IndiGo crisis | DGCA officials start monitoring operations, refunds at airline headquarters

New Delhi: Enhancing oversight, DGCA officials on Thursday began monitoring IndiGo's operations, refunds, and other processes from the airline's headquarters, sources said.

They said the officials are expected to submit daily reports on the situation at the airline, which has been grappling with significant operational disruptions and the subsequent cancellation of thousands of flights due to planning failures related to the implementation of new pilot and crew duty norms.

On Wednesday, the DGCA decided to deploy two members from an oversight panel at IndiGo's Gurgaon headquarters to monitor cancellation status, crew deployment, unplanned leave, and routes hit by staff shortages. The safety regulator also summoned IndiGo Chief Executive Pieter Elbers to appear at its office at 3 PM on Thursday and sought a complete report, along with comprehensive data and updates, relating to the recent operational disruptions.

Two officers from the DGCA office - a senior statistics officer and a deputy director - will be deployed at the IndiGo corporate office to monitor the status of domestic and international cancellations, refund status, on-time performance, compensation to the passengers as per the civil aviation requirement and baggage return, as per a DGCA order issued on Wednesday.

At the same time, senior officials from the DGCA will carry out immediate on-site inspections to assess IndiGo's operations across 11 domestic airports, according to the order.

All assigned officers will visit their respective airports in the next 2-3 days, and submit a comprehensive report to the Director of Operations for the flight safety department at the DGCA in New Delhi within 24 hours of their visit.

Since last week, IndiGo has cancelled thousands of flights nationwide after failing to plan for tighter safety regulations. The cancellations peaked on December 5 and have declined since. The airline on Tuesday said its operations have stabilised and were back to normal levels.

But the cancellations continued with the airline cancelling a record number of 1,600 flights in a day on December 5.

As part of the winter schedule for 2025-26, the airline has been operating over 2,200 flights per day, which has already been cut by 10 per cent, as per a Civil Aviation Ministry order of December 10.

The latest order is part of a suite of actions by authorities that followed IndiGo, which controls over 65 per cent of the market share, cancelling more than 4,000 flights since December 2 that left tens of thousands of passengers stranded, upending their vacation plans, important meetings, and weddings.