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The Delhi-based low-cost airline, IndiGo, has been fined a record Rs 2.22 billion ($24.4 million) and warned six officers, including Pieter Elbers, the Chief Executive Officer.
The airline has also been asked to deposit bank guarantees of Rs 0.5 billion, which will be refunded once it implements the operational corrections the Indian aviation watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), requires.
The financial penalty, the heaviest in Indian aviation history, was levied by a four-member DGCA committee, which found that the airline’s “focus on maximising utilisation” of crew and aircraft through aggressive cost-cutting led to the cancellation of several flights in December last year.
The crisis saw IndiGo cancel 2,507 flights and delay 1,852 flights between December 3 and December 5 last year, affecting over 300,000 passengers. IndiGo is the largest domestic carrier with a market share of over 60 percent. It operates around 2,200 to 2,300 flights daily.
The DGCA finding confirms warnings from pilots and aviation experts that the Indian airline’s attempt to maximise crew and aircraft utilisation with minimal buffer could have been avoided.
In a statement, the DGCA report said that crew roosters were designed to maximise duty periods, with increased reliance on deadheading, tail swaps, extended duty patterns, and minimal recovery margins. This approach compromised rooster integrity and adversely impacted operational resilience.
“The airline’s management failed to adequately identify planning deficiencies, maintain sufficient operational buffer and implement the revised Flight Duty Time Limitation provisions resulting in widespread delays and large scale cancellations,” the report states.
The DGCA also warned the Chief Operating Officer, Isidre Porqueras Orea, and ordered the Senior Vice President of the Operations Control Centre to be removed.
India brings in new flight crew norms
The new FDTL norms, which came into effect last year, require pilots to get 48 hours of rest each week. Pilots are now allowed to perform a maximum of 2 landings from 12 am to 6 a.m., and airlines cannot roster crew members for more than 2 consecutive nights with a duty period during night operations.
Now, pilots are not allowed to fly for more than 1 hour beyond the flight time, nor to perform pre-flight or post-flight duties. For pilots operating Ultra Long Haul Routes (ULHR) an additional 24 hour rest period is mandated after two consecutive flights. ULHR are flights over 14 hours, like what it takes to fly between India and the US non-stop.
IndiGo statement post the fine
The airline board issued a statement after the fine had been imposed, saying it was “committed to taking full cognizance of the orders” and would, in a “thoughtful and timely manner, take appropriate measures.”
The airline said that an internal review of its processes has been underway since the disruptions to ensure “that the airline emerges stronger out of these events.”
The penalty peanuts of profits IndiGo registers
Indian newspapers quoted unnamed bureaucrats as saying that the fine imposed on IndiGo was “peanuts”. The fine is estimated to be just 0.31% of the Rs 72.63 billion net profit the airline recorded in the financial year ended March 31, 2025. The penalty is estimated to represent just three hours of revenue for the airline on a top line of Rs 750 billion.
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