Flight Disruptions at India's Biggest Airline Shave Billions Off Market Capitalization

By Kimberley Kao

IndiGo, India's biggest airline by fleet size, canceled flights for a seventh straight day, shaving billions of dollars off InterGlobe Aviation's market capitalization.

The low-cost carrier has canceled more than 1,000 flights since Dec. 2 in what it described as "a serious operational crisis." As of Monday afternoon, the cancellations have reduced its listed operator's market value by around $3 billion, FactSet data show.

InterGlobe shares fell as much as 9.8% intraday Monday, putting them on track for the biggest one-day decline in three years.

At a meeting with government officials last week, IndiGo cited various reasons for the mass cancellations, including challenges implementing revised crew safety rules in India and weather constraints, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said.

The new regulations include measures such as extended weekly rest periods for crew members and reduced flight duty hours, aimed at addressing fatigue among air crews to ensure safety.

The ministry said in a statement that there was "ample preparatory time" to comply with the measures, which were rolled out in phases this year and first proposed in early 2024.

Citi analysts wrote in a recent note that IndiGo's management said its operations had been affected by a confluence of factors, including technology glitches, schedule changes linked to the winter season, increased congestion and crew rostering changes.

The airline said last week it would take steps to normalize operations, and rebooted of all its systems and schedules on Friday for "progressive improvement." That reduced the number of flights operated to 706. IndiGo usually operates around 2,200 flights daily, according to its website.

In an update on Sunday, IndiGo said it was on track to operate over 1,650 flights by the end of the day. The airline didn't immediately respond to a request for an update on Monday.

As of Sunday, the airline had processed passenger refunds totaling 6.1 billion rupees, equivalent to $67.8 million, according to the civil aviation ministry, which said that the government would launch "a high-level inquiry into this disruption".

The ministry also said it introduced fare caps to regulate fare pricing after airfares surged following disruptions to IndiGo flights. The caps will remain in effect until "the situation fully stabilizes," it said.

Write to Kimberley Kao at kimberley.kao@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 08, 2025 03:51 ET (08:51 GMT)