The sheer scale of the disruption—the stranded passengers, the skyrocketing airfares (reaching over text{₹}80,000 on some routes), the lack of food and water reported at airports—has escalated this beyond a consumer issue.
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PIL Filed: A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court, urgently seeking the Chief Justice’s intervention.
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The Charge: The plea frames the crisis as a “humanitarian crisis” and a grave violation of the citizens’ Fundamental Right to Life and Liberty (Article 21). The petition is demanding that the Court take suo motu cognisance and direct the Civil Aviation Ministry and DGCA to file status reports, calling for an immediate hearing.
This whole mess, the DGCA confirmed, stems from IndiGo’s “misjudgment and planning gaps” in implementing the second phase of the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms for pilots. The airline simply did not have enough crew, especially for night operations, a shortage compounded by a significant increase in its winter schedule.
The Path to Normalcy
The CEO, Peter Elbers, has issued an apology, acknowledging the massive inconvenience. The timeline for recovery is still stretched:
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Stabilization Date: Elbers stated that a “full normal situation” is expected to return sometime between December 10 and 15.
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DGCA Lifeline: To hit that target, the DGCA has granted IndiGo a temporary, one-time exemption from specific FDTL provisions until February 10, 2026. This relief primarily relaxes restrictions on night duty hours (allowing, for instance, the number of night landings to temporarily revert from two to six) and allows the airline to restructure rosters immediately.
The Civil Aviation Minister, Ram Mohan Naidu, confirmed the government is taking “strict action” and has formed a committee to find out who was responsible. However, the DGCA’s move to grant temporary relief has been sharply criticized by the Airline Pilots’ Association of India (ALPA India), who called the selective exemptions “unsafe” and a dangerous precedent that undermines safety standards for commercial gain.
While Delhi Airport issued an advisory saying operations are “steadily resuming,” the cancellations continued heavily into Saturday: $69$ flights were cancelled at Hyderabad and 29 at Chennai in the morning. The ripple effect is going to take days, maybe weeks, to truly clear.
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