India, Dec. 7 -- Air travel across India has been thrown into unprecedented turmoil over the past week after IndiGo, the country's largest airline, cancelled more than 2,000 flights since December 2, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at major airports. The disruption, triggered by a cascading crew-shortage crisis, marks the worst operational breakdown in IndiGo's 20-year history.

How the Crisis Began

The trouble started on December 2, when IndiGo began delaying and cancelling flights due to an acute shortage of pilots. The crunch coincided with the enforcement of the second phase of India's new Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) - stricter crew rest and duty norms aimed at combating pilot fatigue.Although these rules were introd...