Indigo crisis exposes operational gaps as punctuality plunges to record low

Indigo's mass cancellations and delays pushed punctuality to just 3.7% early December, with passenger grievances peaking and experts linking the crisis to crew roster implementation issues

The recent IndiGo crisis leading to hundreds of flight cancellations across India has brought renewed attention to the overall performance of the country’s airlines. As many as 78 per cent of seats of IndiGo planes were scheduled to be occupied in the first five days of December, while it was the lowest among five airlines at 73 per cent in case of Alliance Air.

 

Month-on-month data (available till October, 2025) shows that overall occupancy of seats of IndiGo planes has remained strong, ranging between 81 per cent and 91 per cent from January, 2023 to October, 2025. Still, September 2025