India’s largest airline, IndiGo, has been penalised ₹22.20 crore by the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) following massive flight disruptions between 3 and 5 December 2025, during which 2,507 flights were cancelled and 1,852 flights were delayed, leaving more than 300,000 passengers stranded across airports nationwide.
The enforcement action follows a comprehensive inquiry ordered by the ministry of civil aviation (MoCA) and conducted by a four-member DGCA committee to examine the causes behind the unprecedented operational breakdown. The committee carried out a detailed review of IndiGo’s network planning, crew rostering practices, management oversight and the software systems deployed to manage operations.
The findings, enforcement actions and long-term systemic reforms were formally announced by DGCA through a public press note, underscoring the seriousness of the regulatory response.
According to the committee’s findings, the primary causes of the disruptions were over-optimisation of operations, inadequate regulatory preparedness, deficiencies in system software support and serious shortcomings in management structure and operational control. The airline, the committee observed, failed to maintain sufficient operational buffers and did not effectively implement the revised flight duty time limitation (FDTL) provisions, resulting in widespread cancellations and cascading delays.
The inquiry highlighted IndiGo excessive focus on maximising utilisation of aircraft, crew and network resources. Crew rosters were designed to stretch duty periods to the maximum, relying heavily on dead-heading, tail swaps and extended duty patterns with minimal recovery margins. This significantly compromised roster integrity, weakened operational resilience and increased the risk of system-wide failures.
DGCA also found that senior management failed to identify planning deficiencies in time and did not adequately assess the impact of the winter schedule 2025 in conjunction with the revised FDTL norms. These lapses, the regulator noted, directly contributed to the scale and severity of the disruptions experienced by passengers.
Based on the committee’s recommendations, DGCA initiated enforcement action against key officials of InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, IndiGo’s parent company. The airline’s CEO has been cautioned for inadequate overall oversight of flight operations and crisis management. The accountable manager and chief operating officer has been issued a warning for failing to assess the operational impact of regulatory changes, while the senior vice-president (operations control centre) has been warned and directed to be relieved of current operational responsibilities, with instructions not to be assigned any accountable position.
Warnings have also been issued to the deputy head flight operations, AVP crew resource planning, and director flight operations for lapses in supervision, manpower planning and roster management. IndiGo has been directed to take appropriate action against other personnel identified through its internal inquiry and to submit a compliance report to DGCA.
In addition to individual accountability, DGCA imposed one-time systemic penalties of ₹1.80 crore on IndiGo for multiple violations of civil aviation requirements (CARs), including failure to effectively implement FDTL norms, imbalance between commercial imperatives and crew wellbeing, improper delegation of operational control and failure of accountable management to ensure compliance with DGCA standards.
The most significant component of the penalty stems from continued non-compliance with the revised FDTL CAR provisions for 68 days—from 5 December 2025 to 10 February 2026. For this prolonged violation, DGCA levied a daily penalty of ₹30 lakh, amounting to ₹20.40 crore. The total financial penalty imposed thus stands at ₹22.20 crore.
Beyond monetary penalties, IndiGo has been ordered to pledge a ₹50 crore bank guarantee in favour of DGCA under a specially designed framework titled the 'IndiGo Systemic Reform Assurance Scheme' (ISRAS). The phased release of this bank guarantee is strictly linked to DGCA-verified implementation of reforms across four pillars: leadership and governance, manpower planning and fatigue-risk management, digital systems and operational resilience, and sustained board-level oversight over a nine- to 15-month period.
DGCA acknowledged that IndiGo restored normal operations swiftly after the disruption and complied with passenger welfare requirements, including refunds and compensation under applicable CARs. Additionally, on MoCA’s directions, the airline issued a 'Gesture of Care' voucher worth ₹10,000, valid for 12 months, to passengers whose flights were cancelled or delayed by more than three hours during the affected period.
The regulator also stated that an internal inquiry is underway within DGCA to identify and address systemic improvements on the regulatory side. Reiterating that safety and regulatory compliance remain paramount, DGCA emphasised that the enforcement actions are aimed at strengthening systemic resilience, protecting crew welfare and ensuring sustained operational safety across India’s civil aviation ecosystem.
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