IndiGo cancels 60 Bengaluru flights; DGCA summons CEO Pieter Elbers

India’s largest airline, IndiGo, plunged deeper into crisis on Thursday as it cancelled 60 flights at Bengaluru Airport alone, even as the aviation regulator DGCA tightened its gaze on the carrier’s increasingly turbulent operations.

The cancellations — 32 arrivals and 28 departures — come amid mounting scrutiny over the airline’s planning failures tied to the rollout of new pilot and crew duty norms.

DGCA has now summoned IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers, directing him to present a detailed report on the cascading disruptions that have rippled across the airline’s network. The regulator’s move follows a punishing Wednesday, when IndiGo scrubbed 220 flights across Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai, with the capital bearing the brunt of the chaos.

After 10 days of silence, IndiGo chairman Vikram Mehta finally broke cover on Wednesday, apologising for the widespread disruption and attributing the meltdown to a convergence of “unanticipated” internal and external factors — from minor technical issues and Winter schedule transitions to adverse weather, congestion, and the airline’s shift to updated crew rostering rules.

Yet, the spotlight remains fixed on IndiGo for a simple reason: while other Indian carriers faced the same external pressures, their operations remained largely steady.

Underneath the turbulence lies a deeper structural concern. IndiGo’s pilot strength has dropped by 378 over the last nine months, even as the airline had earlier assured the DGCA that updated FDTL norms would require only a “3 per cent” increase in crew capacity. Data placed in Parliament underscores this shrinkage: from 5,463 pilots in March 2025, IndiGo’s workforce fell to 5,085 by December.

Sensing the scale of the crisis, the DGCA has stepped in with unprecedented oversight. An eight-member team of senior captains has been constituted, with two captains and two government officials now stationed full-time at IndiGo’s Gurgaon headquarters. Their mandate: monitor flight cancellations, crew deployment, unplanned leave, and routes strained by manpower shortages. Daily reports will flow directly to the regulator.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has sharpened its attack, alleging that the chaos at IndiGo is not an accident but the result of a “prolonged and unorthodox lean manpower strategy”, particularly in flight operations. They point to a two-year window for airlines to prepare for FDTL implementation — a window IndiGo allegedly squandered through hiring freezes, non-poaching pacts, pilot pay freezes, and other “short-sighted” decisions.

As IndiGo grapples with cancellations, regulatory pressure, and a workforce stretched thin, India’s skies remain unsettled — and its biggest airline faces one of its most formidable tests yet.

With PTI inputs