Rahul Gandhi said IndiGo’s mass cancellations reflect the govt’s “monopoly model” hurting ordinary travellers.
IndiGo told DGCA disruptions will continue till December 8 and full stability may come only by Feb 2026.
The airline admitted poor planning in implementing new FDTL rules, prompting a review by the aviation minister.
Rahul Gandhi, the head of the Congress, claimed on Friday that this government's "monopoly model" is to blame for the IndiGo "fiasco" and that India should have fair competition in every industry rather than match-fixing monopolies.
Gandhi claimed that regular Indians bear the cost of delays, cancellations, and helplessness following IndiGo's cancellation of nearly 550 flights on Thursday alone and 400 flights on Friday, upsetting the travel plans of hundreds of passengers.
"IndiGo fiasco is the cost of this Govt's monopoly model. Once again, it's ordinary Indians who pay the price - in delays, cancellations and helplessness," the Leader of Opposition said in a post on X.
"India deserves fair competition in every sector, not match-fixing monopolies," Gandhi asserted.
IndiGo on Thursday told aviation watchdog DGCA that operations are expected to be fully stabilised by February 10, 2026, and sought temporary relaxations in flight duty norms on a day when the country's largest airline cancelled more than 550 flights, disrupting the travel plans of hundreds of passengers.
In addition to informing the regulator that there will be more cancellations until December 8 and a reduction in services starting on that date, IndiGo acknowledged that the flight disruptions that have been occurring for the past few days are mostly the result of poor planning and poor judgment in implementing the second phase of the Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms.
In order to evaluate the situation of major flight interruptions, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu called a high-level review meeting and voiced his dissatisfaction with IndiGo's handling of the new FDTL rules implementation despite having plenty of time.
