The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said Monday that it has received IndiGo’s response to the show-cause notice. The airline is “profusely apologetic,” the aviation regulator informed, stating that IndiGo has submitted replies signed by both the CEO and COO on December 8 over large-scale operational disruptions and mass flight Cancellations over the past few days.
IndiGo ‘profusely’ sorry for flight cancellations
The DGCA, in its release, said, “IndiGo is ‘profusely apologetic’ and deeply regrets the inconvenience and hardship caused to customers. They attribute the disruption to the ‘compounding effect of multiple factors,’ which operated in an unfortunate and unforeseeable confluence.”
DGCA’s show-cause notices to IndiGo
“It was in the process of examining the response, and enforcement action, as deemed appropriate, would be taken in due course,” the aviation regulator said. Earlier on Saturday (December 6, 2025), the DGCA issued show-cause notices to IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and Accountable Manager Isidro Porqueras seeking clarification within 24 hours on large-scale flight cancellations.
The time was, however, extended till 6 pm on December 8, after IndiGo sought additional time from the aviation regulator. “IndiGo states it is ‘realistically not possible to pinpoint the exact cause(s)’ at this time due to the complexity and vast scale of operations,” the DGCA said.
IndiGo lists 5 factors behind disruptions to DGCA
The airline told the DGCA that the widespread disruption was caused due to a combination of the following factors, such as “Minor technical glitches, schedule changes linked to the start of the winter season, adverse weather conditions, increased congestion in the aviation system, and Implementation of and operation under the updated crew rostering rules (Flight Duty Time Limitation Phase II).”
The budget carrier further responded that the aviation watchdog’s manual allows a 15-day response timeline for SCN’s and sought more time for a comprehensive ‘Root Cause Analysis’ (RCA). “The complete RCA will be shared once finished,” IndiGo added.
