During the December 2025 peak travel season, widespread flight cancellations and reschedules triggered a surge in customer complaints, refunds, and rebooking requests across India’s aviation sector. For Le Travenues Technology Limited (Ixigo), the disruption became a large-scale operational test of how far artificial intelligence (AI) could replace or augment human-led customer support during moments of crisis.
According to the company, AI handled almost 76% of voice calls end-to-end in Q3 FY26. However, during December alone, when flight disruptions peaked, that figure rose sharply, with AI handling more than 150,000 calls end-to-end during the month.
“But what really stood out for me was that in December, when the crisis unfolded, we stepped out proactively, voice calling and with AI handling a whopping 90% of all calls in December,” Rajnish Kumar, Director and Group Co-CEO at Ixigo, said during the company’s Q3 FY26 earnings call.
Moreover, despite customer contact volumes across voice and chat more than doubling during the disruption, Ixigo said its service metrics remained largely stable. According to the company, the share of calls answered within two minutes stood at 96.7% despite the elevated volume, while average handling time remained between three and ten minutes.
What triggered the December disruption?
For context, the December disruption followed tighter enforcement of Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which cap how long pilots can fly and mandate minimum rest periods. The enforcement led to widespread cancellations and reschedules, particularly affecting India’s largest domestic carrier, IndiGo.
While MakeMyTrip described the episode as a supply-led shock, Ixigo executives framed the same period as a stress test of post-booking systems rather than a demand collapse.
During a 12-day window in early December, Ixigo recorded approximately 4,500 flight cancellations and reschedules, with the disruption peaking between December 2 and December 8. Additionally, the company said customer reach-outs doubled, while usage of its flight tracking products increased five-fold.
How Ixigo structured AI-led post-booking communication
Ixigo said it did not rely on AI only to respond to inbound complaints. Instead, it used AI to initiate communication with customers before they reached out.
“We leveraged AI-driven outbound calls to proactively inform customers of flight cancellations or reschedules, automatically trigger refunds and alternate bookings, and guide them through next steps,” Kumar said.
Additionally, Ixigo’s AI agent, Tara, played a central role during the disruption.
“Tara, our AI agent, played a central role by actively assisting customers with refund processes and recommending alternate travel options,” Kumar added.
In parallel, Ixigo said its AI-augmented human support team operated extended hours during…
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