, airlines including IndiGo, Akasa Air, SpiceJet, Air India, Air India Express and regional operator Alliance Air cancelled more than 5,700 flights due to regulatory and geopolitical reasons. Weather, technical problems and operational issues accounted for thousands more cancellations across the same period.

Officials insist that current rules already require airlines to compensate passengers in case of significant delays or cancellations, by offering refunds, meal vouchers, hotel stays where applicable and alternative travel options. Consumer advocates, however, argue that enforcement is inconsistent, especially when disruptions affect large numbers of passengers simultaneously and customer-service systems become overwhelmed.

IndiGo’s Dominance Magnifies Impact Across the Network

IndiGo’s commanding position in India’s domestic market has amplified the fallout of its operational troubles. The carrier controls well over 60 percent of domestic traffic and, in the current winter schedule, had planned more than 2,100 daily flights including nearly 14,000 weekly domestic departures. Any systemic issue at such a scale inevitably ripples through the entire network of metro and regional routes, affecting airports from Ahmedabad and Jaipur to Kolkata and Kochi.

When IndiGo began cancelling large numbers of flights in late November and early December, many routes saw most, if not all, of the airline’s frequencies grounded for multiple consecutive days. In Chennai, for example, airport authorities announced that all IndiGo departures up to a certain cut-off time on December 5 were cancelled, effectively shutting the carrier out of the city for much of the day. Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Pune and Hyderabad simultaneously reported dozens of cancelled arrivals and departures.

Other carriers have stepped in selectively, but the capacity gap is not easy to fill on short notice. Akasa Air, which has been expanding aggressively since its launch, and SpiceJet, which has faced its own financial and fleet constraints in recent years, have both added flights on high-demand sectors such as Delhi–Mumbai, Delhi–Bengaluru and Mumbai–Chennai. The state-owned Air India group has also deployed additional services on certain trunk routes. Yet these moves are incremental compared to the scale of IndiGo’s daily operations, leaving passengers with fewer options and higher prices during peak periods and holiday weekends.

SpiceJet, Akasa and Others Face Scrutiny Over Reliability

While IndiGo’s troubles have dominated headlines, the latest cancellations have also drawn attention to the reliability of other carriers. Official punctuality and cancellation data from earlier periods show that SpiceJet and regional carrier Alliance Air have periodically logged higher cancellation rates and weaker on-time performance at key airports such as Mumbai, even before the current crisis. Budget constraints, older fleets and dependence on leased aircraft have at times limited their ability to cover for technical issues or crew shortages.

Akasa Air, by contrast, has so far maintained relatively low cancellation rates according to recent government figures, though it too has been forced to adjust schedules in response to airport congestion, crew-rest norms and seasonal weather. The airline, which operates a younger fleet of Boeing 737 MAX jets, has positioned itself as a reliable alternative in the crowded low-cost segment, but a sharp spike in demand triggered by IndiGo’s cuts challenges its capacity planning and resilience.

Industry analysts note that the current disruption comes against a backdrop of strong growth. Domestic passenger traffic in India has continued to rise, with double-digit year-on-year gains in some months. That growth has rewarded airlines and airports, but it has also made the system more vulnerable to shocks. When a handful of metro hubs such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad are operating near or at capacity, even minor disruptions can cascade quickly into mass cancellations, missed connections and packed terminal buildings.

The human impact of the continuing cancellations is beginning to find its way into legal and regulatory channels. Social media platforms carry daily accounts of passengers missing weddings, funerals, corporate deal signings and international departures as a result of last-minute flight cuts. Some affected travellers have approached consumer courts seeking compensation beyond standard refunds, alleging negligence in schedule planning and inadequate communication about delays and cancellations.

Passenger-rights advocates argue that Indian regulations, while improved over the past decade, still lack the clarity and enforcement muscle seen in some other major aviation markets. They are calling for automatic compensation for cancellations within an airline’s control, more transparent rules on rebooking and accommodation, and clearer penalties when carriers fail to provide mandated assistance such as meals and hotel rooms during prolonged disruptions.

For now, authorities are urging passengers to closely monitor flight status before leaving for airports, arrive earlier than usual for departures from busy hubs, and maintain flexibility in travel plans where possible. Airport operators in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru have also said they are working with airlines to better manage crowds, provide more real-time information on display boards and public announcements, and ensure basic amenities such as water, seating and rest areas for stranded travellers.

Outlook for the Coming Weeks as Airlines Rebuild Schedules

With IndiGo assuring regulators that it expects to restore a stable schedule by around February 10, 2026, and the DGCA continuing to monitor crew rosters and punctuality across all carriers, aviation officials believe the worst of the disruption may gradually ease. However, they caution that the system will remain fragile in the near term, particularly during periods of heavy fog in the north, holiday peaks or unexpected technical issues.

Carriers are now engaged in the complex task of rewriting schedules to align with the new fatigue rules, optimise aircraft turnaround times and improve resilience to weather and infrastructure constraints. This process includes trimming some marginal routes, reducing overnight operations, building more buffer into connections and investing in crew planning software and operational control centres. For passengers, that could mean slightly fewer options on some city pairs but, in theory, more reliable service on those that remain.

In the meantime, travellers flying between major Indian cities such as Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Bengaluru are being advised to check their bookings repeatedly, keep contact details updated with airlines, and consider travel insurance that covers delays and cancellations. As the sector navigates this turbulent period, the experience of stranded passengers in recent weeks is likely to intensify calls for a comprehensive overhaul of how airlines, regulators and airports prepare for and manage large-scale disruptions in one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets.