IndiGo slapped with show cause notice; CEO asked to respond within 24 hours

Aviation regulator DGCA on Saturday issued a show cause notice (SCN) to troubled airline IndiGo after hundreds of its daily flight cancellations and delays left thousands of passengers stranded and irked nationwide, noting that the scale of inconvenience caused to passengers warranted strict scrutiny. In a strongly worded notice, the regulator stated that the airline's CEO failed in his duty to "ensure timely arrangements for conduct of reliable operations and the availability of requisite facilities to the passengers", holding him responsible for "ensuring effective management" of the carrier.

CEO given 24 hours to explain why action shouldn't be initiated against him

According to the DGCA order, the CEO is directed to show cause within 24 hours of receipt of this notice as to "why appropriate enforcement action should not be initiated" against him under the relevant provisions of the Aircraft Rules and Civil Aviation Requirements for the above-mentioned violations.

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Failing to reply within the stipulated time, wrote the DGCA, will render the matter as ex-parte. A matter is said to be ex-parte when court makes a decision without hearing one of the parties due to their failure to appear or respond as required.

The regulator fixed personal responsibility on the CEO for what it described as serious lapses in operational preparedness and passenger care. The disruptions, said the DGCA, occurred because of the airline's failure to put in place the necessary arrangements” to implement the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) as required, triggering mass rostering issues and operational breakdowns.

IndiGo’s actions may amount to violations of Rule 42A of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, and CAR Section 7, Series J, Part III, which govern crew rest periods and fatigue management. The regulator also flagged apparent non-compliance with CAR Section 3, Series M, Part IV, under which airlines must provide timely hotel accommodation, meals, and compensation to impacted passengers.

The action comes at a time when many customers have reported long waits, lack of clarity and insufficient support at terminals.

"Such large-scale operational failures indicate significant lapses in planning, oversight, and resource management, and is prima facie non-compliance on the part of the airline with the provisions of Rule 42A of the Aircraft Rules, 1937 and the provisions of CAR Section 7, Series J, Part III Issue III (Rev. 2) on Duty Period, Flight Duty Period, Flight Time Limitations and Prescribed Rest Periods – Flight Crew Engaged in Scheduled Air Transport Operations," noted the regulator.

Experts say the development could lead to financial penalties or additional punitive action against IndiGo if it fails to respond in a timely and proper manner.

The notice was signed by Ravinder Singh Jamwal, Director Operations (FSD), DGCA.

Meanwhile, it was learned that airports across the country restored stable operations, with all essential facilities back in place and passenger movement returning to routine, though IndiGo was reported to have more than 450 cancellations on Saturday.

Earlier this week, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers wrote a long and emotional message to the airline's employees, acknowledging the chaos, accepting responsibility and urging staff to rally together to restore stability. Admitting that the recent days had been “deeply difficult” for customers and staff, the CEO wrote in the internal note that the airline had fallen short of the service standards it promises to nearly 3.8 lakh passengers each day.

He also emphasised that in a system as large and interconnected as IndiGo’s, “a small crack becomes a fault-line very quickly”, adding that teams from operations, engineering, crew, customer support and digital systems were all stretched over the last few days.

Elbers also wrote that the management was fully aware of the frustration and distress caused by delays, cancellations and uncertain schedules, stating that the airline had already begun contacting impacted passengers directly and is assisting them with rebooking and refunds.“We feel their anxiety as deeply as they do,” the note added.

Read more on IndiGo CEO's letter to staff this week

Airline's functioning under lens, refunds must be made by 8 pm on Dec 7

According to sources, the civil aviation ministry met with the IndiGo management for more an an hour, warning of strict action against the airline.

It was found clearly evident that the airline did not comply with the FDTL rules, said the sources.

The airline was instructed yo complete all the refunds by 8 pm on Sunday.

Authorities will be reviewing the airline's functioning every two weeks, especially its recruitment and staffing status.