India’s largest airline cancelled more than 1,000 flights Friday, after a fourth straight day of disruption exacerbated the crisis roiling airports during the country’s busy travel season.
IndiGo, which has a 60% market share, has already cancelled thousands of flights since Monday, acknowledging it failed to cope with new regulations mandating more rest for pilots. The carrier was granted temporary relief on the rules, after grounding nearly all domestic flights and stranding thousands. IndiGo’s stock tumbled and its CEO issued a public apology Friday, as viral videos captured scenes of chaos and passengers’ outrage at airports.
One aviation expert argued that IndiGo not only disobeyed the regulations, but also increased its domestic flights without increasing crew and pilots. Airlines had more than a year to prepare for the new protocols, an aviation veteran noted in The Indian Express, and the crisis is “avoidable corporate negligence from a company that knows it is too big to be ignored.”