IndiGo crisis happened due to rostering problems: Govt tells Parliament

Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu told the Rajya Sabha on Monday, 8 December, that the IndiGo crisis stemmed from problems in the airline's "crew rostering and internal planning system".

His statement came as IndiGo continued to reel with a shortage of pilots and its failure to implement the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules. Monday marked the seventh consecutive day of massive disruptions in IndiGo's flight operations.

Here's what Ram Mohan Naidu said.

‘Lots of internal complications’

The civil aviation minister said that although the IndiGo crisis arose from the new FDTL norms, “there have been lots of internal complications.”

“This is a day-to-day operations thing that Indigo should have maintained,” he said, adding that the airline was supposed to handle crew and roster planning through its daily operations.

He emphasised that the government's role was to ensure proper implementation of the FDTL norms, and “there has been no compromise on that side.”

'Govt held thorough consultations with all stakeholders'

The minister elaborated on the FDTL rules, adding that new guidelines took effect on 1 November 2025.

He said the government “had thorough consultations with all the stakeholders when it was implemented, and due process has been done for that.”

He added, “In April, under the guidelines of the High Court, it has come into implementation.”

“There were 22 FDTL guidelines, 15 of them from 1st of July and seven of them from 1st of November,” the minister said, adding that airlines requested certain variations in the rules proposed from 1 November.

Multiple stakeholders ‘strictly’ told to prioritise safety

Ram Mohan Naidu said consultations involved not just IndiGo but multiple stakeholders, and they were “strictly” told that safety could not be compromised. 

“There were multiple stakeholder consultations done, not only with IndiGo, but we have other players in the industry also…where we have been very, very strictly saying that there has to be no compromise on safety,” the minister said.

The minister emphasised that the ministry “made it very, very clear to all the airlines that they have to follow the rules from 1st of November.”

Since the implementation of the new rules, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has been in continuous consultation, he said.

The minister further informed that the airlines wanted some variations — "all the airlines, not just one airline."

‘Necessary exemptions given beforehand’

The minister said airlines raised issues regarding the new norms received necessary exemptions beforehand.

He said, “All airlines have come back because they vary in their operations. Some are having night operations, some are operating heavily in the Northeast, some have ATR-specific operations. If you talk about airlines, they all have different kinds of operations."

“And because of the operations and because of the FDTL guidelines — which are a uniform blanket on all the airlines — they all have come with different variations,” he said.

He said DGCA consulted all airlines. “Wherever there was no compromise on the safety, after thorough consultation and after thorough safety risk assessment, necessary variations, necessary exemptions have been given beforehand itself. This was on November 1."

He noted that the issue with IndiGo escalated on 3 December, a month after the new rules were implemented. “There was one full month of operation in the new FDTL also,” he said.

Meeting with Indigo on 1 December — the chaotic turn of events

The minister told the Rajya Sabha that on 1 December, the government met with IndiGo to clarify the FDTL rules.

“We have given the clarifications…they have not flagged this issue,” he said, adding that everything was running normally till then.

But, things took a chaotic turn on 3 December.

“Immediately, when this [problem] was observed, the ministry came into the picture. We have taken over the situation…We have consulted all the stakeholders, and then you have seen how things have unfurled for those two days,” the minister said.

‘We are not taking this situation easily’

Concluding his statement, the civil aviation minister assured the Parliament that the government is “not taking this situation easily.”

“We are doing an inquiry, and we will take very, very strict action, not only for this situation but also as an example. We will set an example for all the airlines [that] if there is any mis-compliance, any non-compliance or non-adherence for any single person, any entity or any 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," the minister said.