IndiGo Crisis: Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu Warns of 'Very, Very Strict Action' as Inquiry Begins

Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Monday told the Rajya Sabha that the government has launched an inquiry into IndiGo’s mass flight cancellations and will take "very, very strict action" against the carrier to send a clear message to the industry.Naidu said the crisis stemmed from IndiGo’s failure to manage its crew and duty rosters, stressing that the situation had nothing to do with a technical glitch in the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS), which had disrupted flight services earlier in November.“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,” he said while responding to Congress MP Pramod Tiwari’s question on whether

the AMSS outage had triggered the airline’s operational breakdown.He said the disruptions were “due to anomalies and mismanagement in IndiGo's internal crew roster system,” and not linked to any system failure on the government’s side.Naidu also detailed the rollout of the new Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms, framed after a court order earlier this year. Of the 22 guidelines, 15 came into effect on July 1 and the remaining seven on November 1. He said the changes followed extensive consultations with all major stakeholders, including IndiGo.According to the minister, airlines were clearly told that the revised norms, aimed at ensuring crew rest and safety, must be followed without compromise. Since November 1, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has been holding continuous discussions with carriers as they sought exemptions based on their operational requirements."After thorough consultation and safety risk assessment, necessary variations and exemptions have been given beforehand,” he said, adding that the crisis unfolded nearly a month after the full FDTL framework took effect.Naidu said the ministry had met IndiGo on December 1 to clarify certain FDTL-related queries. However, the airline “didn’t flag the issue that caused the crisis,” he added.

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Calling the disruption a failure of basic operational oversight, he said, “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.”He said any lapse in compliance would be dealt with firmly. "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 said.