IndiGo Fined INR 22 Crore for Massive Flight Disruptions in December

After an investigation revealed significant operational, planning, and regulatory flaws that contributed to the significant flight disruptions in December 2025, the civil aviation regulator DGCA fined IndiGo INR 22.20 crore and took severe enforcement action against its senior management. Between December 3 and 5, 2025, IndiGo experienced significant delays and cancellations, cancelling 2,507 flights and delaying 1,852 others. Due to these circumstances, more than three lakh travellers were left stuck in Indian airports. In a statement, the chairman and board of directors of InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., the company that controls IndiGo, acknowledged receiving the DGCA's directives and promised to take the necessary action. Let’s unearth the entire episode.

What Went Wrong in Indigo’s Operations?

In response to directives from the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), the DGCA established a four-member inquiry committee. The committee's research revealed that the main reasons were IndiGo's over-optimisation of operations, poor software systems, insufficient regulatory readiness, and deficiencies in management control. The committee observed that IndiGo did not successfully apply the updated flight duty time limitation (FDTL) regulations and did not keep sufficient operational buffers.

In order to maximise utilisation, crew rosters mostly relied on tail swaps, dead-heading, and prolonged duty durations, which decreased recovery margins and jeopardised operational resilience. The CEO of IndiGo received a warning from the aviation authorities for poor crisis management and general oversight. The accountable management (COO) has also received a warning for neglecting to evaluate the effects of the 2025 winter schedule and updated FDTL regulations.

DGCA’s Strong Warning to Indigo’s Heads

The senior vice president of the operations control centre has received a severe warning from DGCA. The warning calls for him to be relieved of his existing operational duties and not given any accountable positions. The director of flight operations, AVP of crew resource planning, and deputy head of flight operations were also warned about deficiencies in roster management, workforce planning, and supervision.

IndiGo has been instructed to file a compliance report with the DGCA and take action against more employees who were discovered internally. Six distinct infractions of Civil Aviation Requirements (CARs), including noncompliance with FDTL standards, inappropriate operational control, and insufficient management oversight, resulted in INR 1.80 crore in one-time penalties from the DGCA. Continuous non-compliance with the new FDTL requirements for 68 days, from December 5, 2025, to February 10, 2026, resulted in a punishment of INR 20.40 crore, or INR 30 lakh per day. A total of INR 22.20 crore has been fined.