INDIGO imbroglio

EXCLUSIVE: So what happened? Why did the 56-inch government wilfully bow to an airline's demand and compromise on the passenger safety of thousands of people?

Our Special Correspondent

Take One: Imagine if the ground staff, cabin crew and pilots of Indigo Airlines had struck work at airports across the country and derailed service?.

The retaliatory action would have been swift. The Rapid Action Force, CRPF and the police would have been deployed to crush the agitation. Those daring to strike work would have been labelled as anti-nationals, agents of George Soros, and even, perhaps, urban Naxals.

Take Two (the real drama): The Indigo management cancelled a large number of flights starting December 3, 2025, reaching a peak on December 5 when 1,000 flights were cancelled. It had resorted to what we could call a plane down (or our planes won’t fly) strike. It severely crippled air travel nationwide.

Irate passengers vent their frustration on helpless employees manning the airline counters at airports. Others cursed the handsomely paid pilots for not flying the planes.

Very few knew that it was the airline management that had struck work.

LIKE many other inglorious firsts in recent years, the Indigo crisis must be the only instance in which a major airline has shut down operations ostensibly to protest a government directive. At the root of the problem were the Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) rules issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in May 2024.  

The rules were directives that defined the maximum time pilots are allowed “to work, fly and be on duty to prevent fatigue and maintain flight safety.” All airlines were to comply with the rules in two stages --- the first phase by July 1, 2025, and the final one by November 1, 2025.

The DGCA did not frame the new rules. It was only introducing the global standards laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) that most nations have adopted.

The new FDTA rules introduced in India made inducting additional crew essential. It mandated that pilots must get 48 continuous hours of rest every week and that night hours of duty must be taken as between midnight and 6 am and not midnight and 5 am. It also limited a pilot to two night landings per week and to no more than two consecutive night duties.      

Indigo chose to ignore the DGCA directive even as it added more aircraft to its fleet. Other airlines—Air India, Akasa and SpiceJet—hired more pilots and crew and complied with the rules.

Why did Indigo refuse to comply? 

Captain G.R. Gopinath, founder of Air Deccan, told The Wire that he attributed it to “the airline’s arrogance, hubris and irresponsibility.” He also provided perspective in a signed article for a business daily. To quote: “…low-cost airlines (like Indigo) that fly more hours require 13-14 pilots per plane under the new guidelines. It is widely believed that IndiGo's senior management thought that it would be able to convince the civil aviation ministry, by dint of its sheer market size, not to enforce the new FDTL rules. Fewer pilots flying more hours makes cash counters jingle.”

In effect, Indigo was not keen on hiring more pilots, which would have cut into its profits. So, to register its protest, it decided to ‘shut down’ even though the pilots were ready to fly. This left two lakh passengers stranded at various airports.

On December 5, the third day of the disruption, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu issued a press statement that his ministry had “taken urgent and proactive measures.”  The “Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) orders of the DGCA have been placed in abeyance with immediate effect,” it added.

Most surprisingly, Indigo had managed a concession from the government.

However, the story is not quite over. After having yielded to one of Indigo’s demands, the DGCA hit back on December 6 by ordering an enquiry into the crisis. It also served a show cause notice on the airlines’ CEO Pieter Elbers seeking an explanation why enforcement action should not be taken against him for the disruptions and flight cancellations.

This has fuelled speculation in the aviation sector. Why was the DGCA playing good cop and bad cop? Was it to show that it is acting against Indigo, or is there a sinister design behind all the drama last week, which could end up with the airline being taken over?

These are all rumours, but Indigo has surely flown willingly into turbulence.  

Meanwhile, pilots are understandably upset that the government has rolled back a safety directive that affects both crew and passengers. Captain Anil Rao, General Secretary of the Airline Pilots' Association, told the press that he was “shocked” to learn that the FDTL norms had been placed in abeyance. “The whole scenario has changed to accommodate an airline’s demand for commercial interest,” he was quoted as saying.

Indigo's clout in the civil aviation sector stems from its control of 64% to 65% of the market. The share of other airlines is relatively marginal: Air India (27 %), Akasa (5.4 %) and SpiceJet (2%). It is this monopoly that triggered chaos at airports when Indigo's management decided to ground its planes. With 420 aircraft in its fleet, Indigo flies 2300 flights a day.

But the big question that remains is whether one should encourage such monopolies to take root! Also, should the government bow to an airline's demand and compromise on passenger safety? 

Several loose ends in the story need an explanation. No one is clear about the influence Indigo wields within the government and whether it will finally follow the DGCA rules currently on hold.

Finally, will anyone be held accountable for the mess?

Or, will the matter be brushed under the carpet and forgotten? 

As is the usual and obvious pattern these days in the ‘largest democracy’. While the loyalist media goes mum.