The Supreme Court on Monday refused to grant an urgent hearing to a petition seeking intervention in the unprecedented operational meltdown at IndiGo, which has resulted in the cancellation of more than 4,500 flights since Tuesday last week, crippling airports across the country and leaving thousands of passengers stranded.
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, considering the matter upon urgent mentioning, said that the situation did not presently warrant judicial interference, noting that the Union government and aviation authorities had already taken several steps to address the crisis.
“This matter requires urgent hearing. Two thousand five hundred flights have been cancelled and 95 airports are almost defunct,” the lawyer appearing for the petitioners submitted, seeking immediate directions from the top court.
The CJI acknowledged the scale of disruption but declined to list the matter at this stage. “We understand that lakhs of people might be facing issues and are in difficulty. But the Union of India seems to have taken some steps. They have acted proactively. Let them handle the situation,” he said.
Also Read:IndiGo flight cancellations live updates: Over 400 flights cancelled; Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad hit by disruptions
{{/usCountry}}Also Read:IndiGo flight cancellations live updates: Over 400 flights cancelled; Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad hit by disruptions
{{/usCountry}}When the counsel pressed that the situation was “out of control,” the bench remained unmoved. “No, there seems to be no urgency right now. Let us see how the situation unfolds further,” CJI Kant remarked.
IndiGo, India’s largest domestic airline that handles more than 60% of domestic air traffic, is battling what is widely described as its worst-ever operational collapse. The disruptions entered their seventh straight day on Monday, despite emergency government measures and extensive passenger compensation initiatives.
Major airports remained severely affected on Monday, with Delhi witnessing 134 cancellations, Bengaluru 127, and Chennai 77. Packed terminals and rows of unclaimed luggage created scenes reminiscent of global pandemic-era aviation shutdowns. At Delhi’s Terminal 1, several passengers were seen camping on the floor overnight.
Officials and industry sources attribute the crisis to a combination of factors, which include severe pilot shortage, extended flight duty limits under new FDTL fatigue rules, delays caused by Airbus A320 software advisories and an aggressive winter schedule rollout since October 26. The new FDTL rules, aimed at improving pilot rest and reducing night-time flights, pushed hundreds of crew members into mandatory downtime after cumulative delays over the previous weekend cascaded past midnight cutoffs. IndiGo’s high-utilisation fleet model struggled without staffing buffers.
With mounting criticism, the government was compelled to put the new pilot rest rules on hold, impose caps on airfares to prevent price gouging and deploy additional trains to handle the rush.
In a further escalation on Sunday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ordered IndiGo chief executive officer Pieter Elbers to explain within 24 hours the causes of the massive disruption and why action should not be initiated against him for what it described as serious failures in planning, oversight and resource management.
Meanwhile, IndiGo has processed refunds exceeding ₹610 crore and announced full waivers on rescheduling or cancellation for travel between December 5-15. The operator also announced that it has also arranged thousands of hotel rooms, food support inside terminals, ground transport and additional support staff, while urging passengers not to travel to airports if their flights are already marked cancelled online.