A large pile of luggage is seen at Delhi Airport on December 8, 2025. | Photo credit: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap
Aviation safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Saturday (January 17, 2026) imposed a fine of ₹ 22.2 crore on IndiGo for flight disruptions in December 2025, citing flight crew overload as a key factor in the airline’s operational collapse.
The DGCA also issued a warning to CEO Pieter Elbers and COO Isidre Porqueras, who were put on notice, and ordered the removal of Senior Vice President, Operational Control Centre, Jason Herter from his current position “for failing in system planning and timely implementation of revised” duty and rest standards for pilots that began on November 1.
A four-member DGCA commission of inquiry found that there was “a major focus on maximizing the use of crew, aircraft and network resources, which significantly reduced roster reserves. Crew rosters were designed to maximize duty time, with increased reliance on pitch, tailplane replacement, extended service patterns and minimal recovery reserves.” This approach compromised the integrity of the schedule and press release.
The investigation also revealed deficiencies in system software support and deficiencies in the management structure as well as operational control at IndiGo.
Further, the DGCA will also conduct an internal inquiry at the behest of the civil aviation ministry to identify and implement systemic improvements as there were questions as to how the regulator allowed IndiGo to increase flights by 10% in its winter schedule without ensuring that it was able to meet the new norms for pilot rest and duty. After the operational crisis in December, the DGCA found that IndiGo had 65 less captains than it needed to meet the new norms.
Warnings were also issued to the Deputy Chief – Flight Operations, AVP – Crew Resource Planning and Director – Flight Operations for operational, supervisory, manpower planning and roster management outages.
IndiGo was also ordered to pledge a bank guarantee of ₹50 crore to ensure compliance with the guidelines and long-term systemic remediation.
The DGCA will release this amount after verifying the implementation of IndiGo across key areas such as leadership and management, workforce planning, scheduling and fatigue risk management, digital systems and operational resilience.
Published – 17 Jan 2026 21:13 IST
