DGCA cracks down on IndiGo, to station nine officials at airline headquarters

Launching a crackdown on IndiGo, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said on Wednesday (December 10, 2025) that it will deploy nine senior officials to the airline’s headquarters in Gurugram, Haryana, to monitor its fleet, pilot roster, network planning, and crew utilisation.

The aviation regulator has also summoned IndiGo chief executive officer (CEO) Pieter Elbers for a meeting on Thursday (December 11, 2025) to explain the massive flight disruptions that have plagued India’s largest airline since early December after it failed to plan for new rules that reduced night-time flying by pilots and increased their rest periods.

Mr. Elbers is likely to be quizzed on efforts to restore flights, pilot and cabin crew recruitment plans, refunds, and baggage return, among other passenger-centric concerns.

Two of the nine DGCA officials will monitor the status of refunds and compensation issued by the airline to passengers, as well as flight delays and cancellations. The airline has not yet made any numbers public regarding the compensation amount. The DGCA’s rules mandate ₹10,000 in compensation for cancellations when the flying time is two hours, and ₹20,000 for delayed, missing, and damaged baggage.

The DGCA officials will also carry out inspections at airports within the next two or three days and prepare a comprehensive report on the status of flight operations and the airline’s handling of passengers.

Wednesday’s (December 11, 2025) decision follows a meeting held by the Prime Minister’s Office with officials from the Civil Aviation Ministry, the DGCA, and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to review the redress of passenger complaints related to refunds, missing baggage, and crowd management at airports due to the massive flight disruptions at IndiGo.

IndiGo has cancelled nearly 5,700 flights between November 21 and December 9, affecting 12.5 lakh passengers. It has so far released a total of ₹1,158 crore in refunds, the airline informed the government. Of the total 9,000 delayed bags, 7,750 have been delivered and the remaining would be delivered soon.

The government has also constituted a four-member committee to carry out an inquiry into the flight disruption saga at IndiGo and the DGCA has issued notices to the airline’s CEO and chief operating officer Isidre Porqueras.

Board chairman’s message

In response to criticism on social media on the board’s role in maintaining oversight, the airline on Wednesday (December 10) released a video message from the chairman of the its board, Vikram Singh Mehta.

In the video, he apologised thrice for the fiasco and said, ”Following the first day of the disruptions, we held an emergency board meeting and set up a crisis management group. Since then, board members have been in continuous contact with the management team.”

He also rubbished allegations that the airline “engineered” the operational disruption and that there were attempts to bypass the rules governing pilot rest and duty times, even though the DGCA has issued multiple orders granting the airline several exemptions as requested.