Indigo Flight Disruptions- December 2025: Findings, Enforcement Action and Systemic Reforms

Following the large-scale delays and cancellations reported by M/s IndiGo during the period from 3rd to 5th December 2025—resulting in the cancellation of 2,507 flights and delays of 1,852 flights and causing inconvenience to over three lakh passengers stranded at various airports, on the directions of MoCA, a four-member Committee was constituted by DGCA to undertake a comprehensive review and assessment of the circumstances leading to the operational disruptions of M/s IndiGo.

Scale of Disruption
- Between 3–5 December 2025, IndiGo cancelled 2,507 flights and delayed 1,852 flights, affecting over 300,000 passengers stranded at airports.

Inquiry Findings
A DGCA‑appointed committee identified several root causes:
- Over‑optimisation of operations: Excessive focus on maximizing crew and aircraft utilization.
- Inadequate regulatory preparedness: Weak buffers in planning and poor adaptation to revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL).
- System software deficiencies: Rostering and operational control systems lacked resilience.
- Management lapses: Failure to maintain operational buffers and oversight.
- Roster issues: Heavy reliance on dead‑heading, tail swaps, extended duty patterns, and minimal recovery margins.

Enforcement Actions
DGCA imposed strict measures:
- Warnings & Cautions: Issued to CEO, COO, SVP (Operations Control Centre), and other senior managers for oversight failures.
- Personnel Accountability: Certain officials relieved of operational responsibilities.
- Bank Guarantee Requirement: IndiGo must pledge ₹50 crore under the IndiGo Systemic Reform Assurance Scheme (ISRAS), released in phases upon verified reforms.

Financial Penalties:
- One‑time systemic penalties: ₹1.8 crore.
- Continued non‑compliance penalties (68 days): ₹20.4 crore.
- Total penalty: ₹22.2 crore.


Systemic Reforms Mandated
The ISRAS framework ties reforms to financial guarantees:
- Leadership & Governance: ₹10 crore linked to certification within 3 months.
- Manpower Planning & Fatigue Risk Management: ₹15 crore tied to compliance over 6 months.
- Digital Systems & Operational Resilience: ₹15 crore upon upgrades within 9 months.
- Board‑level Oversight: ₹10 crore after 6 months of sustained compliance.

Passenger Relief
- IndiGo provided timely refunds and CAR compensation.
- Additionally, a ₹10,000 “Gesture of Care” voucher (valid for 12 months) was offered to passengers whose flights were cancelled or delayed by more than 3 hours.

Broader Impact
- DGCA emphasized that these actions aim to strengthen systemic resilience, safeguard crew welfare, and ensure sustained operational safety in civil aviation.

This case is a landmark in Indian aviation regulation, showing how authorities are enforcing accountability, systemic reform, and passenger protection.