Hundreds of passengers faced severe disruption and distress at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport on Friday, December 5, 2025, as budget carrier IndiGo cancelled all its departures from the city until midnight. The operational meltdown, now in its third day, left a diverse cross-section of travelers—from doctors with critical surgeries to students heading home for Christmas—stranded and scrambling for alternatives.
Personal Plans Turned Upside Down
The human cost of the cancellations was starkly visible across the airport terminals. Dr. Debashish Patnaik, a laparoscopic surgeon from Rourkela, was on his way to the airport when he received the cancellation message for his return flight. Having traveled to Jhansi for a wedding, he was desperate to get back to his patients. "I have four surgeries scheduled in the next three days," he rued, highlighting that while the procedures were elective, delays could cause emergencies. With no IndiGo flights available till Monday and train journeys taking days, his professional commitments hung in the balance.
For Frolian Francis Ndigobaha, a Tanzanian M.Tech student at IIT-Roorkee, the cancellation shattered his plans to return home after a year. His luggage was packed with Christmas gifts, and he also needed to collect data for a college project in Tanzania. "It's been a waste of my time, energy, and money," he said. His friend, Paul Hezron, added humorously that their plan to escort him to Delhi might now extend to escorting him back to Roorkee.
A Wide-Ranging Logistical Nightmare
The crisis affected passengers from all walks of life. A trio of sisters, all in their 70s, stood helplessly outside the departure terminal. They were traveling from Gurgaon, Meerut, and Jabalpur to Pune for a naturopathy appointment. With train tickets unavailable and last-minute flight prices soaring to Rs 20,000 per person, their annual health trip was jeopardized.
Kantilal (61) and Laxmi Jain (45) from Rajasthan had braved the cold to reach Delhi from Bikaner, only to find their flights to Chennai and Guwahati cancelled. For Kantilal, a heart patient, it meant missing his first day at a new job in Chennai. Alternate flight tickets were priced at a prohibitive Rs 40,000, while train tickets cost Rs 18,000. "Nobody is helping us, but we won't let our money go," they said, making endless rounds at the enquiry counter.
The disruption also ruined a long-awaited family vacation. Dr. Vikas Yadav and his group, comprising three couples and five young children, had planned a Goa trip costing around Rs 3 lakh. After their connecting flight from Gwalior was rescheduled, they took a train to Delhi, only to find the chaos awaiting them. With non-refundable hotel bookings in Goa, they were left with no option but to return, their plans—and the interrupted therapy routine of their special needs child—amounting to nothing.
Causes and a Fleeting Respite
The primary reason cited for the massive disruption is a severe crew shortage following the implementation of new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms. IndiGo, which commands over 60% of India's domestic passenger traffic, has been struggling to normalize its schedule. In a slight breather for the airline, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) withdrew its instructions regarding weekly rest for crew members on Friday evening.
However, this provided little immediate relief to stranded passengers. Long, serpentine queues formed at ticket counters as people sought alternative travel arrangements or accommodation for the night. IndiGo offered to reschedule flights for December 8 for those who opted for it, while others, like Dr. Patnaik, were notified of refunds that could take 3 to 5 days to process.
The Delhi Airport authority issued an advisory on social media platform X, confirming the cancellations and stating that on-ground teams were working to mitigate the disruption. Operations for all other airlines remained unaffected. IndiGo's CEO has apologized for the inconvenience, indicating that the flight situation may only return to normal between December 10 and 15, leaving many more travel plans in uncertainty.
