The Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Thursday issued a series of stringent directions to IndiGo as the airline continues to face large-scale operational disruptions, with cancellations soaring to nearly 200 flights a day.
The aviation regulator instructed the airline to submit a full roadmap for restoring normal operations, including projected crew recruitment aligned with aircraft induction, revised roster planning, safety-risk assessments and immediate mitigation steps to control further disruption.
Airline to submit progress reports every 15 days
The airline must also file progress reports every 15 days and place before the regulator its specific requests for temporary FDTL relaxations needed to stabilise operations.
DGCA teams have additionally been deployed for real-time inspections at major airports, after finding lapses in passenger-handling at Delhi’s Terminal 1, and the regulator has asked the airline to urgently reinforce manpower and support services.
IndiGo acknowledges misjudgement on its part
On its part, IndiGo acknowledged that the disruption stems largely from misjudgment in implementing Phase-2 of the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations. The airline admitted that actual crew requirements under the new fatigue-mitigation norms were higher than anticipated, and that this gap, combined with winter constraints and roster-planning challenges, triggered the surge in cancellations.
IndiGo informed the regulator that it expects stabilisation by February 10, 2026, and that further cancellations may persist over the next few days as the schedule is realigned. From December 8, it will reduce overall flight operations to contain the disruption and has sought limited exemptions from specific FDTL provisions for its A320 operations until February, saying this would reduce passenger inconvenience while maintaining safety margins.