IndiGo Airlines was forced to cancel thousands of flights this week as new crew rostering laws took effect — sparking widespread outrage and condemnation. The crisis unfolded amidst the busiest travel season of the year as a growing number of people took to the skies for holidays, weddings, and other festive gatherings.
The DGCA had notified its new Flight Duty Time Limitations in January 2024 — giving airlines until the end of November 2025 to ensure implementation. It was to be a two-phased procedure with some core changes beginning from July while the remainder took effect from November 2025. And the company appeared mostly unruffled as the deadline loomed (and eventually passed) for FDTL changes.
“The FDTL will have some impact (on domestic flights), but that’s a very different discussion than these long-haul operators. And again, for the first phase in July onwards, it looks like that there’s a low single-digit impact on that for that phase…” Elbers had noted during an analyst call in May 2025.
“Given that the FDTL has now kicked in, there is going to be some element of cost dimension that is going to start playing out. There is going to be an increased cost that we’ll have to incur related to the implementation of the FDTL…we anticipate a slight uptick in the cost given the new Phase 2 that has been kind of implemented. It’s a scaled-down version from what was initially proposed by the regulators, but there will be some incremental cost,” added CFO Gaurav Negi days after the November deadline.
What changed in December?
The new pilot rest and duty rules capped the number of night landings at two (down from six) and restricted the maximum number of hours a pilot can fly at night to eight (with total duty up to 10 hours). Pilots have also been barred from serving more than two consecutive night shifts and limitations were placed on repeated extensions over 28 days. The budget carrier — which runs a significant number of red-eye flights and operates on a lean staffing model — has struggled to comply with the directives.
Matters took a sharp turn for the worse as the peak-season surge began in December. According to a source-based Economic Times report, the airline did not hire new pilots or ramp up training in time for the new rules. This had left its existing crew overextended — with frequent reassignments, longer duty hours and increased deadheading.
The DGCA had eventually intervened amid the ongoing spate of cancellations — exempting IndiGo from several FDTL measures until February 10.
DGCA show cause notice for Elbers
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has sent a show-cause notice to CEO Pieter Elbers on Saturday evening and sought an explanation within 24 hours. The notice accused him of “failing to ensure timely arrangements” and flagged inadequate preparations to handle the newly enforced rostering changes as the primary issue.
“… as the CEO, you are responsible for ensuring effective management of the airline but you have failed in your duty to ensure timely arrangements for the conduct of reliable operations and the availability of requisite facilities to the passengers,” the aviation watchdog wrote.
Note: Financial Express has reached out to IndiGo for comments. This article will be updated in case of a response.
