Mumbai: In a significant move to enforce accountability within the Indian aviation sector, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has slapped a Rs22.2 crore fine on IndiGo following a massive operational meltdown in December. The aviation regulator has directed removal of a senior official from any accountable position and has issued warnings to several top officials including CEO Pieter Elbers.
FDTL violation cited
The crackdown has come more than a month after the country's largest airline paralysed the domestic air transport with widespread cancellations ranging across multiple days. Accordingly, the penalty marks one of the largest financial sanctions ever imposed on an Indian carrier. The fine amount of Rs22.2 crore is to penalise the airline for its failure to implement the Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms and the relaxation given to the airline till February 10, treating it as no-compliance.
Beyond the fine, the regulator has ordered the immediate removal of Jason Herter from his current position Senior Vice President of the Operations Control Centre (OCC) immediately, citing "gross negligence" in managing the airline’s OCC. Identifying the OCC's failure to predict and manage crew rosters under new FDTL norms as the primary cause of the collapse, it issued a permanent restriction against assigning him any "accountable position" or roles involving safety and operational oversight in the future.
Warnings has also been issued to deputy head of flight operations, AVP-Crew Resource planning and director of flight operations for operational supervisory, manpower planning, and roster management lapses.
The airline has also been ordered to pledge a bank guarantee of Rs50 crore in favour of DGCA to ensure compliance with the directives and long term systemic correction.
CEO gets warning
While the regulator took a hard line with the OCC head, it stopped short of demanding further resignations at the C-suite level. CEO Pieter Elbers and other senior officials, including the accountable manager, received formal caution letters. The letters warn that any future recurrence of such "systemic planning failures" will lead to harsher personal enforcement actions, including the potential suspension of licenses.
The investigation report, spanning over 60 pages, highlighted that IndiGo’s pilot strength had dropped from 5,463 in March 2025 to roughly 5,085 by December, just as the new, stricter pilot rest rules took effect. The DGCA noted that while other airlines managed the transition, IndiGo, which operates nearly 2,300 daily flights, underestimated the required crew buffer by nearly 15%, leading to a "domino effect" that grounded half the fleet on its worst days.
Company response
The chairman and the members of the board of directors of IndiGo's parent company, InterGlobe Aviation, said in a statement that they will take appropriate measures in a thoughtful and timely manner. “An in-depth review of the robustness and resilience of the internal processes at IndiGo has been underway since the disruption to ensure that the airline emerges stronger out of these events,” read the statement.
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