Aviation regulator DGCA on Wednesday summoned IndiGo chief executive Pieter Elbers and senior airline officials to appear on Thursday at 3 p.m., seeking a detailed explanation for the large-scale operational breakdown that led to hundreds of cancellations and passenger distress.
The move came even as the Delhi High Court questioned the Centre over what it called a preventable “crisis” that had paralysed air travel and triggered steep fare spikes across the sector.
The DGCA has demanded a comprehensive update on IndiGo’s efforts to restore normal operations, including its flight schedules, pilot and crew deployment, recruitment plans, current manpower strength, and data on cancellations and refunds issued to affected passengers.
The regulator has also asked for clarity on the airline’s compliance with revised Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms, which officials say were repeatedly breached and contributed to the sudden collapse in operations.
A four-member committee set up by the DGCA—comprising Joint DG Sanjay Brahamane, Deputy DG Amit Gupta, senior Flight Operations Inspector Kapil Manglik and FOI Lokesh Rampal—is already probing the airline’s manpower planning, rostering systems and adherence to duty-time and rest requirements.
Announced by DGCA chief Faiz Ahmed Kidwai on 5 December, the panel has been tasked with assigning accountability for procedural failures that resulted in the widespread disruptions.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Delhi High Court pressed the government to explain how the situation had been allowed to escalate to the point of “stranding lakhs of passengers” across airports.
A Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said the civil aviation ministry and the DGCA had taken some steps to contain the fallout but questioned the systemic lapses that allowed flights to collapse at such scale.
“What bothers us is how such a situation was allowed to precipitate,” the Bench said. “This has caused trouble to passengers but also affected the economy of the country, as in the present day, fast movement of passengers is an important aspect to keep the economy moving.”
The court also expressed concern over the sharp escalation in ticket prices during the disruptions. It noted that fares on routes where tickets normally cost around Rs 5,000 surged to between Rs 35,000 and Rs 39,000. “If there was a crisis, how could other airlines be permitted to take advantage? How could the ticket price go up to R 35,000 and Rs 39,000?” the Bench asked during the hour-and-a-half hearing.
Government counsel told the court that a show-cause notice had been issued to IndiGo, which had “apologised profusely”, and argued that regulatory mechanisms were already in place.
Officials said the spike in cancellations resulted from a series of non-compliances, particularly breaches of crew duty-time norms, though the surge had now been capped—an “unprecedented” intervention by the regulator.
The court, hearing a PIL seeking compensation and support for affected passengers, directed IndiGo to provide refunds and compensate travellers for the inconvenience caused.
Counsel for IndiGo said the crisis was triggered by a combination of unforeseen issues.
“While we have taken cognisance of the issue in public interest, we make it clear that the observations are aimed to ensure that best public interest is served both by the government and the airline (IndiGo),” the Bench said.
A newly formed inquiry committee would examine the airline’s conduct, and refrained from commenting on the causes of the disruption while the probe was under way.
The judges expected the committee’s report to be submitted in a sealed cover by 22 January, the next date of hearing.