India withdraws pilot restrictions after largest airline cancels flights and disrupts airports

NEW DELHI (AP) — India's aviation watchdog temporarily rolled back restrictions on airline crew duty hours, days after the previous order disrupted operations at major Indian airports as the country’s biggest airline, IndiGo, scrambled to restore normal services.

The new regulations mandated longer rest periods and limited night flying hours for crew and pilots to address concerns about fatigue and safety. India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation said late Friday the suspension of the new rules would go into effect immediately.

“Without compromising on air safety, this decision has been taken solely in the interest of passengers, especially senior citizens, students, patients, and others who rely on timely air travel for essential needs,” the ministry said in a statement.

Friday was the fourth straight day of disruptions as the low-cost carrier IndiGo struggled with the rules change. Scenes of frustration played out as passengers slept on airport floors, queued for hours at customer service counters and waited without clear communication from the airline.

The first phase of the rules came into effect in July while the second phase kicked in November. IndiGo struggled to adapt its rosters in time, resulting in widespread cancellations and disruptions.

On Thursday, more than 300 IndiGo flights were grounded while several hundreds delayed. A passenger advisory from the Delhi airport Friday stated that all domestic IndiGo flights will remain cancelled until midnight. Other major airlines, including Air India, have not faced similar issues so far.

IndiGo operates around 2,300 flights daily and controls nearly 65% of India’s domestic aviation market.

Senior citizen Sajal Bose was scheduled to travel with his wife Senjuti Bose early Friday from Kolkata to New Delhi to attend a friend’s silver jubilee celebration. His flight was cancelled an hour before the scheduled take off.

Bose told The Associated Press he was now taking a nine-hour train ride to the city Bagdogra, where he plans to get a flight to New Delhi on another airline. “Its very irresponsible and complete negligence. Very difficult for older people like us,” he said.

In an internal email to employees this week, seen by The Associated Press, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers apologized, and cited technology glitches, schedule changes, adverse weather conditions, heightened congestion and the implementation of the new rules as the reasons for flight disruptions.

Earlier, the Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement that the disruptions arose primarily through misjudgment and planning gaps as the airline implemented phase two of the new rules, and that the airline acknowledged that the effect on crew strength exceeded their expectations.

IndiGo had sought temporary exemptions in implementing the new rules and told the government that corrective measures were underway, indicating operations will be fully restored by Feb. 10.

Associated Press videojournalist Piyush Nagpal in New Delhi contributed to this report.

An airport official walks near a runway at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi as several Indigo Airlines flights were cancelled or delayed, India, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Three Indigo Airlines planes are seen through a glass window at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi as several flights operated by the carrier were either cancelled or delayed, India, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Two Indigo Airlines planes are seen through a glass window at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi as several flights operated by the carrier were either cancelled or delayed, India, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Passengers wait outside the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, India, as several Indigo Airlines flights were either cancelled or delayed, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Federal officials on Thursday gave final approval for the Dakota Access oil pipeline to continue operating its contentious Missouri River crossing, an outcome that comes nearly a decade after boisterous protests against the project on the North Dakota prairie.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to grant the key easement means the pipeline will keep operating but with added conditions for detecting leaks and monitoring groundwater, among others. The announcement brings an end to a drawn-out legal and regulatory saga stemming from the protests in 2016 and 2017, though further litigation over the pipeline is likely.

The $3.8 billion, multistate pipeline has been transporting oil since June 2017 from North Dakota’s Bakken oil field to a terminal in Illinois. The line carries about 4% of U.S. daily oil production, or roughly 540,000 barrels per day,

The Corps is “decisively putting years of delays to rest and moving out to safely execute this crossing beneath Lake Oahe," Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle said in a statement.

The pipeline crosses the river upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s reservation, which straddles the Dakotas. The tribe has long opposed the pipeline, fearing a spill and contamination of its water supply. In 2016 and 2017, thousands of people camped and protested for months near the river crossing.

The protests resulted in hundreds of arrests and related criminal cases and lawsuits, some of them still ongoing, including litigation that threatens the future of the environmental group Greenpeace.

In December, the Corps released its final environmental impact statement nearly six years after a federal judge ordered a more rigorous review of the pipeline's crossing. In that document, the Corps endorsed the option to grant the easement for the crossing and keep the pipeline operating with modifications.

Those measures include enhanced leak detection and monitoring systems, expanded groundwater and surface water monitoring and third-party expert evaluation of the leak and detection systems, among others, the Corps said. The conditions also include water supply contingency planning and other studies coordinated with affected tribes.

The Corps had weighed several options, including removing or abandoning the pipeline's river crossing or even rerouting it north. The agency said its decision “best balances public safety, protection of environmental resources, and leak detection and response considerations while meeting the project’s purpose and need.”

Pipeline developer Energy Transfer hailed the decision, saying the pipeline has been safely operating for nearly 10 years and is critical to the country’s energy infrastructure.

“We want to thank the Corps for the tremendous amount of time and effort put in by so many to bring this matter to a thoughtful close,” said Vicki Granado, a company spokesperson.

The Associated Press sent text messages and emails to media representatives for the tribe and left a voicemail at the tribe's headquarters. They didn't immediately respond Thursday.

North Dakota Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong, Interior Secretary and former North Dakota governor Doug Burgum and U.S. Senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer each welcomed the decision to ensure the pipeline continues operating.

The Corps' announcement came as officials and oil industry leaders were gathered for a trade conference in Bismarck.

Energy Transfer and Enbridge are in early stages of a project to move about 250,000 daily barrels of light Canadian crude oil through the Dakota Access Pipeline by using another pipeline and building a 56-mile connecting line, spokespersons for the companies said. Enbridge will decide sometime in mid-2026 whether to move ahead.

FILE - A sign for the Dakota Access Pipeline is seen north of Cannonball, N.D. and the Standing Rock Reservation on May 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)