IndiGo crisis: 'Severely impacted' flyers will get an additional voucher of Rs 10,000 from IndiGo as compensation (Photo: PTI)IndiGo Flight Status December 12 Highlights: The DGCA has suspended 4 officials who were responsible for safety and operations, reported news agency PTI. The details of the DGCA’s move is not known yet. IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers on Thursday appeared before a panel constituted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to present a “full report” on flight disruptions. The meeting came on a day the airline announced it was offering vouchers worth Rs 10,000 to ‘severely impacted customers’. Elbers was directed to appear again today.
DGCA enhances IndiGo scrutiny: DGCA has enhanced its scrutiny of the airline and begun monitoring IndiGo’s operations, refunds, and other processes from the airline’s headquarters, according to sources. IndiGo has been asked to outline the main causes of the disruption and the steps taken to address them.
IndiGo flight ops status: The government has directed IndiGo, which commands nearly 65 per cent of India’s domestic market and operates more than 2,300 daily flights, to cut its winter schedule by 10 per cent. It is set to conduct 1,950 flight operations a day under the revised norms.
According to data from the Airport Authority of India (AAI), 104 IndiGo flights including 52 arrivals and 52 departures were operational, while 10 flights (five arrivals and five departures) were cancelled on Friday. IndiGo announced that it’s board has approved the appointment of an external aviation expert to assess the recent flight disruptions.
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Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Friday said the Centre holds exclusive powers to cap airfares in extraordinary circumstances, but emphasised that fare caps are not a long-term or comprehensive solution to rising ticket prices.
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IndiGo has been slapped with a penalty of nearly Rs 59 crore in relation to GST and the airline will contest the order, according to a regulatory filing on Friday.
The Additional Commissioner of CGST, Delhi South Commissionerate, has imposed the penalty of Rs 58,74,99,439 on the airline for the financial year 2020-21.
In a filing to the BSE, IndiGo said the department has raised GST demand, along with penalty.
"The company believes that the order passed by the authorities is erroneous. Further, the company believes that it has a strong case on merits, backed by advice from external tax advisors.
"Accordingly, the company will contest the same before the appropriate authority," it said. — PTI
In an update, IndiGo informed that the airline is expecting to operate over 2,050 flights on Friday. It also said all 138 destinations in its network are now connected.
Check out the latest update from Indigo here:
pic.twitter.com/KCtjFDzd9s
IndiGo on Friday cancelled around 160 flights from two key airports, Delhi and Bengaluru, on Friday amid the on-going disruptions at the airline, sources said.
On Thursday, the airline had cancelled over 200 flights from these two airports.
"IndiGo has cancelled 159 flights on Friday from Delhi and Bengaluru," sources said.
While the cancellations at Delhi were 105, 52 departures and 53 arrivals, the cancellations at Bengaluru airport stood at 54 - 31 arrivals and 23 departures, sources said. — PTI
Rajya Sabha member Vikramjit Singh Sahney on Friday requested the government to soon bring back the airline safety regulations, which were relaxed for Indigo.
Raising the issue during the Zero hour, AAP leader Sahney pointed out that there is a monopoly and duopoly situation in the aviation industry, which is not good for passengers.
"We cannot compromise with safety. So, this safety regulation should be brought back, maybe in a month," he said. — PTI
IndiGo's board on Friday announced the appointment of an external aviation expert to carry out a root-cause analysis of recent flight disruptions.
"Chief Aviation Advisors LLC, led by Captain John Illson, veteran aviation expert, to conduct an independent expert review and assessment of the recent operational disruption and the contributing factors," the airline said in a statement.
The board of InterGlobe Aviation, the parent of IndiGo, has already set up a crisis management group in the wake of the significant operational disruptions that started on December 2. — PTI
According to an official of the Competition Commission of India (CCI), various aspects, such as the overall dominant position of IndiGo, dominance in particular routes, and whether there is abuse of dominance, will be looked into.
There is no formal complaint against IndiGo so far, and the CCI is examining whether competition rules have been violated suo motu, the official added.
Section 4 of the Competition Act pertains to abuse of dominance that can be exploitative or exclusionary. Exploitative refers to acts such as excessive pricing, while denial of market access will fall under the exclusionary segment.
Under the norms, CCI first carries out a detailed examination of available information to reach a conclusion on whether there is prima facie evidence of competition norms violations. — PTI
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is examining whether IndiGo violated competition norms, the PTI reported quoting a senior official.
Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu today chaired a review meeting today to assess preparedness for the upcoming fog window of the winter schedule of flights. The meeting included all stakeholders, such as DGCA, AAI, airport operators, airlines, and CISF.
The minister posted on X: "All stakeholders have been instructed to ensure full compliance, fix accountability and implement strict SOPs for fog operations. To maintain smooth operations, emphasis has to be laid on real-time data exchange, activation of war rooms and deployment of CAT-II/III compliant aircraft with qualified crew. Clear directions have been issued to ensure safe, seamless and well-coordinated operations, along with timely communication of updates to passengers to help them prepare well in advance. Each and every passenger is important and any instance of inconvenience will be addressed with clear accountability."
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsChaired a comprehensive review meeting today to assess preparedness for the upcoming fog window of the winter schedule with all key stakeholders including DGCA, AAI, airport operators, airlines and CISF.
— Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu (@RamMNK) December 12, 2025
All stakeholders have been instructed to ensure full compliance, fix… pic.twitter.com/hDyelFMSwu
Congress MP Vamsi Krishna Gaddam says it is the Parliamentarians' job to raise national issues. "It's been two years since the DGCA upgraded regulations, but IndiGo, due to its mismanagement, has completely ignored them. They thought they could bulldoze the DGCA and the government and continue with their work. This should have been discussed in Parliament."
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js#watch | Delhi: Congress MP Vamsi Krishna Gaddam says, "We are all witnessing a very turbulent time in our country right now. As MPs, our job is to raise national issues. It's been two years since the DGCA upgraded regulations, but IndiGo, due to its mismanagement, has completely… pic.twitter.com/id2h4yEQsg
— ANI (@ANI) December 12, 2025
Fair business regulator the Competition Commission of India (CCI) is now examining whether IndiGo violated competition norms, a senior official was quoted by news agency PTI.
IndiGo flight cancellations are continuing today as well. Over 50 flights from Bengaluru Airport have been cancelled today.
Congress MP Mallu Ravi says, "We blame the Civil Aviation Minister [Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu. When Air India and other airlines followed the directions given by the Civil Aviation, IndiGo did not. Why wasn't this done? And why wasn't it reviewed earlier?"
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js#watch | Delhi: Congress MP Mallu Ravi says, "We blame the Civil Aviation Minister. When Air India and other airlines followed the directions given by the Civil Aviation, but IndiGo did not. Why wasn't this done? And why wasn't it reviewed earlier?..." pic.twitter.com/DDIiJ0GkOY
— ANI (@ANI) December 12, 2025
The DGCA has suspended 4 flight operations inspectors, responsible for overseeing airline safety, operational compliance, news agency PTI reports, citing sources.
Expats are rigorous and professional, but India’s system is different, so they may not have received the right direction from the board. In India, major shareholders often dominate boards, and without proper operational oversight, problems arise. The company also became overly focused on profits and stopped listening to pilots and staff, creating a disconnect that contributed to the situation.”
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsVIDEO | IndiGo Crisis: On being asked about the possible reasons behind the crisis, Captain GR Gopinath says, “No. Expats are rigorous and professional, but India’s system is different, so they may not have received the right direction from the board. In India, major shareholders… pic.twitter.com/hzbWhb1fEh
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 11, 2025
Veteran aviator Captain Gopinath tells news agency PTI: "After speaking to serving and retired pilots, people from the operations department, and those now working in other airlines, it is clear that this chaos kept growing and turned into an uncontrollable tsunami. Somewhere along the way, arrogance and overconfidence crept in, leading to a disconnect from reality. They had three foreign CEOs, and I am told each worked six weeks on and three weeks off, spending the off weeks back in Europe or wherever they came from.”
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsVIDEO | Speaking to PTI about the IndiGo crisis, Captain GR Gopinath says, "I think this is a tragedy of unforeseen and immense proportions. But before that, I want to pay tribute to the airline, which had built a strong and enviable global reputation… However, after speaking to… pic.twitter.com/FNap6627q9
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 11, 2025
IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers will meet the special 4-member committee of the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) today again. The committee has been tasked to examine IndiGo's flight disruptions.
Adventure Tour Operators Association of Kashmir (ATOAK) President Ahmad Tramboo has said, "The disruptions in aviation that has happened in last few days, Indigo has a major share in aviation industry in the country, the cancellations, rerouting, schedule change have negatively impacted, not only tourism in Kashmir was affected, but everywhere in the country. People plan for trip beforehand, such sudden disruptions made them distressed, all the stakeholders of tourism got affected. The tourism industry is already distressed in Kashmir with the Pahalgam attack, there was a revival, but with this, it was impacted again... We are hoping against hope for revival in situation with the help of government."
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsVIDEO | Adventure Tour Operators Association of Kashmir (ATOAK) President Ahmad Tramboo says, "The disruptions in aviation that has happened in last few days, Indigo has a major share in aviation industry in the country, the cancellations, rerouting, schedule change have… pic.twitter.com/9UVB3uP6WV
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 11, 2025
With the operations slowly stabilising, IndiGo said it will offer travel vouchers worth Rs 10,000 to each passenger whose flights were cancelled or delayed for long during December 3-5. The vouchers can be used for flights in the next 12 months.
While thousands of passengers were impacted, it was not immediately clear how many passengers will be getting the compensation.
"This compensation is in addition to the commitment under the existing government guidelines, as per which, IndiGo will provide compensation of Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 depending on the block time of the flight, to those customers whose flights were cancelled within 24 hours of departure time," the statement said.
In an unprecedented move, DGCA, on Wednesday, decided to deploy two members from an oversight panel at IndiGo's Gurugram headquarters to monitor cancellation status, crew deployment, unplanned leave, and routes hit by staff shortages.
-PTI
Enhancing oversight, DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) officials on Thursday began monitoring IndiGo's operations, refunds, and other processes from the airline's headquarters, sources said.
They said the officials are expected to submit daily reports on the situation at the airline, which has been grappling with significant operational disruptions and the subsequent cancellation of thousands of flights due to planning failures related to the implementation of new pilot and crew duty norms.
-PTI
The four-member panel comprises Joint Director General Sanjay Brahamane, Deputy Director General Amit Gupta, senior Flight Operations Inspector Kapil Manglik, and FOI Lokesh Rampal, with a mandate to identify the root causes of widespread operational disruptions at the leading domestic carrier.
The committee's mandate includes assessing manpower planning, fluctuating rostering systems, and the airline's preparedness to implement the latest duty period and rest norms for pilots, which came into effect from November 1 this year.
IndiGo, in a regulatory filing, said that Elbers has been asked to appear on December 12, before the Committee of Officers at DGCA, which is examining the matter related to flight disruptions.
Over 200 flights were cancelled at Delhi and Bangalore airports on Thursday, according to sources.
The civil aviation ministry has also directed the airline, which generally operates around 2,300 flights, to reduce its winter schedule by 10 per cent.
IndiGo CEO Elbers, who appeared before the DGCA-constituted inquiry panel on Thursday, has been asked to appear again on Friday as the watchdog delves deep into the factors that led to the massive flight disruptions, resulting in hundreds of flight cancellations and impacting thousands of passengers.
Aviation watchdog DGCA on Thursday stepped up scrutiny of the crisis-hit IndiGo with its officials stationing themselves at the carrier's headquarters to monitor the operations and CEO Pieter Elbers being grilled by an inquiry panel on a day when the airline announced a compensation of Rs 10,000 in the form of travel vouchers to affected passengers.
IndiGo, on its part, said it is expected to operate 1,950 flights carrying around 3 lakh passengers, while airports reported flight cancellations.
-PTI
IndiGo, the airline facing flight cuts and government scrutiny after a spate of cancellations that put India's airports and people's schedules in a disarray, is hoping for a return to the "normal".
What will it look like? Gradually scaling up operations over coming days to around 2,200 daily flights in all
Around 1,900 of these will be domestic and roughly 300 international, sources told my colleague Sukalp Sharma.
To be sure, this is still a truncated schedule, ordered by the civil aviation ministry, and is expected to last the entire Winter Schedule, which ends on March 28, 2026.
Pieter Elbers, the embattled CEO of India's largest airline, IndiGo, has reached the premises of the Directorate General of Civial Aviation, the country's aviation regulator.
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#watch | Delhi | Indigo CEO Pieter Elbers arrives at Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for a meeting pic.twitter.com/Z1S3SENXE7IndiGo says that it has ensured all necessary refunds for cancelled flights have been initiated. Those who have not received the refunds yet, will get them shortly. " If the booking was made through a travel partner platform, the necessary actions for your refund have also been initiated. As we may not have your complete details in our system, we request you to write to us at customer.experience@goindigo.in so we can continue to assist you promptly," the IndiGo statement read.
In a crisis-management measure, IndiGo is now offering travel vouchers worth Rs 10,000 to severely impacted customers. These travel vouchers can be used for any future IndiGo journey for the next 12 months. "This compensation is in addition to the commitment under the existing Government guidelines as per which, IndiGo will provide compensation of ₹5,000 to ₹10,000 depending on the block time of the flight, to those customers whose flights were cancelled within 24 hours of departure time," the airline said in a fresh statement. This will include passengers whose flights were cancelled or delayed for long during December 3-5.
Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu visited the Ministry’s control room some time ago to review IndiGo operations nationwide. He said passenger grievances are being resolved through real-time monitoring.
In a press statement, IndiGo said it "continues to strengthen its operations, improving its services day by day". The airline said it is now operating 1,900+ flights that "seamlessly connect all 138 destinations across our network". "Our commitment to operational excellence has led to significant efficiency gains, and our On-time Performance has been restored to top-tier industry standards," the statement read.
IndiGo says that it's on‑time performance is back to its standards, which means fewer delayed flights. It also said that its operations have been stabilised since December 9 and schedule has been reliable as there have been no same-day cancellations for the last 3 days (other than negligible cancellations due to weather, technical, other external or uncontrollable factors).
IndiGo in a press statement has said it is likely to operate 1,950+ flights today with around 3,00,000 customers.
IndiGo cancelled 60 flights at Bengaluru Airport on Thursday as aviation regulator DGCA intensified its oversight. According to PTI, the airline scrapped 32 incoming flights and 28 outgoing services from the city after widespread disruptions linked to planning lapses during the rollout of revised pilot and crew duty norms.
Yesterday, the airline had grounded 220 flights across Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai, with Delhi facing the brunt of the cancellations, recording 137 scrapped services.
Director of Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport in Amritsar Bhupendra Singh said there weren't any major problems at Amritsar Airport. "On December 3, an IndiGo flight to Mumbai was cancelled. An additional flight was arranged the next day... That was a major disruption. Other than that, there was no major inconvenience for our passengers," he said. "Our aviation sector was already under a lot of pressure after Operation Sindoor. Some flights were also suspended at our airport. That caused a setback in aviation. So, the current situation that has arisen since then has also caused a slight setback," he said.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js#watch | Amritsar, Punjab | On the Indigo flight cancellations, Airport Director of Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport Bhupendra Singh said, "... There weren't any major problems at Amritsar Airport. On the 3rd, an IndiGo flight to Mumbai was cancelled. An additional… pic.twitter.com/DHy0BCxpiF
— ANI (@ANI) December 10, 2025
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant on Wednesday said, "...The condition of all passengers on the IndiGo flight was very bad. Other flights benefited from all this because they increased the fares... The seriousness of what happened should be thoroughly investigated..."
#watch | Delhi: On the Indigo flight cancellations, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant says, "...The condition of all passengers on the IndiGo flight was very bad. Other flights benefited from all this because they increased the fares... The seriousness of what happened should be… pic.twitter.com/8k0JtjciufBhubaneswar airport director Prasanna Pradhan says IndiGo operations are returning to normal. "There are some planned cancellations, and we are informing passengers and other stakeholders. There is no chaos at the airport now. We urge people to check before coming for their flights to avoid any hassle. We have also published control room numbers that are available 24/7."
#watch | Bhubaneswar, Odisha: On normalcy returns at Bhubaneswar Airport after IndiGo disruption, Bhubaneswar Airport Director Prasanna Pradhan says, "... For the last few days, there was a mass-scale disruption of IndiGo flights, but now we are returning to normal operations.… pic.twitter.com/y8TNVlWjqn
— ANI (@ANI) December 11, 2025
Congress leader Udit Raj says, “It cannot be a coincidence that, on one hand, Adani is purchasing a pilot-training centre worth about Rs800 crore, and on the other hand, 2,000 flights are cancelled due to a shortage of just 124–125 pilots. An atmosphere is being created. Then the minister states that there is a shortage of 30,000 pilots. So, as I understand it, an overall narrative is being built to suggest that only Adani can run this, and no one else.”
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsVIDEO | Delhi: Commenting on the Indigo crisis, Congress leader Udit Raj said, “It cannot be a coincidence that, on one hand, Adani is purchasing a pilot-training centre worth about Rs800 crore, and on the other hand, 2,000 flights are cancelled due to a shortage of just 124–125… pic.twitter.com/kz7mUEHsL8
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 11, 2025
IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers has been asked to appear before the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) at 3 pm today and submit a "full report" on the disruption. The report will cover the number of cancellations, the status of refunds, the operational procedures, impact of the disruptions, etc.
The DGCA has formed an Oversight Team to monitor IndiGo operations. The team consists of 8 senior Flight Operations Inspectors. Two officers will be permanently stationed at IndiGo’s Corporate Office in Gurgaon. The team will monitor status of cancellations and refunds by airline as well as agents and OTA platforms, on-time performance of IndiGo, compensation to affected passengers, and status and procedure of baggage returns.
IndiGo had to cancel thousands of flights across the nation after facing staff shortage due to the new fatigue-management rules of the DGCA. While the rules, issued last year, apply to all airlines uniformly, IndiGo was caught off guard as it failed to implement the rostering directives in time. This resulted in utter chaos at airports as passengers were left stranded across the country.
IndiGo's failure to implement the rules brought up suspicions of the airline having engineered the crisis or compromised safety to avoid pilot fatigue rules. IndiGo, however, rubbished the claims. “We operated under the new FDTL rules in July and November. We did not bypass them,” said chairman Vikram Singh Mehta. He further said that IndiGo will bring in external technical experts to work with IndiGo’s management and identify the root cause of the crisis.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsMessage from Vikram Singh Mehta, Chairman and Non-Executive Independent Director of IndiGo pic.twitter.com/sySacxlFq0
— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) December 10, 2025
Yesterday, the Delhi High Court, too, took cognisance of the disruptions, calling the situation a "crisis". It directed IndiGo Airlines to strictly adhere to guidelines on compensation for passengers due to denied boarding/cancellation of flights/delays in flights. The court also pulled up the government asking: " If there is some crisis, how can the other airlines take advantage of it? How can it go to Rs 30,000-40,000… it’s like a pound of flesh, how can it happen?"
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