In a significant move to alleviate widespread air travel chaos, SpiceJet's Chairman and Managing Director, Ajay Singh, announced on Friday, 5 December 2025, that the airline is stepping in to help passengers affected by rival IndiGo's operational crisis. The budget carrier is deploying 100 additional flights over the next few days to manage the disruption.
SpiceJet's Response and Call for Investigation
Ajay Singh, in a statement to the ANI news agency, detailed the carrier's efforts and welcomed the intervention by aviation authorities. He expressed strong support for the government and the aviation regulator's decision to form a committee to probe the root cause of the massive travel nightmare impacting thousands across the country.
"We (SpiceJet) are attempting to help by running 100 additional flights over the next few days. It is important to find out what happened and why. We welcome the government's decision to constitute a committee," Singh stated. He described the situation as "extremely unfortunate" and acknowledged the immense inconvenience caused to passengers.
The Root of the IndiGo Travel Chaos
The crisis stems from India's largest airline, IndiGo, grappling with severe operational disruptions linked to its implementation of updated Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms for crew rostering. This has led to a cascading effect, with over 500 flights either delayed or cancelled in recent days, throwing travel plans into disarray.
IndiGo has publicly apologised to its customers on social media platform X, stating, "We really apologise for the inconvenience caused to our customers." The airline has informed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that it aims to restore stable operations by 10 February 2026, but warned that cancellations may persist for the next two to three days as part of its schedule stabilisation process.
Focus on Future Prevention
Ajay Singh emphasised that identifying the precise cause of the failures is crucial to preventing a repeat. "It is important to find out what happened and why it happened so that we have lessons for the future and ideas so that these kinds of incidents don't happen again," he told ANI.
He expressed confidence that both the government and IndiGo are working diligently to resolve the issue at the earliest. The proactive steps by SpiceJet and the regulatory probe highlight the collective effort to address one of the most significant domestic aviation disruptions in recent times.
