Dhaka: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the aviation regulatory authority in India, has issued IndiGo with a penalty of INR 222.20 million, equivalent to USD 2.45 million, for large-scale flight disruptions in early December 2025 that stranded more than three hundred thousand passengers across the country.

The action came after a detailed inquiry that found that overworked crew rosters, weak operational planning, and poor implementation of revised Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms resulted in widespread delays and cancellations. From December 3 to 5, IndiGo cancelled 2,507 flights and delayed 1,852 others, with disruption effects stretching over nearly 15 days.

The inquiry said IndiGo adopted an over-optimized operational model focused on maximizing aircraft and crew utilization, leaving minimal flexibility to absorb disruptions. Investigators said the approach weakened operational redundancy and made the network vulnerable to system-wide delays.

Additionally, the DGCA found shortcomings in operational planning, system software support, and regulatory preparedness. The airline failed to adequately assess the impact of the Winter Schedule 2025 and the revised FDTL norms before rolling them out.

Of the total penalty of INR 222 million, INR 18 million was imposed as a one-time fine for six violations of Civil Aviation Requirements (CARs), including improper implementation of FDTL norms and failures in accountable management. While an additional INR 204 million penalty was placed for continued non-compliance over 68 days between December 5, 2025, and February 10, 2026, calculated at INR 3,000,000 per day.

In addition to imposing fines, the DGCA cautioned IndiGo’s Chief Executive Officer over inadequate oversight and crisis management and warned the Accountable Manager and Chief Operating Officer for failing to assess the operational impact of revised duty norms.

The senior vice president overseeing the operations control center was instructed to be removed from current responsibilities and prohibited from holding any accountable position. Warnings were also issued to senior flight operations and crew planning officials for lapses in crew planning and roster management. IndiGo has been instructed to take action against other personnel identified in its internal inquiry and submit a compliance report.

IndiGo has been asked to provide an INR 500 million bank guarantee under a newly instituted IndiGo Systemic Reform Assurance Scheme (ISRAS). The guarantee will be released in phases based on DGCA-certified implementation of reforms covering leadership and governance, manpower planning and fatigue-risk management, digital systems and operational resilience, and sustained board-level oversight.

DGCA acknowledged that IndiGo restored operations swiftly and complied with refund and compensation norms. Moreover, the airline also issued an INR 10,000 ‘Gesture of Care’ voucher, valid for 12 months, to passengers affected by cancellations or delays exceeding three hours.