Amid widespread flight cancellations and severe disruption at major airports across India, a purported “open letter” attributed to IndiGo pilots, cabin crew and ground staff has gone viral on social media. The letter claims the airline’s ongoing crisis — with more than 500 flights cancelled so far — reflects “a failure of planning and frontline protection”, not just operational challenges.

Passengers at airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and other hubs have reported long delays, lack of information and difficulty accessing food and water as IndiGo’s on-time performance dropped to 19.7% on December 3.

While social media users have circulated the letter widely, its authenticity remains unverified, with one user noting it was received through a WhatsApp forward. NDTV has also said it cannot confirm its origin.

What the viral letter alleges

The alleged signatories state that frontline staff have faced abuse, anger and blame from stranded passengers, while higher-level decisions triggered the collapse. The letter suggests the timing and pattern of cancellations coincide with the rollout of new crew-duty regulations, implying the crisis may have been allowed to escalate as “leverage in a regulatory standoff”.

“We did not design rosters. We did not freeze hiring. We did not delay preparedness. Yet we carried the entire public cost,” the letter reads. The staff reportedly demand public accountability, protection for employees and clarity on whether regulatory pressures contributed to the disruption.

IndiGo CEO acknowledges service failure

In a message to employees, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers admitted the airline “could not live up” to its service commitments. He attributed the disruptions to a combination of factors:

  • revised Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules
  • technical glitches
  • airport congestion
  • adverse winter weather

IndiGo operates nearly 2,300 flights daily, and cancellations over the past four days have run into the hundreds.

What are FDTL rules?

The DGCA’s Flight Duty Time Limitation norms cap the maximum duty hours for flight crew to prevent fatigue-related safety risks. Key limits include:

  • 8 hours of flying per day
  • 35 hours per week
  • 125 hours per month
  • 1,000 hours per year

Crew members must also receive rest periods amounting to twice the duration of their flight time, with at least 10 hours of rest within any 24-hour period.

These rules were introduced to ensure pilot and cabin crew well-being, prioritising aviation safety over schedule pressure.