India’s budget airline IndiGo faced major disruptions for the third day in a row on Thursday, as hundreds of flights were cancelled across the country. The main reason behind the chaos is a severe shortage of crew, especially pilots, combined with new work-hour rules that require longer rest periods.

Passengers at major airports such as Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and others faced long waiting hours, confusion and crowded terminals. On Thursday morning alone, more than 30 IndiGo flights scheduled to take off from Delhi were cancelled.  Hyderabad saw around 33 cancellations, while Mumbai also experienced several flight disruptions. Sources told NDTV that more than 170 flights may be cancelled on Thursday. A day earlier, these airports together reported nearly 200 cancellations.

The aviation regulator, DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation), has stepped in and called IndiGo officials for a meeting. The DGCA said it is investigating why so many flights are being cancelled and has asked the airline for a full report, including its plan to bring the situation under control.

According to the DGCA, IndiGo cancelled a total of 1,232 flights in November. Out of these, 755 flights were cancelled because of crew shortages and FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) rules. Other cancellations happened due to airport restrictions, air traffic control failures, or various technical and weather-related issues. As a result, the airline’s On-Time Performance dropped from 84.1% in October to just 67.7% in November.

A major reason behind these problems is the new FDTL norms, which came into effect in two phases, first in July, and then in November. These rules increase pilots’ weekly rest to 48 hours, extend the definition of night duty, and reduce the number of night landings they are allowed to perform. While airlines initially opposed these rules, they were later made mandatory after a Delhi High Court order.

IndiGo, which operates around 2,200 flights every day, has admitted that its operations have been “significantly disrupted.” The airline apologised to customers and said that several unexpected issues came together, technology glitches, winter schedule changes, bad weather, heavy congestion in the aviation system, and the new crew duty rules. All of these problems combined created a situation the airline says it could not fully anticipate.

To fix the problem, IndiGo said it has made certain adjustments to its schedule for the next 48 hours. The airline hopes these steps will help stabilise operations and improve punctuality. However, the immediate concern remains the shortage of pilots and crew, which has become more serious after the stricter FDTL rules were introduced in November.