IndiGo’s ongoing operational turmoil, triggered by hundreds of cancellations, widespread delays and now a DGCA probe into the airline’s disruptions, has sharpened passenger scrutiny of India’s largest carrier. A new LocalCircles survey shows growing frustration among fliers, with complaints around punctuality, staff behaviour and poor information flow echoing the issues currently plaguing the airline.

The survey report, based on inputs from over 15,000 IndiGo passengers located across 301 districts of India, showed that consumer complaints against the carrier has increased across key service parameters over the past 12 months, including timeliness, baggage handling, staff attitude and courteousness, customer service, aircraft quality and maintenance, and information transparency.

Considering several recent social media complaints against IndiGo on the service front, the survey asked flyers: “What are some of the issues you have experienced when flying IndiGo in the last 12 months?” Among the 15,938 respondents, many reported more than one issue.

The survey finding suggested that 54% of respondents cited timeliness as a major problem, while another 54% pointed to staff attitude and courteousness. About 45% reported issues with information timeliness and transparency, 42% highlighted baggage handling, 32% mentioned customer service, and 27% raised concerns about the quality and maintenance of aircraft. Additionally, 23% were dissatisfied with food quality, 14% with entertainment systems, and 19% reported other issues not listed in the survey.

When compared with 2024, complaints from IndiGo passengers have risen sharply this year. Issues with timeliness increased from 33% to 54%, baggage handling from 27% to 42%, staff attitude and courteousness from 46% to 54%, customer service from 23% to 32%, aircraft quality and maintenance from 19% to 27%, and information transparency from 27% to 45% in the last 12 months, the report highlighted.

Several passengers on social media even questioned whether the airline’s long-running tagline, “On time is a wonderful thing,” still holds true.

Out of 15,938 respondents, 62% were men and 38% were women. About 46% of respondents were from tier 1 cities, 29% from tier 2, and the remaining 25% from tier 3, tier 4, tier 5, and rural districts.

What’s behind IndiGo’s chaos?

IndiGo began experiencing flight disruptions on November 29 after an urgent mandatory software patch was issued for Airbus A320 aircraft under a global technical advisory. Nearly 200 IndiGo planes required the update, and although most were completed over the weekend, the hurried maintenance disrupted crew scheduling.

The disruptions were set off by a severe crew shortage tied to the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms that came into effect on November 1, which mandate longer rest periods and lower flying hours. The problem was compounded by technical glitches, airport and airspace restrictions, congestion, seasonal schedule changes and intermittent weather issues.

LocalCircles survey report noted that IndiGo’s week-long operational crisis deepened on Wednesday as the airline continued to grapple with massive flight disruptions and growing passenger anger, even as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) launched a probe into the cancellations.

IndiGo cancelled more than 200 flights nationwide over the past week, including over 200 cancellations on December 3 alone. Regulatory data shows the airline scrapped 1,232 flights in November, underlining the strain on operations. Alongside the cancellations, passengers have flooded social media with complaints about long delays and unresponsive or rude staff, further denting the airline’s reputation for reliability.

The operational turmoil comes at a difficult financial moment. IndiGo reported a ₹2,582 crore loss in Q2 FY26, sharply reversing the ₹2,176 crore profit recorded in Q1 FY26. The airline attributed the loss primarily to a steep ₹2,892 crore forex impact, compared with ₹241 crore a year earlier. Excluding the currency hit, IndiGo said it would have posted a ₹104 crore net profit.

Despite the ongoing challenges, IndiGo continues to expand aggressively. The carrier currently operates around 15,768 flights weekly, up 12.7% from the same period last year, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium, the report noted.

However, the airline’s on-time performance, once a core brand strength, has deteriorated. IndiGo’s OTP has slipped from 92.4% in 2021 to 85.4% in 2023, and to 69.69% in 2024, before improving marginally to the current 80–82% range, as per the report.