Following widespread service disruptions, India’s aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has given IndiGo a 24-hour deadline to respond to a show-cause notice. The formal notice, issued after large-scale flight cancellations and delays, must be answered by 6 p.m. on Monday, and no further extension will be granted.

Key Highlights

• DGCA issues show-cause notice to IndiGo after major flight disruptions and demands prompt corrective action.
• IndiGo processes refunds, restores operations, and addresses failures linked to crew planning and FDTL norms.

The DGCA’s action comes after the carrier experienced severe operational lapses — including inadequate crew planning, poor oversight, and resource management failures — which the regulator says disrupted the airline’s network significantly. These lapses were flagged under Rule 42A of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, relating to flight duty hours and rest periods for crew.

In parallel, IndiGo announced that it had processed about ₹610 crore in refunds so far and returned some 3,000 pieces of baggage to passengers affected by the disruptions. The company also confirmed that it is offering automatic refunds for cancelled bookings and has waived all cancellation or rescheduling fees for travel between December 5 and December 15.

The disruption was triggered principally by the airline’s failure to fully implement the second phase of new flight-duty-time limitation (FDTL) norms, which tighten rules on pilot nights, work-hours and rest-periods. Contributing factors also included technology glitches, schedule realignment for winter, airport congestion and weather impacts.

Also Read: How IndiGo Became India's Largest Airline: A Deep Dive into Its Growth Strategy

Because of the disruptions, the government has directed that all refunds of cancelled flights be completed by 8 p.m. on Sunday, and that luggage separated from travellers due to delays be tracked and delivered within 48 hours.

IndiGo further stated that over 95 % of its network connectivity has now been restored, with operations resumed to 135 out of its 138 destinations. Meanwhile, discussions are underway between the airline, DGCA and the Ministry of Civil Aviation to conduct a root-cause analysis and prevent similar disruptions in the future.