IndiGo's November Crisis: Analyzing Performance Metrics Across Indian Airlines in 2025

November 2025 proved exceptionally challenging for IndiGo, India's largest airline, as operational disruptions severely impacted its network. According to official government statistics, IndiGo was responsible for 1,232 flight cancellations during November, representing an overwhelming 62% of all cancellations across Indian airlines.

The primary factors behind these disruptions were Crew and Flight Duty Time Limit constraints, accounting for 755 cancellations. Additional contributing factors included airspace restrictions (258) and ATC system failures (92). These issues created a cascade effect, resulting in substantial delays—some extending up to 10 hours—affecting hundreds of thousands of passengers.

Data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation revealed that October's flight cancellations stemmed predominantly from technical issues (38.7%), followed by weather-related problems (17.7%) and operational challenges (15.4%). Commercial considerations represented only 3.6% of cancellations, while miscellaneous factors constituted 24.6%.

Throughout 2025, cancellation patterns varied significantly among Indian carriers. Alliance Air consistently demonstrated the highest cancellation rates, peaking at 6.13% in June and maintaining rates above 4% during most months, with August being the exception at 0.69%.

IndiGo, in contrast, generally maintained cancellation rates below 1%, with May being the outlier at 2.03%.

Passenger complaint data from October 2025 aligned with cancellation trends. Alliance Air recorded 74.6 complaints per 10,000 passengers—the highest among all carriers—while SpiceJet registered 13.8 complaints per 10,000 passengers.

IndiGo's complaint rate was remarkably low at just 0.2 complaints per 10,000 passengers, highlighting a significant disparity in customer experience. The most frequent complaint categories were flight-related problems (45.6%), baggage issues (18.9%), and refund concerns (16.3%).

Regarding on-time performance across six major metropolitan airports—Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata—IndiGo led with an impressive 84.1% OTP. The Air India Group followed at 79.3%, with Akasa Air close behind at 79.2%.

Alliance Air achieved a 60% on-time rate, while SpiceJet ranked lowest with 54.4%, indicating substantial delays for their passengers.

IndiGo's November operational breakdown raises significant questions about the airline's resilience and capacity to manage disruptions, despite its generally strong performance in on-time statistics and low complaint rates. For smaller operators like Alliance Air and SpiceJet, consistent delays and elevated complaint ratios remain serious concerns requiring attention.