The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has instructed IndiGo’s CEO to account for over 300 flight cancellations in a single week, raising concerns about operational resilience and passenger service standards. The directive underscores heightened regulatory scrutiny of India’s largest airline amid growing consumer complaints.
- 312 flights canceled by IndiGo between December 1–7, 2025
- Over 45,000 passengers affected across major domestic routes
- IndiGo stock (INDIGO.NS) dropped 2.7% following the directive
- DGCA has mandated formal explanation and future reporting requirements
- Tata Elxsi (TATAELXSI.NS) and DLF (DLF.NS) show indirect market sensitivity
- Regulatory scrutiny aligns with broader push for aviation sector transparency
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has formally directed IndiGo’s Chief Executive Officer to provide a detailed explanation for the cancellation of 312 flights during the week of December 1–7, 2025. This surge in disruptions, concentrated across domestic routes including Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore, marks a significant deviation from the airline’s historical on-time performance metrics, which typically exceed 85%. The cancellations, which affected over 45,000 passengers, have sparked widespread backlash on social media and prompted multiple consumer complaints to the aviation regulator. While IndiGo attributed the disruptions to a combination of air traffic control delays, meteorological factors, and crew scheduling challenges, the DGCA has emphasized that such large-scale operational failures require formal accountability. The airline, which holds a market share of approximately 55% in India’s domestic aviation sector, has been under increasing pressure to demonstrate robust contingency planning. The incident has triggered immediate market reactions: IndiGo’s stock (INDIGO.NS) declined 2.7% in early trading, erasing gains from a recent quarterly earnings report. Competitors including Vistara and Akasa Air have seen marginal upticks in sentiment, though overall travel sector indices remain stable. Infrastructure firms linked to airport operations, such as Tata Elxsi (TATAELXSI.NS) and DLF (DLF.NS), also experienced slight volatility due to indirect concerns about terminal congestion and passenger flow management. Regulatory intervention follows a broader pattern of increased oversight in India’s rapidly expanding aviation market, which is projected to become the world’s third-largest by 2030. With the DGCA now demanding quarterly operational transparency reports from major carriers, the episode could set a precedent for tighter governance in the industry.