India’s Aviation Minister reaffirms that duty-time rules are non-negotiable [Photo: X]
India’s aviation sector is facing turbulence after IndiGo’s massive wave of flight cancellations left thousands of passengers stranded across major airports. With operational chaos mounting, the government has firmly stated that regulatory compliance is non-negotiable.
Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu has made it clear that airlines must adhere to duty-time rules and maintain reliable services, even as the ministry pushes for greater competition to reduce over-dependence on a few carriers.
The government has drawn a firm line on airline compliance after days of disruption caused by IndiGo’s flight cancellations. The Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, India’s Aviation Minister, told Parliament that no airline, regardless of its size, will be allowed to flout regulations and cause hardship to travellers.
He reiterated that revised duty-roster rules for pilots and crew would stand. The disruption triggered by the cancellation of nearly 500 flights cannot be tolerated, he said.
Over the past week, IndiGo has cancelled a large number of flights across multiple airports, leaving many passengers stranded. On Tuesday, the airline listed nearly 500 more cancellations, though the numbers were lower than at the peak of the crisis. The chaos prompted emergency action from the authorities.
Following the cancellations, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) intervened and granted IndiGo temporary relief from stricter night-duty restrictions under the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules. However, experts and opposition lawmakers criticised this as a capitulation, claiming the exemption undermined the rules.
The minister defended the move, saying that passenger refunds, baggage tracing, and support processes remain under close ministry oversight. He added that IndiGo has already processed ₹750 crore in refunds.
The prolonged IndiGo disruption has exposed vulnerabilities in a market dominated by two carriers. The minister voiced strong support for new players entering the aviation sector. He argued that the crisis shows how risky over-reliance on a dominant airline can be.
“Safety in civil aviation is completely non-negotiable,” he said. The government wants a robust, competitive airline ecosystem instead of a near-duopoly where one carrier controls most of the domestic traffic.
The ministry has ordered IndiGo to cut down planned flights by 5%. It has also launched a detailed investigation into the root causes of the disruption — including rostering failures, alleged planning gaps, and compliance lapses.
Travel-hungry passengers will hope the fresh rules and oversight bring stability. Meanwhile, industry watchers will closely follow whether this turns into a turning point — prompting fresh entrants and reducing systemic risk in India’s domestic air-travel market.
