Due to the operational crisis of the country’s largest airline IndiGo, passengers are suffering due to flight cancellations and delays. Meanwhile, the government data presented in the Lok Sabha on Thursday (December 11, 2025) presented a worrying picture of the Indian aviation sector. Despite the continuously increasing demand, this industry is currently immersed in massive losses.

Only Indigo is profitable
According to the written reply given by the Civil Aviation Ministry, IndiGo was the only major airline to make profit in the financial year 2024-25. The company registered a profit of Rs 7,253 crore during this period. In contrast, government airline Air India suffered a loss of Rs 3,976 crore, Air India Express Rs 5,832 crore, Akasa Air Rs 1,986 crore and Alliance Air suffered a loss of Rs 691 crore. SpiceJet also remained in loss and recorded a loss of Rs 56 crore. The small-scale operator Star Air was an exception, earning a modest profit of Rs 68 crore.

old series of losses
This economic crisis is not new. In the financial year 2022-23, Indian Airlines had incurred a collective loss of more than Rs 18,600 crore. Air India alone lost Rs 11,387 crore, while IndiGo also suffered a loss of Rs 316 crore. Although Indigo made a strong comeback in the next financial year 2023-24 and registered a profit of Rs 8,167 crore, other companies could not get out of the quagmire of losses. Air India suffered a loss of Rs 4,444 crore and SpiceJet suffered a loss of Rs 404 crore.

Demand increased, but debt and cost increased problems
This is the situation when the number of people flying in the country is continuously increasing. In the financial year 2024-25, the number of domestic passengers increased by 7.7% to 16.55 crore. Despite this, airlines are stuck in a cycle of heavy debt, high operating costs and low margins. For this reason, new players are afraid to enter the market, while the demand is continuously touching record levels.

Passengers troubled by Indigo crisis, lack of options increases difficulties
The recent operational crisis of IndiGo, which has about 65% domestic market share, has shaken the entire system. Thousands of flights had to be canceled due to severe crew shortage and new duty-time regulations. Competing airlines are already facing financial crisis, hence passengers are left with very limited options. As a result, crowding at airports is increasing, fares are skyrocketing and passenger dissatisfaction is also increasing.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is now in the court docket on allegations of not implementing safety rules regarding pilot fatigue. Delhi High Court can hear the contempt petition of Federation of Indian Pilots on 15 December. In the petition, DGCA has been seriously accused of deliberately disobeying the clear and binding orders of the court.

Claim of Federation of Indian Pilots FDTL rules not implemented

The Federation of Indian Pilots claims that non-proper implementation of flight and duty time limitation rules has directly affected the safety of passengers. According to the pilots organization, this negligence became the main reason for the aviation crisis that has been going on for the past one week, due to which big airlines like IndiGo had to face operational crisis and thousands of flights across the country were canceled or delayed.

Federation of Indian Pilots DGCA accused of

In the petition filed in the Delhi High Court, it has been said that the DGCA had assured the High Court this year that the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) 2024 would be implemented on time, but on the contrary, the airlines were given the freedom to relax the rules and extend the time. All this was done without the permission of the court, whereas it was promised that the rules would be fully implemented by November 1. FIP alleged that the FDTL framework prepared by the airlines does not match the standards on which the DGCA had agreed before the High Court in April 2025. This has been described as a direct disobedience of the court’s orders.

Pilots and crew present in sufficient numbers – Pilot Organization

The pilot organization has also completely rejected the claim of shortage of pilots in the Delhi High Court. It has been said in the petition that there are sufficient number of pilots and crew present in the sector, but the airlines are not putting them on duty at full capacity. Despite pilots being available for regular roster duties, they are being placed on flexible contracts with limited flying hours. During the hearing held last month, the High Court had allowed FIP to file additional documents and made it clear that if the orders are not followed, strict action can be taken for contempt.

Delhi High Court car Orders were given even before implementation of 2024

The Delhi High Court had earlier cleared the way for the implementation of CAR 2024 by disposing of the petitions of pilot organizations and directed the airlines to submit their FDTL plans to the DGCA within three weeks. The court had clearly said that ignoring the rules will not be accepted in future. The government had assured the court that the new FDTL rules would be implemented in a phased manner. At the same time, 15 provisions will be implemented from July 1, 2025 and the remaining 7 provisions will be implemented from November 1, 2025. Now DGCA will have to answer before the court on the implementation of these promises and orders.

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A meeting was held in the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) with the top management of Indigo Airline on Tuesday (December 9, 2025) regarding the IndiGo crisis in India. In this meeting, along with Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu, Ministry Secretary Sameer Sinha was also present. In the meeting, the ministry called Peter Elbers, CEO of Indigo Airline and took a complete update on the Indigo crisis from him.

Indigo’s internal irregularities like crew roster, flight schedule and poor information giving were the main issues discussed in the meeting. Apart from this, the status of the major inconvenience to the passengers was also known. At the same time, during the meeting, IndiGo CEO Peter Elbers was seen with folded hands in front of Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu.

In the meeting, it was said by the company that 100% refund of the flights for which refunds were to be made till December, was completed. On which strict instructions have been given to complete the remaining refund and delivery of bags quickly. The ministry said that it is necessary to reduce IndiGo’s flights for some time so that operations can be stabilized and the number of canceled flights can be reduced.

Ministry gave orders to Indigo in the meeting

On behalf of the Civil Aviation Ministry, Indigo Airlines has been ordered to follow all the instructions like rules related to fare control and passenger convenience without any exception. Apart from this, Indigo was also ordered to cut 10% routes. Despite this, Indigo will cover all its destinations as before.

During the last week, many passengers faced severe inconvenience due to Indigo’s internal mismanagement of crew rosters, flight schedules and inadequate communication. While the inquiry and necessary actions are underway, another meeting with Indigo’s top management was held to… pic.twitter.com/yw9jt3dtLR

— Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu (@RamMNK) December 9, 2025

The ministry said that we had said on Monday (December 8, 2025) that Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu can call Indigo Airline CEO Peter Elbers and meet the ministry on Tuesday (December 9, 2025). Now IndiGo CEO Peter Elbers will once again attend a separate meeting organized by DGCA tomorrow on Wednesday (December 10, 2025).

What did the company say in the meeting,

Ahead of the meeting in the ministry with Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu, IndiGo announced on Tuesday (December 9, 2025) that after the operational crisis of IndiGo that continued for more than a week, now all flights are operating normally again. Its on-time performance has returned to normal levels and the company plans to operate around 1,900 flights on Wednesday (December 10, 2025).

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In the Lok Sabha, Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu said that IndiGo’s flight services are being restored rapidly. He told that the airline had suddenly increased the number of its flights, which caused disruption. The minister made it clear that responsibility for this negligence will be fixed.
Why did the problem occur? The government gave the reason
In response to a question asked in the Rajya Sabha, the Minister said that this situation has happened due to shortcomings in the internal operating system of IndiGo, especially the crew rostering system and planning. He said that the changes in the rules were already in effect and the airlines were aware of it. A meeting was also held with IndiGo on this issue on 1st December, but they did not mention any problem. After the review meeting held on Monday night, the Union Minister said that the situation is serious, hence the Ministry and DGCA are continuously monitoring.

180 flights canceled from Bengaluru and Hyderabad
Disruption in IndiGo flights continued for the eighth day. About 180 flights from Bengaluru and Hyderabad were canceled on Tuesday.

Decision to cut winter program
Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu said that the government will cut IndiGo’s winter flight schedules and they will be allocated to other operators. He said that Indigo is currently operating around 2,200 flights per day, which will definitely be reduced.

Paying huge amount for canceled flights
The minister said that Rs 745 crore has been given to the passengers for 7,30,655 PNRs canceled from December 1 to 8. Apart from this, out of 9,000 passenger bags, 6,000 bags have been returned and the remaining bags will be received by the customers by Tuesday morning.

DGCA orders 5% reduction in flights
Aviation safety regulator DGCA on Tuesday said IndiGo’s flight services have been reduced by 5 percent following massive disruptions. There have been cuts across all sectors, especially on high demand routes. DGCA has also directed IndiGo to submit the new revised schedule by 5 pm on Wednesday.

Rakesh Gangwal, co-founder of India’s airline IndiGo, is going to sell his 3.4 per cent stake. This deal will be done for about 6,800 crores through Block Deal. This step is part of his long-term exit plan, under which he is gradually working on a plan to get out of the company.

According to the information, the floor price per share for this transaction has been fixed at Rs 5,175, which is about 4.6 percent less than the previous closed price of Rs 5,424. At present, Gangwal and their associated institutions have a total of 13.53 percent stake in Indigo.

Constant stake deduction in previous years also

Rakesh Gangwal and his family have steadily reduced their stake in the last few years. In August 2023, 5.83 percent stake was sold for 10,500 crores. In March 2023, 6 per cent stake was sold for 6,786 crore. In August 2023, his wife Shobha Gangwal sold 3 per cent stake for 2,802 crores. In February 2023, the family sold 4 per cent stake for 2,900 crores. September 2022: 2.8 percent stake was sold for 2,000 crores.

Gangwal wants to take full exit!

Rakesh Gangwal resigned from the Indigo board on 18 February 2022 and only then announced that he would gradually sell his stake in the coming five years and come out of the company. This recent deal is part of the same process from which the Gangwal family is moving towards the exit completely from Indigo.

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