DNA TV SHOW: Will IndiGo's sins be washed away with a 'sorry'? Decoding IndiGo's 'blackmailing plan' as DGCA eases 'weekly rest' rules

In India's biggest aviation crisis, lakhs of passengers were left stranded on airports, with emotional breakdowns, long queues and soaring flight fares. India's largest airline IndiGo, which controls two-thirds of the domestic market carried out their 'blackmailing scheme' by delaying and cancelling over 2000 flights in last five day. In return, the airline covered it up with just a one-page apology as a newspaper advertisement.

On Today's DNA TV SHOW, Managing editor and Anchor Rahul Sinha conducted a DNA Test of IndiGo's 'blackmailing scheme' that pushed government to withdraw new flying rules that were introduced for the safety of passengers. The airline apologized as if saying 'sorry' will end the suffering of lakhs of travelers and compensate them for the exploitation they have faced. 

The question arises, 'will any action be taken against Indigo for the conditions faced by approximately 400,000 passengers over the past five days? Will action be taken against IndiGo so that it or any other airline cannot cause such inconvenience to passengers at airports in the future?'

What led to the IndiGo flight cancellations chaos? 

IndiGo airlines cancelled over 2000 flight in last four days with thousands of passengers are stranded at airports across the country, citing operational disruptions. What led to the IndiGo flight cancellations chaos? India's aviation controller Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) introduced new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules, that stated “no leave shall be substituted for weekly rest.” These rules were imposed for more stricter limits on pilot duty hours, night operations and required rest. However, the new regulations increased the demands of pilots, that disrupted the usual operational network of IndiGo, as flights were not able to be sufficiently staffed. 

The DGCA intervened with big move and provided relaxations on the new flying rules to bring situation in control. The government also capped the flights fares, which were touching skies going upto Rs 50000 or Delhi-Mumbai route. However, complete flight operation restorations were still underway. Due to IndiGo's mismanagement, the ordinary employees at the airports are suffering the frustrations of the passengers. 

What is IndiGo's blackmailing scheme?

Decoding IndiGo's 'blackmailing scheme', it is revealed that the FTDL (Flight Duty Time Limitation) rules that are being cited as the main reason behind the chaos, rules were scheduled to be implemented on June 1, 2024, but were postponed at the request of airlines.
Following this, the first phase of the FDTL rules was implemented on July 1, 2025. While the second phase of the rules was implemented on November 1, 2025. 

This means, these rules were not implemented suddenly and gave ample time to airlines, including IndiGo to recruit more pilots and cabin crews. IndiGo had one and a half to two years to prepare, but it paid no attention to adapting to the new rules. Instead, it opposed the rules and was the first airline to do so.

Indigo's opposing the rule highlighted its negligence of safety regulations, just to make profits. The airline is being blamed as on one hand, it didn't recruit pilots, while on the other, it increased its winter flights by 6%.

The Airline Pilots Association of India, a pilots' organization, has alleged in a letter to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that IndiGo deliberately created an artificial crisis to pressure the government, which pushes DGCA to repeal or provide relaxations of the FDTL rules. Which eventually happened!

IndiGo is still selling tickets and accepting bookings for next 10 days, even when it has itself stated that it will take 10 days for the situation to improve. However, with an apology, it is trying to clarify their name and preserve their image. 

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