Mumbai: Amid widespread flight cancellations and chaos at major airports, a purported “open letter” from IndiGo employees — including pilots, cabin crew and ground staff — is going viral on social media. The letter, shared widely, claims the recent disruption was “not just an operational failure — it was a failure of planning and frontline protection.”
The alleged signatories say frontline workers bore the brunt of passenger anger, abuse and blame, while the decisions that led to the meltdown were made far from the fallout. They argue the timing and scale of the cancellations line up with a new regulatory deadline on crew-duty norms, making it “impossible to ignore” what is unfolding. According to the letter, the pattern suggests the “crisis was allowed to escalate”, turning frontline staff into “leverage in a regulatory standoff.”
“We did not design rosters. We did not freeze hiring. We did not delay preparedness. Yet we carried the entire public cost,” the letter says. The employees call for a public acceptance of responsibility, clearing of frontline staff, transparency on whether regulatory pressure influenced decision-making and assurance that such a collapse will not recur.
OPEN LETTER – FROM INDIGO PILOTS, CREW & GROUND STAFF
The recent mass disruptions were not just an operational failure — they were a failure of planning and frontline protection.
Across airports, it was employees who faced passenger anger, public blame, and personal abuse,…
— Sanjay Lazar (@sjlazars) December 5, 2025
One user who posted the letter online said it was received as a forwarded WhatsApp message.
However, OrissaPOST was unable to verify the authenticity of the message.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Friday eased some pilot duty rules with immediate effect after low-cost airline IndiGo was hit by a massive staff crunch, resulting in the cancellation of several flights across the country.
Referring to its earlier order of “no leave shall be substituted for weekly rest”, the DGCA said that “In view of the ongoing operational disruptions and representations received from various airlines regarding the need to ensure continuity and stability of operations, it has been considered necessary to review the said provision”.
Therefore, the instruction “that no leave shall be substituted for weekly rest is hereby withdrawn with immediate effect,” said the regulator.
Flight Duty Time Limitation rules cap the number of hours a crew member can work. They limit flying to eight hours a day, 35 hours a week, 125 hours a month and 1,000 hours a year.
The norms also mandate rest periods: every crew member must receive downtime equal to twice their flight time, with at least 10 hours of rest within any 24-hour window.
The DGCA introduced these rules to ensure pilots and cabin crew have adequate rest and are not pushed into fatigue that could threaten safety.
PNN & Agencies
