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India\u2019s aviation ministry on Friday rolled back a new policy of weekly rest for pilots after chaos caused by hundreds of flight cancellations by the country\u2019s biggest airline, IndiGo.<\/p>\n
In a bid to improve air travel safety, Indian authorities have introduced new stricter regulations limiting pilot flying times and placing tighter restrictions on their operation of night-time flights.<\/p>\n
Airports across India have been in disarray since Monday, with the private carrier blaming the disruption on \u201cunforeseen operational challenges\u201d.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, IndiGo admitted to aviation regulators that \u201cmisjudgement and planning gaps\u201d in adapting to new rules led to the operational meltdown, even though it had two years to prepare for the switch.<\/p>\n
The new rules came into effect last month with the aim of giving pilots more rest periods to enhance passenger safety.<\/p>\n
India\u2019s civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said the \u2018Flight Duty Time Limitations\u2019 rules \u201chave been placed in abeyance with immediate effect\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout compromising on air safety, this decision has been taken solely in the interest of passengers, especially senior citizens, students, patients, and others who rely on timely air travel for essential needs,\u201d Naidu said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Naidu said his ministry expected that \u201cflight schedules will begin to stabilise and return to normal by tomorrow\u201d.<\/p>\n IndiGo, which cancelled all domestic flights Friday from New Delhi and Chennai, apologised for \u201cthe immense inconvenience and distress\u201d caused to travellers.<\/p>\n In a video statement, the company\u2019s CEO Pieter Elbers said late Friday the relaxation of the rules was \u201cof great help\u201d but there was \u201cstill lots of work in progress\u201d.<\/p>\n Friday was the \u201cmost severely impacted day\u201d with \u201cwell over a thousand\u201d cancellations, Elbers said.<\/p>\n He added that the company expected cancellations to fall below 1,000 on Saturday ahead of a return to normal between December 10 and 15.<\/p>\n IndiGo, which commands 60 per cent of India\u2019s domestic market, operates over 2,000 flights a day.<\/p>\n The carrier admitted it failed to plan properly ahead of a November 1 deadline for the measures\u2019 introduction. And with air travel now approaching its December peak, that has forced widespread flight cancellations this week, which have stranded thousands of travellers.<\/p>\n \u201cThese last few days, we have [had] a serious operational crisis,\u201d it said in a statement. \u201cWhile this will not get resolved overnight, we assure you we will do everything in our capacity to help you in the meantime.\u201d<\/p>\n Following a request by IndiGo, India\u2019s civil aviation authorities granted it a temporary exemption from some of the new rules on Friday to help it deal with the crisis.<\/p>\n IndiGo had earlier flagged that it did not expect to fully restore operations until February 10, though on Friday it said there should be \u201cprogressive improvement\u201d from Saturday.<\/p>\n Other major Indian airlines, including Air India and Akasa, have not had to cancel flights due to the new rules.<\/p>\n On Friday, Delhi airport announced all IndiGo departures were cancelled for the day, a number that a source put at 235 flights. Chennai airport also announced all departing IndiGo flights were cancelled.<\/p>\n The airline cancelled 165 flights in Mumbai, 102 in Bengaluru, 92 in Hyderabad, airport sources, who declined to be named, said. Other major metro airports saw IndiGo flights up to 6pm (5:30pm PKT) cancelled on Friday.<\/p>\n At many airports across the country, crowds of stranded passengers voiced their frustrations, aggressively arguing with staff.<\/p>\n Social media platforms and local media were flooded with videos of angry travellers.<\/p>\n \u201cDown with IndiGo! Down with IndiGo!\u201d a group of passengers at Bengaluru airport shouted in protest, a video post on X showed.<\/p>\nHundreds of flights cancelled, passengers vent anger<\/h2>\n