New Delhi: India’s aviation regulator has intensified monitoring of IndiGo as the country’s largest airline continues to grapple with widespread flight cancellations linked to staffing shortages and operational strain. Despite the carrier’s assurances that schedules have begun to stabilise, cancellations have persisted, prompting the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to intervene more directly.
In a detailed explanation, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and senior executive Neetan Mehta pointed to several factors contributing to the airline’s ongoing challenges. Mehta cited technical snags, seasonal schedule changes, harsh winter weather, bottlenecks across the air traffic system, and the shift to updated crew duty norms as sources of unexpected pressure.
However, industry observers note that rival Indian airlines encountered similar conditions without suffering significant operational setbacks.
A growing point of scrutiny is IndiGo’s shrinking pilot workforce. Over the past nine months, the airline has seen a drop of 378 pilots, despite earlier assurances to the regulator that the transition to revised Flight Duty Time Limit (FDTL) rules would require only a modest 3% increase in crew numbers. In December last year, the airline’s then–COO Isidro Porqueras had conveyed this estimate to the DGCA in writing.
Government records presented in Parliament illustrate the scale of attrition. IndiGo reported 5,463 pilots as of March 20, 2025. Yet by early December, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol confirmed that the tally had fallen to 5,085, marking a notable workforce dip at a time when operational resilience is critical.
To counter the disruptions, the DGCA has launched a heightened oversight mechanism. An eight-member team of senior captains has been formed, with two DGCA officials and two captains stationed full time at IndiGo’s Gurgaon headquarters. Their mandate includes reviewing daily cancellation patterns, monitoring crew allocation, tracking unscheduled leave, and identifying routes affected by staffing shortages. The team will provide daily reports to the regulator.
Meanwhile, pilot unions have attributed the current turmoil to IndiGo’s long-term personnel strategy. The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) criticised the carrier for failing to scale up its workforce ahead of the revised FDTL rules, despite having two years’ notice. The union accused the airline of adopting a “lean manpower strategy,” including hiring freezes, non-poaching pacts, prolonged pay stagnation, and other cost-saving practices that it claims left the airline unprepared for the regulatory shift.
While IndiGo maintains that external pressures contributed to the cancellations, the regulator’s increased presence signals growing concern over whether the airline’s internal planning has kept pace with its operational obligations. The coming weeks are expected to determine whether the additional oversight helps steady the carrier’s performance or reveals deeper systemic issues within its flight operations.
