The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), on Saturday, January 17, slapped a massive Rs 22.20 crore penalty on IndiGo and initiated strict enforcement action against its senior management after a probe found serious planning, operational and regulatory lapses behind the massive flight disruptions in December 2025.
In a statement, the aviation watchdog cautioned IndiGo Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Pieter Elbers for inadequate overall oversight of flight operations and crisis management, and directed the domestic airline to relieve its Senior Vice-President of Operations, Capt Ashim Mittra.
It also directed IndiGo to furnish a Rs 50 crore bank guarantee to ensure long-term systemic correction.
IndiGo cancelled hundreds of flights early in December, leaving thousands of passengers stranded across the country, as the airline was not adequately prepared to implement the new flight duty norms for pilots.
Following the large-scale disruptions in IndiGo operations, DGCA set up a four-member committee headed by Joint Director General Sanjay K Brahmane to carry out a comprehensive review and assessment of the circumstances that led to such disruptions.
The panel submitted its report to the DGCA on December 27 last year.
“We are not taking this situation lightly. We are doing an inquiry. We will take very, very strict action not only for this situation but also as an example,” Union Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu had said, on IndiGo’s massive operational disruptions, in the Rajya Sabha on December 8.
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