Mumbai: The four-member committee appointed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) officially submitted its investigation report to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on Friday. The report, which has been kept “confidential” details the root causes of the massive operational collapse that paralysed India’s largest domestic carrier during the first week of December.
Probe Focused on Crew Planning and Compliance Failures
The panel, led by Joint Director General Sanjay K Bramhane, was granted an extension from its original December 20 deadline to process what officials described as “massive volumes of operational data" provided by IndiGo. While the final report remains confidential, the investigation focused on three primary failure points including crew planning, regulatory compliance, and crisis communication.
The investigation centered on IndiGo’s transition to the revised flight duty time limitations (FDTL) norms, which became mandatory on November 1, 2025. These rules increased mandatory weekly rest for pilots from 36 to 48 hours and capped night landings to reduce fatigue.
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Government Weighs Penalties and Regulatory Action
The Civil Aviation Ministry is expected to review the panel's findings over the weekend. Possible outcomes include heavy financial penalties, a permanent reduction in flight slots, or stricter oversight of the airline’s crew management software.
In response to the initial findings, the MoCA has already taken several preemptive steps which included slashing IndiGo’s winter flight schedule by 10%. The aviation regulator had issued show-cause notices to CEO Pieter Elbers and COO Isidre Porqueras, following which the officials submitted their response and operational details.
Meanwhile, IndiGo continues to struggle with residual issues; as of Thursday, the airline cancelled another 67 flights, though it attributed these primarily to forecasted bad weather and visibility concerns in Bengaluru and other northern cities.
The crisis, which peaked between December 1 and December 9, saw cancellations of over 5,000 flights, leaving an estimated 5.8 lakh passengers stranded across major hubs like Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. While the airline’s on-time performance also plummeted to single digit, nearly 9,000 bags were misplaced or delayed during the peak of the chaos.
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