Mumbai: Amid the recent operational crisis at IndiGo, the country’s largest airline, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has taken a major step. The DGCA has suspended four flight operations inspectors (FOIs) responsible for overseeing the airline’s safety and operational regulations. According to officials, these four officers were directly involved in the airline’s operational checks, safety oversight, and compliance. A preliminary investigation revealed lapses in monitoring during IndiGo’s recent operational difficulties, which left thousands of passengers stranded at airports across the country.
DGCA officials stated that scrutiny of the airline has been increased and monitoring has been further tightened. During this period, two senior officers will be stationed at IndiGo’s headquarters in Gurugram, overseeing critical operations such as daily flight cancellations, crew deployment, refund processing, on-time performance, passenger compensation, and baggage refunds. Additionally, senior officials will be sent to audit IndiGo’s operations at 11 domestic airports and submit a report to the DGCA within 24 hours of each airport visit.
Peter Elbers summoned again today
Meanwhile, sources said the DGCA has summoned IndiGo CEO Peter Elbers again. Last week, the DGCA formed a four-member panel to investigate the airline’s ongoing problems. It included Joint Director General Sanjay Brahmane, Deputy Director General Amit Gupta, Senior Flight Operations Inspector Kapil Manglik, and Lokesh Rampal. The panel’s task was to determine the root causes of IndiGo’s operational disruptions.
IndiGo canceled several thousand flights last week. The airline claims that its operations are now back to normal. According to the winter schedule for the financial year 2025-26, the airline was operating over 2,200 flights daily, but this has already been reduced by 10% following the DGCA order.
Experts say that this action by the DGCA is an important step towards strict enforcement of safety and operational standards in the airline industry.
