An IndiGo aircraft (Image for representation).
Credit: Reuters File Photo
New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Saturday imposed a penalty of Rs 22.20 crore on IndiGo and directed it to furnish a Rs 50-crore bank guarantee to ensure long-term systemic correction after a probe found that over-optimisation of operations and inadequate regulatory preparedness by the airline led to massive disruption last month.
It also “cautioned” IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers for “inadequate overall oversight” of flight operations and crisis management and issued a warning to the Senior Vice-President (Operations Control Centre) while asking him to be relieved and not to assign any accountable position for failure in systemic planning and timely implementation of revised Flight Duty Time Limitation.
Warnings were also issued to Deputy Head–Flight Operations, AVP–Crew Resource Planning, and Director–Flight Operations for operational, supervisory, manpower planning, and roster management lapses. IndiGo has also been asked to take appropriate action against any other personnel identified through its internal inquiry and submit a compliance report.
The probe was ordered following the cancellation of 2,507 flights and delays of 1,852 flights between December 3 and 5, as the airline could not assign adequate crew to operate services due to new norms that allowed enhanced rest time for pilots. At the same time, the DGCA also acknowledged the “swift” turnaround to restore its operations within a very short period of time.
The airline management “failed” to adequately identify planning deficiencies, maintain sufficient operational buffers, and effectively implement the revised FDTL norms that led to disruption in services, the probe found.
It said the “overriding focus” on maximising utilisation of crew, aircraft, and network resources significantly reduced roster buffer margins.
“Crew rosters were designed to maximise duty periods, with increased reliance on dead-heading, tail swaps, extended duty patterns, and minimal recovery margins. This approach compromised roster integrity and adversely impacted operational resilience,” it said.
Penalties of Rs 30 lakh each were imposed on six counts, including failure to establish and effectively implement a scheme to comply with FDTL norms, inadequate buffer margins in roster planning, failure to strike balance between commercial imperatives and crew members’ ability to work effectively and non-compliance with instructions outlining responsibilities of operations personnel pertaining to the conduct of flight operations.
In addition for continued non-compliance with the provisions of FTDL for 68 days between December 5 and February 10, a daily penalty of Rs 30 lakh per day has also been imposed. IndiGo had sought this relaxation till February 10. The total penalties amount to Rs 22.20 lakh.
The DGCA has also asked the airline to pledge a bank guarantee of Rs 50 crore to ensure compliance with the directives and long term systemic correction.
The Bank Guarantee-linked reform framework – IndiGo Systemic Reform Assurance Scheme (ISRAS) – is "strictly tied" to DGCA-verified implementation of reforms across four pillars.
This includes leadership and governance (Rs 10 crore upon certification within three months), manpower planning, rostering and fatigue-risk management (Rs 15 crore linked to initial and sustained compliance over six months), digital systems and operational resilience (Rs 15 crore upon acceptance of upgrades and safeguards within nine months) and board-level oversight with sustained compliance (Rs 10 crore after six months of continued adherence over a 9–15 month period).
“Release of the bank guarantee will be contingent upon independent verification and certification by DGCA at each stage. This has been undertaken to ensure that systemic reforms being undertaken are closely monitored by MoCA and DGCA in coordination with senior management of Indigo in the interest of aviation ecosystem improvement,” a statement said.
In a statement, IndiGo said it is committed to taking full cognizance of the orders and will, in a thoughtful and timely manner, take appropriate measures. It said an in-depth review of the robustness and resilience of the internal processes at IndiGo has been underway since the disruption to ensure that the airline emerges stronger out of these events.
IndiGo fiasco
December 3-5:
2,507 flights cancelled
1,852 delayed
Over three lakh passengers stranded
What did DGCA probe on IndiGo find?
* Over-optimisation of operations
* Inadequate regulatory preparedness
*Deficiencies in system software support
*Shortcomings in management structure and operational control
*Overriding focus on maximising utilisation of crew, aircraft, and network resources
* Crew rosters designed to maximise duty periods
* Cautions CEO for inadequate overall oversight of flight operations and crisis management
* Warning to the Accountable Manager (COO) for failure to assess the impact of Winter Schedule 2025 and the revised FDTL CAR
* Warning to the Senior Vice President (OCC) with directions to relieve him of current operational responsibilities and not to assign any accountable position
* Warnings to Deputy Head–Flight Operations, AVP–Crew Resource Planning, and Director–Flight Operations
Penalties: Rs 22.20 crore
-- One-time systemic penalties: Rs 1.80 crore
-- Continued non-compliance penalty: Rs 20.40 crore