A four-member committee of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), formed on December 5 to investigate IndiGo’s operational disruption earlier this month, submitted its report on Friday to Director General Faiz Ahmed Kidwai.
What did the DGCA say about the report?
“An enquiry committee, headed by Joint Director General Shri Sanjay K Bramhane, has submitted its report in the evening today. The report is confidential,” the DGCA said in a statement.
Who were the members of the enquiry committee?
Along with Bramhane, the committee included Deputy Director General Amit Gupta, senior flight operations inspector (SFOI) Kapil Manglik, and flight operations inspector (FOI) Lokesh Rampal as members.
What triggered IndiGo’s operational disruption?
IndiGo cancelled over 4,200 flights between December 1 and December 9. The disruption was triggered by the airline’s inability to manage its pilot duty roster after the DGCA fully implemented new, stricter rest and duty regulations last month, which increased weekly rest requirements and reduced the hours pilots can fly at night.
Before the crisis, the airline operated a total of 2,300 flights per day, about 2,000 domestic and around 300 international.
What had the regulator flagged before constituting the committee?
While forming the committee on December 5, the DGCA had said it issued repeated directions and advance instructions to IndiGo from time to time for timely preparation to implement the provisions of the flight duty time limitation (FDTL) rules.
“However, observing the airline’s inability to accurately forecast crew availability, conduct timely training and realign rosters despite advance regulatory intimation resulted in cascading delays and cancellations across its network beginning late November 2025,” the DGCA had said.
What did IndiGo acknowledge in discussions with DGCA?
The regulator said a review meeting with the airline was convened in the first week of December, during which IndiGo “acknowledged” that it had “failed” to anticipate the actual crew requirement under the revised norms and that significant planning and assessment gaps existed in implementing the FDTL rules.
“This shortfall directly contributed to large-scale disruptions, with cancellations reaching 170–200 flights daily, severely affecting network integrity and passenger convenience. It was noticed that in the month of November the flight cancellations of IndiGo were the highest vis-a-vis other airlines. This prima facie indicates deficiencies in internal oversight, operational preparedness and compliance planning, warranting an independent examination,” the DGCA had said while announcing the formation of the four-member committee.