The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has imposed financial penalties amounting to Rs 22.20 crore on IndiGo for large-scale flight disruptions witnessed in December.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the aviation regulator said the action was taken after reviewing the airline’s operational lapses that led to widespread inconvenience for passengers during the period.
The disruption at India’s largest airline which carries over 60 per cent of the country’s domestic air passengers has been primarily triggered by crew shortages following the implementation of the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms. The second and final phase of the revised crew duty and rest regulations came into effect last month, leaving IndiGo inadequately prepared for the transition.
The impact has been severe on flight punctuality. Only 19.7 per cent of IndiGo’s flights operated on time on December 03, a sharp decline from 35 per cent December 02 and nearly 50 per cent on December 01.
The situation caused widespread disruption at airports across India with passengers facing long delays and cancellations. Social media platforms were flooded with complaints from stranded travellers, many of whom said they were forced to book significantly more expensive tickets on rival airlines due to the chaos.
Responding to the crisis, IndiGo Board Chairman Vikram Singh Mehta issued a video message on 10 December 2025, apologising to passengers and assuring them that the airline was working to identify the root cause of the large-scale cancellations that began on December 3.
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