This is bad, truly bad. The biggest operational meltdown at IndiGo in recent memory—all those cancellations, all those stranded passengers—it wasn’t some sudden event, let’s be real. It was apparently predictable.
Sources are saying IndiGo spent months selling massive volumes of heavily discounted tickets. That happened. And then the mass cancellations started right in those same travel periods.
The Aggressive Sales Timeline
The thing is, the airline knew the new, stricter Flight Duty Time Limit (FDTL) rules were coming. These rules increase pilot rest and reduce flying hours, meaning they needed more crew. But instead of hiring, they ran four huge promotional sales between August and November 2025:
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Independence Day Sale (Aug 15–18): This sale covered travel all the way from August 22, 2025, to March 31, 2026. This is where they moved massive volumes for the crucial November–December peak window.
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Grand Runaway Fest (Sep 15–21): This targeted travel starting in January 2026.
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Getaway Sale (Nov 5–8): This is the kicker. They launched this immediately after the new FDTL rules actually came into force on November 1st. They knew the crew squeeze was already happening. But they still sold deeply discounted tickets for travel through April 2026.
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Black Friday Sale (Nov 25–28): Capped the cycle by selling cheap tickets for travel between January and June 2026.
The “Overbooking” Accusation
An aviation expert, speaking anonymously, raised the essential question: “If you already know your crew availability will drop, why sell tickets at a 40–50% discount for those exact dates?”
The pattern looks deliberate, or nothing. It gives the impression of a classic financial maneuver: collect the cash first, fill the books, and deal with the inevitable cancellations later.
The airline had advance knowledge of the FDTL changes—they had a two-year preparatory window—but sources say they didn’t hire the necessary additional pilots. They didn’t adjust the schedules. They didn’t limit bookings for the peak months.
The Collapse Followed
The new duty-time norms kicked in. The rostering system collapsed. And then the chaos followed.
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Over 2,000 flights were cancelled in a single month (November saw 1,232, and the chaos continued into December).
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Passengers were left stranded everywhere, including New Delhi airport.
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Delays, cancellations, and baggage issues triggered widespread passenger agitation.
This combination of aggressive sales to secure cash and inadequate operational preparedness led directly to one of the most severe breakdowns the airline has seen. Questions are now being raised about why the DGCA permitted IndiGo to increase its winter schedule by 6% when their operating ability was so clearly compromised. The regulatory scrutiny is intense, but the damage to traveler trust is already done. This is an ongoing crisis.
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