Govt to take strict action against IndiGo to 'set an example': Aviation Minister

Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said in the Rajya Sabha on Monday that the government has initiated an inquiry into Indigo's mass flight cancellations and will take strict action against the operator to set an example for other airlines.

Blaming the airlines for its failure to manage the crew and duty roster through its day-to-day operations, Naidu said, “We are not taking this situation easily. We are doing an inquiry. We will take very, very strict action not only for this situation but also as an example.”

To the questions raised by Congress MP Pramod Tiwari, who wanted to know whether the Indigo crisis was caused by a fault in the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS), a technical issue that disrupted flight services in early November 2025.

The minister said the Indigo crisis was not related to AMSS but was due to anomalies and mismanagement in Indigo's internal crew roster system.

Elaborating on the new Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) guideline, which was framed after the high court order in April 2025, Naidu said that there were 22 FDTL guidelines, out of which 15 were implemented from July 1, 2025 and the remaining seven from November 1, 2025.

According to Naidu, multiple stakeholder consultations were done, including Indigo, regarding the implementation of FDTL, and the government had made it very clear that all airlines will have to follow the rules without any compromise on safety.

The minister added that since November 1, 2025, the day the FDTL fully came into operation, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has been in continuous consultation with all airlines, as they have requested certain exemptions due to variations in their operations.

"After thorough consultation and safety risk assessment, necessary variations and exemptions have been given beforehand,” Naidu said, adding that the crisis took place almost one whole month of operation in the new FDTL.

Blaming Indigo entirely for the crisis, Naidu said that even on December 1, 2025, when the Ministry met with Indigo on FDTL, as it required some clarification, the company didn’t flag the issue that caused the crisis.

“This is a day-to-day operation -- something that Indigo should have maintained. Indigo was supposed to manage the crew, roaster through its day-to-day operations,” Naidu said.

"If there is any mis-compliance, non-compliance, non-adherence for any single person, entity and organisation, or any operator functioning in this civil aviation, we will take very, very strict action so that we set an example in the industry," he added.