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New Delhi: A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking directions to the Centre and IndiGo airline to pay four times the full ticket price as compensation to passengers whose flights were cancelled in November and December following the rollout of the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms. The PIL is listed for hearing on Wednesday before a Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela.

Probe Sought Into DGCA’s Role

The petition also seeks an independent inquiry by a retired judge or the Lokpal to examine alleged negligence and regulatory lapses by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that, according to the petitioner, precipitated the nationwide aviation disruption.

Call for Class Action Against IndiGo

The plea urges the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Department of Consumer Affairs to initiate a class action suit under the Consumer Protection Act against InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, which operates IndiGo, for the hardship, financial loss and inconvenience caused to passengers.

‘National Aviation Crisis’

Filed by the Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change (CASC) through its president, Prof Vikram Singh, the petition states that sudden, large-scale flight cancellations stranded lakhs of passengers, triggering widespread chaos across airports.

The petition, drafted by advocates Virag Gupta, Shourya Tiwari and Rupali Panwar, said passengers faced misdirected baggage, excessive delays, lack of communication, and confusion over refunds and re-bookings.

Staffing Model Under Scrutiny

The PIL alleged that IndiGo’s operational model was structurally flawed. “IndiGo operates around 410 aircraft with about 5,700 pilots, amounting to roughly 14 pilots per aircraft. This skeletal staffing model is inadequate under the new FDTL norms, which require greater pilot availability,” the plea stated. “When the FDTL rules came into force, and pilot availability dropped, the numbers stopped adding up, triggering a national aviation crisis,” it added.

Six-Pronged Corrective Action Sought

To prevent a recurrence, the petition called for action on six fronts, including:

• abuse of market dominance,

• mandatory refunds and enhanced compensation,

• damages for passenger hardship,

• penalties commensurate with economic loss, and

• Contempt proceedings for non-compliance with court orders.

It specifically sought a direction to the Centre and IndiGo to pay four times the ticket price to all affected passengers whose flights were cancelled after the FDTL rollout.

Cancellations Continue

On Tuesday, IndiGo said it had cancelled 110 flights across its network, citing disruptions caused by bad weather at Delhi airport. The airline has been under intense scrutiny from both the government and courts after cancelling hundreds of flights since December 2, attributing the disruptions to regulatory changes in pilot duty and rest norms.

Earlier, on December 10, the Delhi High Court had sharply questioned the Centre over its failure to act in time, asking why the situation was allowed to escalate, leaving lakhs of passengers stranded and enabling other airlines to charge exorbitant fares. The matter is now expected to receive detailed judicial scrutiny as passenger grievances mount and regulatory accountability comes under the spotlight.