IndiGo on Friday issued its strongest public apology yet as nationwide disruptions from widespread cancellations and delays left thousands of passengers stranded at airports. In a detailed statement titled “We are truly sorry, and we will take care," the airline acknowledged the “immense inconvenience and distress" caused in recent days and assured customers that every possible effort is being made to restore operations.
The airline said all affected passengers will automatically receive refunds to their original payment method, and it has announced a full waiver on all cancellations and rescheduling requests for travel between December 5 and 15, 2025.
"We do deeply apologise and understand how difficult the past few days have been for many of you," IndiGo said, adding that although the situation will not stabilise immediately, it will “do everything in our capacity to help you in the meantime and to bring our operations back to normal at the earliest."
The airline noted that today recorded the highest number of cancellations so far, calling them essential to “reboot all our systems and schedules" to enable steady improvement from tomorrow. These short term proactive cancellations are being carried out in coordination with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and DGCA to reduce congestion at airports and stabilise operations.
The airline asked passengers not to travel to airports if their flights had been cancelled. It admitted that call centre wait times have been long but said it has “massively increased contact centre capacity" to handle requests more quickly. IndiGo added that its AI assistant, 6Eskai, is also helping customers with refunds, updates and rebooking.
The airline said the disruptions have created an unprecedented operational crisis despite IndiGo’s long-standing reputation for reliability. “Many of your journeys were cancelled, and many of you were at the airports with long wait times and little information," it said.
Assuring better days ahead, IndiGo stated, “You will see incremental progress. We will do everything to earn back your trust and the love you have showered on us in the last 19 years."
DGCA eases crew norms amid crisis
Aviation watchdog DGCA on Friday relaxed the flight duty norms by allowing airlines to count crew leave days as weekly rest, according to sources, as IndiGo continued to face major operational disruptions.
Under the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms, the rule had stated that “no leave shall be substituted for weekly rest”, meaning that weekly rest and leave were required to be treated as two distinct periods. This clause had been introduced as part of broader measures to address pilot fatigue.
Also read: DGCA withdraws weekly rest rule as IndiGo chaos leaves passengers stranded
