The coming days may be very difficult for the country’s largest airline Indigo. After the huge inconvenience caused to the passengers due to cancellation of thousands of flights in the last few days, now the government and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation i.e. DGCA have come into full action mode. In the report of Times of India, quoting sources, it has been said that in the first phase, a reduction of 5 percent in the schedule of IndiGo’s flights is considered certain, which means that about 110 flights can be snatched from IndiGo daily. Not only this, if the situation does not improve, an additional 5 percent cut can also be made in the coming days.
What answer did Indigo give to DGCA?
In fact, IndiGo’s condition worsened the most in the first week of December when more than 1,000 flights were affected in a single day on December 5, which was almost half of its total daily operations. Due to these sudden cancellations, the plans of lakhs of passengers were ruined. Many people remained stranded at the airport for hours, while many passengers neither received the ticket money on time nor could proper arrangements for alternative flights be made.
DGCA had issued a show cause notice to IndiGo on this entire matter, in response to which IndiGo responded by calling itself extremely helpless and a victim of circumstances. The airline, in its reply to the DGCA, refused to hold any single factor responsible for the entire crisis and said it was an ‘unfortunate and unexpected confluence of multiple factors’.
What are the reasons given for flight cancellation?
Among the five reasons mentioned by IndiGo in its reply, minor technical glitches, changes related to the implementation of winter schedule, bad weather, increased congestion in air traffic and the new crew duty time limitation rules i.e. FDTL Phase-2, which came into effect from November 1, 2025, have been held responsible. The airline says that under the new rules, sudden major changes had to be made in crew rostering, which severely affected on-time performance across the network and further worsened crew availability.
IndiGo also said in its response that the scale of its operations is so large that it is ‘not realistically possible’ to identify any single exact cause in the short time given. Citing the DGCA manual, it has also sought additional time of 15 days so that a ‘comprehensive root-cause analysis’ can be conducted. On this reply of IndiGo, the Civil Aviation Ministry has definitely said that the reply is being reviewed by DGCA and strict enforcement action will be taken when the time comes.
Which action is DGCA preparing for now?
According to sources, now DGCA has made preparations to limit IndiGo flights in proportion to the actual availability of its crew. This will have a direct impact on ticket booking, network planning and revenue in the coming days. Along with this, heavy financial penalty can also be imposed on Indigo. Not only this, the sword of personal action is also hanging against top officials approved by DGCA, including CEO Peter Elbers and COO Isidre Porcaras. COO Isidre Porcaras is also the ‘accountable manager’ of the airline, hence his responsibility becomes even greater.
There is also a discussion going on within the government that if negligence and serious management lapses are proved, then there may be mass resignations or dismissals within IndiGo. That is, the ‘deep remorse’ that is being talked about in the headline is no longer just symbolic, but seems to be becoming a reality.
Why did so many flights have to be cancelled?
Indigo has termed the large-scale cancellation of December 5 as a ‘tough but necessary step’. The airline claims that it took this decision to ‘reboot’ the entire network so that stranded passengers can be evacuated, congestion at airports can be reduced and crew and aircraft can be redeployed to the right place. But the question is whether the unbearable trouble caused to the passengers can be compensated only by an apology?
DGCA has also formed a four-member special committee to investigate this entire episode, which is headed by Joint Director General Sanjay Brahman. This committee will thoroughly examine IndiGo’s human resource planning, crew rostering and preparedness to implement the new FDTL rules. There is also a possibility that the committee may personally summon the CEO and COO of IndiGo and seek a direct response from them.
This matter is considered very serious from the point of view of passenger confidence. The collapse of the system of an airline, which was known for its punctuality and large network, also raises questions on the civil aviation system of the entire country. The government will now have to show that there will be no compromise with the safety, convenience and confidence of passengers.
Overall, it is clear that this crisis for Indigo will not be limited to just a few days of chaos. Reduction in flights, confiscation of slots, heavy fines, action against top officials and major administrative decisions within the company… all these indicate that IndiGo may have to pay a heavy price for its ‘mistake’ in the coming days.
