Remember when IndiGo claimed it was ‘On Time, Every Time’? Not anymore

IndiGo has seen an unprecedented decline in on-time performance, the performance metric we were once accustomed to, registering only 35% of its flights on time on Tuesday, December 2, 2025. Tuesdays are usually the lowest load factor (passenger occupancy) days of a week, and despite a slight decline in total flights and passengers, IndiGo’s load factor was above 90%, according to the aviation ministry’s data published daily on its website. The airline, which closed the month of October with the best on-time performance among its peers, has been facing difficulties in punctuality lately.

What exactly caused on-time performance to drop so badly in the last few weeks?

punctuality problems

The airline attributed the drop in punctuality to “unavoidable flight delays that have occurred over the last few days due to a variety of reasons, including technology issues, airport congestion and operational requirements.”

Data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows that airlines in India are scheduled to operate 3,404 domestic departures on December 3. Only 3,189 flights were actually made.

Among these parties, IndiGo is planned to handle the highest number of domestic departures with 2,046. It is not yet known how many of these have been cancelled. If 65% of flights do not go on time, this will mean more than 1,300 flights will be delayed.

However, the regulator publishes the on-time performance of six metro airports at the end of the month. These also account for the largest share of all operations in airlines. In the case of IndiGo, it operates just over 1,000 departures from six metros and an on-time performance of just 35% means more than 650 flights are delayed. Interestingly, it had one of the best load factors on December 2 at 91.2%; This is an indication that passengers have been accommodated on the airline’s other flights.

The airline had been facing adverse headwinds for the past few weeks; Numerous reports in cities mentioned pilots being unavailable for flights, causing delays. The second part of the new FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) was implemented on 1 November and this would result in increased requirements for pilots. Weather conditions in the country appear to have become more severe on Tuesday, with the mounting impact of delays resulting from software rollbacks mandated by Airbus and the regulator.

However, other airlines report significantly better on-time performance on all days when IndiGo reports less than 50% OTP or on Tuesday when it reports 35% OTP.

This is not the first time IndiGo has faced such a challenge. In early 2019, the airline was forced to cancel 2% of its total flights due to pilot shortages after initially attributing a large number of cancellations to hailstorms. This cancellation resulted in 30 flights being affected. IndiGo has since almost doubled its operations and now has a 43% market share compared to 65% market share in the domestic skies.

Delays that will create ripple effects

The airline is much larger today compared to 2019, operating as a network carrier and international feeder. Delays not only affect passengers in one sector, but also have a ripple effect across common carriers and international carriers that can lead to missed flights, leading to higher expenses for recovery. The airline has recently introduced a number of wet leases on the narrowbody side; Both Airbus and Boeing aircraft operate for IndiGo in domestic and international skies. This will partly help overcome current difficulties. However, as it approaches the peaks in the last days of December, it needs to recover quickly. The airline may have to reduce some red-eye flights where the impact of the revised norms under FDTL is maximum.

Rupee slippage comes at a heavy price

A month after the airline posted a loss due to foreign exchange in the last quarter, operational performance has taken a hit and the rupee is heading towards an all-time low, crossing $90 with each passing day. Since airline expenses are denominated in dollars, it is already under the influence of the falling rupee. Operational difficulties are the last thing an airline wants.

How the airline recovers from now on will be watched with interest by the industry and passengers. Despite having a huge monopoly on routes, Air India Express has been increasing its presence on many routes in recent years; This, in turn, could impact IndiGo’s returns as passengers turn to other available options. IndIGo’s famous on-time performance guarantee on impact always gets more people to notice than anything else.

Author Ameya Joshi is an aviation analyst.