Poonam Sharma
In India, only a small fraction of the population regularly travels by air. For most citizens, aviation is still seen as a luxury sector. Perhaps that is why the ongoing crisis involving IndiGo over the past few days did not initially trigger widespread public concern. Many people believed it was simply a case of a few cancelled flights—after all, trains get cancelled, buses get delayed, so what’s the big deal if an airline cancels some flights?
But the seriousness of this issue becomes clear when one realizes that the matter reached the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Why would the PMO need to intervene in a corporate scheduling problem unless something much deeper—and far more troubling—was unfolding?
The pattern of events, the nature of the disruption, and the timing have raised questions:
Is this just operational mismanagement, or is there a deeper network of connections and strategic motives?
How the Actual Crisis Began
The roots of the crisis lie in a petition filed in court by a pilot union. The pilots argued that their working conditions were unsafe and fell below international standards. Exhausted pilots, they said, could endanger both flight safety and passenger safety.
The court agreed and directed the DGCA to issue new guidelines. These guidelines included:
Increase the minimum rest hours for pilots
Reduction of maximum weekly flying hours
Variation of the definition of night work
Reduction of the number of night landings allowed per week
Since such changes require airlines to hire more pilots and crew, the DGCA gave all airlines 18 months to transition. Hiring pilots is not like normal corporate hiring—notice periods in aviation range from six months to a year.
All airlines obliged. Except IndiGo.
IndiGo’s Non-Compliance and Pilot Shortage
Instead of scaling up its hiring, IndiGo allegedly slowed it down. By December, it was short of 65 pilots, an enormous gap for a company operating such a large fleet.
The signs of an imminent collapse were already in sight:
Over 1,000 IndiGo flights were cancelled in November.But on 4–5 December, the situation exploded—hundreds of flights cancelled within a single day.
IndiGo tried blaming:
“Software glitches”
“Operational issues”
“Winter scheduling problems”
But the discrepancies were blindingly obvious: Domestic flights were cancelled en masse. International flights—which earn more profit—were barely touched.Why would a software glitch affect only domestic flights and not international ones? Was the crisis timed to hijack the media optics during Putin’s visit? The timing is suspicious.
Whenever a major global leader visits India, Delhi becomes a security fortress. Media attention focuses on:
High-level meetings Strategic agreements Diplomatic optics But the moment President Vladimir Putin arrived in India, IndiGo’s crisis dominated the news cycles. For an entire day, TV channels broadcast:
Passengers stranded, Long queues, Angry interviews, Chaos at airports The diplomatic optics of the India–Russia summit were almost overshadowed. Coincidence? Or timing? An Odd Operational Move: Filling Aircraft Bays
IndiGo also reportedly parked several aircraft directly at the passenger boarding bays, blocking access and preventing other airlines from stepping in with replacement flights to reduce the disruption. Some pilots even claimed they were willing to fly but were not assigned flights.
Meanwhile, IndiGo’s CEO apologized, calling it “operational mismanagement”—yet the narrative didn’t add up.
Government’s Response: Quick, Harsh, and No-Holds-Barred
The DGCA passed an unprecedented set of orders:
1. Full Refunds by 7 December, 8 PM
All money taken for cancelled or rescheduled flights must be refunded without any excuses.
2. No fee for rescheduling or cancelling
Passengers who change to another flight, airline, or timing will be charged nothing.
3. Dynamic pricing temporarily frozen
Ticket prices were capped, preventing the surge that usually happens when demand goes upwards.
4. Show-cause notice to IndiGo’s CEO
He has 24 hours to explain why this crisis happened—otherwise DGCA action may follow.
The NATO–Netherlands Link: Why It Is Raising Eyebrows
Now comes the interesting part of the story.The CEO of IndiGo at present is Pieter Elbers, who took over the post in 2022. He is: Called from within the Netherlands ,Former CEO of KLM – the major European airline .A leading figure in European aviation today Linked to a key period when the Netherlands was under Mark Rutte’s government.
Associated with circles close to the current NATO Secretary-General
While none of this proves wrongdoing, proximity to the strategic Western network has kept fueling speculation, considering the timing when Putin visited India while already under close scrutiny from the West.
This is why analysts are asking: Was the IndiGo crisis simply corporate chaos-or was it manufactured to cause diplomatic noise?
Why This Matters for India’s Aviation Sector
India is rapidly emerging as one of the largest aviation markets in the world: Record Airbus and Boeing orders,Thousands of new aircraft planned ,Huge strategic interest from global powers ,Aviation to become a pillar for economic expansion
A meltdown in India’s largest airline affects not just passengers, but could undermine India’s global credibility and its aviation ecosystem.
Conclusion: Mismanagement or Manipulation?
The government’s actions show that the matter is being treated not as a minor corporate issue, but rather as a national-level incident.
The open questions are:
Why did IndiGo alone fail to comply with DGCA norms?Why did the “software glitches” only affect domestic flights? Why did the meltdown peak exactly during Putin’s India visit? Was there involvement of external networks or was this an internal collapse? The days to come will now show whether this was a case of corporate negligence—or something far more calculated.
