Abstract

This case is about the operational disturbance that affected IndiGo Airlines, a low cost service provider in India in December 2025. A number of flights were canceled due to the new implementation of the Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms that were announced by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The initial limited operational failure rapidly escalated into a full blown national emergency, prompting the central government’s intervention to contain the crisis. The case discusses the operational failures of IndiGo and its lean staffing model and the impact it had on its operations due to FDTL norms. The operational fiasco is described in the case along with details of the stakeholders affected by the crisis. IndiGo’s response to the crisis and its attempts to contain it are also discussed in the case. From a crisis management perspective, this raises the question of whether IndiGo could have handled the disruption more effectively through better preparedness, crisis planning, as well as better crisis communication.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Examine the challenges and risks of a lean staffing model.
• Evaluate the need to put in place a crisis management plan during service operations failures.

Keywords

Indigo; lean staffing; FDTL: #DGCA: Peter Elbers; aviation; crisis management; crisis communication; service operations failures; escalation control mechanisms,