India's largest airline melts down after new crew rest rules

Air travel across India was successful turmoil for a 4th time connected Friday after IndiGo cancelled much than 1,000 flights, including each departures from New Delhi, prompting the authorities to denote peculiar alleviation measures for the country's largest airline.

In a bid to improve air travel safety, Indian authorities person introduced caller stricter regulations limiting aviator flying times and placing tighter restrictions connected their cognition of nighttime flights.

But IndiGo admitted it failed to program decently up of a November 1 deadline for the measures' introduction. With air travel now approaching its December peak, that has forced wide formation cancellations this week that person stranded thousands of travelers.

IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers apologized to the airline's customers successful his archetypal nationalist remarks since the situation began, adding: "I bash recognize that these disruptions ... person shaken (customers') content in IndiGo's reliability."

Elbers added that it would take immoderate clip to instrumentality to a "full, mean situation", and that it was anticipated this could be between December 10-15.

Following a petition by IndiGo, India's civilian aviation authorities granted it a impermanent exemption from immoderate of the caller rules connected Friday to assistance it woody with the crisis.

The caput of India's aviation regulator appealed to pilots for practice during the crisis, stressing that the body was committed to implementing the aviator remainder and work rules successful 'letter and spirit.'

IndiGo had earlier told Indian officials that it did not expect to afloat reconstruct operations until February 10, though connected Friday it said determination should beryllium "progressive improvement" from Saturday.

Other major Indian airlines, including Air India and Akasa, person not had to cancel flights owed to the caller rules.

Hundreds of flights canceled, passengers vent anger

Elberssaid that "well over" 1,000 flights had been cancelled connected Friday.

Delhi airport announced all IndiGo departures were cancelled for the day, a fig that a root enactment astatine 235 flights.

The airline also cancelled 165 flights successful Mumbai, 102 successful Bengaluru, 92 successful Hyderabad, said airport sources, who declined to beryllium named.

At many airports crossed the country, crowds of stranded passengers voiced their frustrations, aggressively arguing with staff.

Social media platforms and section media were flooded with videos of angry travellers.

"Down with IndiGo! Down with IndiGo!" a video station connected X showed a radical of passengers astatine Bengaluru airport shouting.

An earlier X post showed dozens of young children sitting wrong a Delhi airport terminal. "Kids waiting since 4am for their IndiGo (flight) ... hungry, tired, sleepy," read the caption.

IndiGo receives exemptions from caller aviator work rules

IndiGo shares closed 1.2% little connected Friday. For the week, the shares dropped 9% - their worst specified show since June 2022. India's main absorption enactment has demanded a treatment connected the contented successful parliament.

The caller aviator work rules mandate that pilots tin lone marque 2 nighttime landings per week, down from six previously.

On Friday, that provision was enactment connected hold for IndiGo until February 10 by India's civilian aviation regulator. The airline was besides temporarily exempted from a regularisation specifying maximum formation work periods for pilots doing immoderate nighttime flying.

But the authorities did not exempt IndiGo from the stricter caller regularisation that accrued the mandatory remainder per week for pilots by 12 hours to 48 hours.

IndiGo said it volition connection waivers connected each cancellations and booking changes for travel between December 5 and December 15. The airline has besides arranged crushed proscription and thousands of edifice rooms for stranded customers, it said.