Indigo CEO Pieter Elbers Summoned Again On Friday, 4-Member DGCA Committee To Question

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Aviation watchdog DGCA has asked IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers to appear before it again on Friday with flight cancellations spiraling onto the tenth consecutive day on Thursday. A four-member team would question Elbers, as per reports.

DGCA had formed the four-member panel last week comprising Joint DG Sanjay Brahamane, Deputy Director General Amit Gupta, senior Flight Operations Inspector Kapil Manglik, and FOI Lokesh Rampal, with a mandate to identify the root causes of widespread operational disruptions at the Rahul Bhatia-controlled domestic carrier.

Elbers, was already summoned by the DGCA on Thursday. He will appear before the officials again on Friday. IndiGo, in a regulatory filing, said that Elbers has been asked to appear on 12 December, before the Committee of Officers at DGCA, which is examining the matter related to flight disruptions

What DGCA panel will probe?

The panel's mandate includes assessing manpower planning, fluctuating rostering systems, and the airline's preparedness to implement the latest duty period and rest norms for pilots, which came into effect from November 1, 2025.

Earlier in the day, sources said that DGCA officials have begun monitoring IndiGo's operations, refunds, and other processes from the airline's headquarters.

IndiGo under scrutiny - Daily reports, monitoring refund status

– Sources aware of the matter said that officials are expected to submit daily reports on the situation at the airline, which is battling major operational disruptions and the cancellation of thousands of flights after planning lapses tied to the rollout of new pilot and crew duty norms, mentioned a report by PTI.

– On Wednesday, DGCA decided to deploy two members – a senior statistics officer and a deputy director - will be deployed at the IndiGo corporate office to monitor the status of domestic and international cancellations, refund status, on-time performance, compensation to the passengers as per the civil aviation requirement and baggage return, as per an order.

– The DGCA has also said that senior officials from the aviation watchdog will carry out immediate on-site inspections to assess IndiGo's operations across 11 domestic airports.

– All assigned officers will visit their respective airports in the next 2-3 days and submit a comprehensive report to the Director of Operations for the flight safety department at the DGCA in New Delhi within 24 hours of their visit.

IndiGo crisis

Crisis-hit IndiGo, since last week, has cancelled thousands of flights nationwide after failing to plan for tighter safety regulations – with the disruptions peaking on 3-5th Decembe – stranding thousands of flyers. From Tuesday, 9 December, the airline witnessed partial recovery – with operations slowly crawling back to normalcy.

Disruptions, however, continued with the airline cancelling a record 1,600 flights in a day on 5 December. The cancellations continued for the tenth consecutive day on Thursday – with 60 disruptions reported from Bengaluru Airport alone.

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