Fresh chaos alert: Delhi Airport warns Indigo delays may continue, urges flyers to check flight status

Delhi Airport on Monday (Dec 8) issued a fresh warning to IndiGo customers, cautioning that the flight delay chaos may continue. In a passenger advisory issued early in the morning, Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) in a notice asked passengers "to check the latest flight status with their airline," alerting them that "IndiGo flights may continue to experience delays". The advisory was deleted after a couple of hours. This comes as in the last few days the airline experienced major disruptions, which affected its flight network across the country.

Delhi IGI warns of fresh chaos

In its now-deleted advisory, the Delhi airport had asked passengers to check their flight status with Indigo "before heading to the airport to avoid any inconvenience". It added that its "teams are working closely with all stakeholders to minimise disruptions and ensure a smooth travel experience."

"For assistance, including medical support, please visit the information desk where our on-ground staff is ready to help. Additionally, multiple public transport options—such as metro, buses, and cabs—are available for convenient travel to and from the airport."

Flight chaos continued on Sunday

On Sunday, Indigo, India's largest airline, cancelled over 650 flights across the nation. Although alarming, this number was down from the more than 1,000 delayed flights two days earlier. As per company officials, over ₹610 crore worth of ticket refunds have been issued to the affected passengers.

IndiGo offered a complete waiver of cancellation or rescheduling fees for travel between December 5 and December 15 in order to assist impacted passengers, as well as automatic refunds for all cancelled reservations. In addition, the airline has been instructed by the Ministry of Civil Aviation to settle all outstanding refunds by Sunday, December 7, at 8:00 PM.

What triggered the massive delays?

The crisis, according to the company, was mainly triggered by a shortage of cockpit crew following the full implementation of government regulations on pilot rest, known as the Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms. As this resulted in numerous cancellations and chaos at the country's major airports, the government was forced to step in and suspend the rule. Indigo, meanwhile, said it hopes to restore operations to normalcy by December 10.