Air travel in India faced significant disruptions on Tuesday night and Wednesday, primarily due to a crew shortage at IndiGo and a third-party system failure affecting Air India. Over 200 flights were impacted, leading to numerous delays and cancellations across major airports, including Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.

IndiGo, which operates nearly two-thirds of domestic flights, cancelled more than 100 flights on Wednesday alone. The airline's on-time performance plummeted to just 35% at key airports, a stark contrast to Air India’s 67.2% and other carriers like SpiceJet and Akasa Air. The crew shortage is attributed to the new flight duty time limitation (FDTL) norms that took effect on November 1, which include longer rest periods and restrictions on night landings.

An IndiGo spokesperson acknowledged the disruptions, stating, "We have had several unavoidable flight delays and some cancellations in the past few days due to various reasons including technology issues, airport congestion, and operational requirements." The airline is working to normalise operations and is offering alternate flight options or refunds to affected passengers.

Operational issues were also reported at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, where low visibility caused diversions and delays. Additionally, two IndiGo flights from Vadodara were cancelled due to operational reasons, with passengers being accommodated on alternate flights or offered refunds.

A separate issue arose from a third-party system failure that affected check-in processes for multiple airlines, including Air India. Passengers at Varanasi airport were informed that the outage was linked to Microsoft, although the company’s status page indicated that all services were operational. Air India later confirmed that the system had been restored and check-in was functioning normally.

As December begins with these operational challenges, airlines are advising passengers to monitor flight alerts closely and allow extra time for airport arrivals until the situation stabilises.