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IndiGo crisis allowed to worsen, claims viral staff letter
05 Dec 2025

Amid widespread flight cancellations and chaos at several airports, an "open letter" from IndiGo employees has gone viral on social media.

The letter, allegedly signed by pilots, cabin crew and ground staff, claims that the recent disruptions were "not just an operational failure - they were a failure of planning and frontline protection."

Over 550 flights have been canceled so far, with passengers seen struggling for food and water at various airports across India.

Employees express frustration over strategic decisions
Employee concerns

The letter from IndiGo employees expresses their frustration over being at the receiving end of passenger anger and abuse while strategic decisions that led to this collapse remain unaffected.

The signatories note that the timing, scale, and pattern of cancellations align with a new regulatory deadline related to crew-duty norms.

They argue this makes it "impossible to ignore" what is happening on the ground: an operational collapse has been allowed so that frontline staff became "leverage in a regulatory standoff."

Employees demand accountability and transparency
Call for responsibility

The letter further states, "We did not design rosters. We did not freeze hiring. We did not delay preparedness. Yet we carried the entire public cost."

The employees are demanding a public admission of responsibility, exoneration of frontline employees, transparency on whether regulatory pressure was part of a strategy - and assurance that such a crisis will not repeat.

IndiGo's CEO acknowledges crisis, blames multiple factors
Leadership response

IndiGo's CEO Pieter Elbers has acknowledged the crisis in a letter to employees.

He admitted that IndiGo "could not live up" to its promise of reliable service and attributed the disruptions to a combination of factors: new crew-rostering rules under revised Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL), technical glitches, airport congestion and adverse weather.

FDTL norms limit flying hours per day/week/month/year and specify mandatory rest periods for every crew member.

DGCA seeks explanation from IndiGo
Regulatory scrutiny

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has sought an explanation from IndiGo detailing the factors leading to the current situation and measures being taken to address ongoing delays and cancellations.

In November, IndiGo saw 1,232 flight cancellations, with 755 attributed to the new FDTL norms that came into effect from November 1.

Just today, all Indigo flights from Delhi and Chennai airports have been canceled.