Flights cancelled, delayed during December’s rostering chaos leave affected flyers chasing promised payouts even months later
Passengers gathered around the IndiGo information desk to inquire about rescheduled flight timings in December. File Pic/Nimesh Dave
Even after 75 days of the IndiGo chaos in December 2025, some passengers who travelled during the worst-hit period are still waiting for their compensation from the airline.
Flights in December were cancelled or severely delayed after IndiGo failed to realign crew schedules with the new flight duty time limitations. The rules raised weekly pilot rest from 36 to 48 hours and restricted night landings from six to two, disrupting rostering at an airline that controls around 65 per cent of India’s domestic aviation market.
Passenger Speak
Karina Ostwal, travelling from Mumbai to Bengaluru on December 4, reached a day late, forcing her family to postpone an important event. She says, “I expected compensation, but the airline has not given any intimation that I would receive the Gesture of Care (GoC) for the delay.”
Another passenger, who flew from Hyderabad to Kolkata the same day, says emails to IndiGo went unanswered and the portal shows a claim he insists he never filed. mid-day made multiple attempts, since February 20, to contact IndiGo over unpaid passenger compensation, but received no response till the time of going to press.
Compensation rules
>> Gesture of care: Rs 10,000
>> Travel voucher (two Rs 5000 vouchers)
>> Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s rules: Refund plus compensation or alternate flight
>> Applies even to tickets booked via third-party agents
What triggered the chaos
New flight duty time limitations effective November 1
Increased pilot rest and reduced night landings
Crew rostering failures led to mass disruptions
Key dates affected
December 3, 4, and 5, 2025
Hundreds of cancellations and long delays
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