IndiGo Crisis ‘Pre-Planned’, Top Executives Must Face Criminal Action: Pilot's Body Opposes Selective Treatment To Airline

Bengaluru: Captain Anil Rao, General Secretary of the Airline Pilots' Association (ALPA) India, sharply escalated concerns on Tuesday, alleging that IndiGo’s ongoing operational collapse was not accidental but “pre-planned.” He demanded that top leadership of the airline be held criminally accountable for the crisis and questioned the DGCA's decision to grant “temporary exemptions” to IndiGo from key Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms.

Speaking to ANI, Rao said the unprecedented delays and cancellations must be explained transparently to the public, warning that allowing special concessions to one airline threatens aviation safety.

“The root cause must be explained. Our fear is that it may happen again because we now have separate rules - one for IndiGo and another for the rest of the operators. Granting abeyance from FDTL norms just to meet flight schedules compromises passenger safety”, he said.

Calling the exemption “unwarranted and dangerous,” Rao said passengers were blindsided by the scale of disruption. “The company calls it a miscalculation, but there is no clarity on what went wrong or where. DGCA forming a committee of its own officials is not enough - there must be independent oversight”, he added.

Earlier, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu blamed IndiGo’s internal mismanagement for the chaos, stating that while other airlines adapted to revised FDTL rules, IndiGo failed to plan for crew scheduling.

“From November 1, the new FDTL regulations kicked in. For months, the Ministry engaged with airlines and nobody raised concerns. What has unfolded is due to IndiGo’s crew mismanagement. We permitted temporary flexibility only to restore normalcy”, the Minister said.

Since December 3, the Ministry and DGCA have been monitoring airport conditions in real time. Senior officials have been deployed nationwide to review airline service and ensure corrective action.

Addressing Parliament on Monday, Minister Naidu reiterated that the disruption stemmed from IndiGo’s internal rostering and not from any technical scheduling system issues. He stressed that while consultations on FDTL are ongoing, safety will remain non-negotiable, and Civil Aviation Requirements (CARs) will protect affected passengers.

Meanwhile, the DGCA has issued show-cause notices to IndiGo’s CEO Pieter Elbers and COO Isidro Porqueras. Regulatory scrutiny now raises questions about the future of IndiGo’s senior leadership.

The crisis has already taken a measurable toll. Nearly 1,600 flights were cancelled on December 5, with on-time performance plunging to 68% in November, down from 84% in October. Over 1,200 flights were cancelled last month, although IndiGo now claims it has “optimised operations”.

ALPA India maintains that unless accountability is fixed including potential criminal prosecution the issue will not end with temporary fixes.

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