India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a show-cause notice to IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers after the carrier cancelled over 2,000 flights between 1–7 December—an unprecedented disruption in Indian aviation. The regulator cites poor planning around newly introduced pilot Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) and inadequate spare-aircraft cover.
![DGCA threatens enforcement as IndiGo cancellations top 2,000 flights in one week]()
IndiGo responded on 8 December, blaming a “combination of factors”—new pilot rest rules, initial winter-schedule tweaks, minor technical glitches and air-traffic congestion—and asked for 15 days to file a root-cause analysis. The DGCA granted a final 24-hour extension but warned of ex-parte action, including route curbs and financial penalties, if the airline’s explanation is unsatisfactory.
For business travellers the knock-on effects include longer queues at immigration, missed international connections and an estimated ₹827 crore in refund liabilities. Mobility managers are shifting travellers to Air India and Vistara and revising duty-of-care protocols to include real-time disruption alerts. The civil aviation ministry has also asked airports to cap slot allocations if crew rostering is not stabilised by 15 December.
IndiGo responded on 8 December, blaming a “combination of factors”—new pilot rest rules, initial winter-schedule tweaks, minor technical glitches and air-traffic congestion—and asked for 15 days to file a root-cause analysis. The DGCA granted a final 24-hour extension but warned of ex-parte action, including route curbs and financial penalties, if the airline’s explanation is unsatisfactory.
For business travellers the knock-on effects include longer queues at immigration, missed international connections and an estimated ₹827 crore in refund liabilities. Mobility managers are shifting travellers to Air India and Vistara and revising duty-of-care protocols to include real-time disruption alerts. The civil aviation ministry has also asked airports to cap slot allocations if crew rostering is not stabilised by 15 December.
Source: Reuters / Business Today
