Indian Aviation In Need Of Good Governance
Shailesh Haribhakti
IndiGo stands today at a reputation inflection point, not because of any safety lapse but due to a governance misalignment between rapid growth, regulatory duty norms, employee wellbeing and the public narrative that formed around the Flight Duty Time Limits (FDTL) controversy. The litigation initiated by pilots, the DGCA’s enforcement of modernised FDTL rules and the subsequent hearings in the Supreme Court all reflect a deeper concern: reputation damage occurs whenever workforce wellbeing, regulatory compliance and passenger safety appear to be in conflict, even if the airline is fully compliant.
The Supreme Court did not question IndiGo’s safety record. Instead, it reinforced a critical governance principle: boards must integrate workforce physiology with operational and economic design, and cannot treat them as independent variables. The issue that unfolded was less about resisting regulation and more about a gap between narrative governance and operational governance. Pilots experienced duty-related fatigue pressures differently from what board dashboards indicated. Engagement with regulators and staff bodies did not keep pace with public scrutiny, and passengers were left with the impression that safety reforms were simply an inconvenience.
Reputation recovery now requires a Living Board approach that aligns safety science, regulatory expectations and trust rebuilding. IndiGo must articulate clearly and publicly that it supports the DGCA’s FDTL reforms and acknowledges the Supreme Court’s emphasis on passenger safety and crew wellbeing as inseparable pillars. This reframes the narrative from one of compliance friction to one of science-backed safety partnership. A strengthened governance architecture must follow, including a formal fatigue and human-factors oversight mechanism reporting directly to the Board, combining aviation medicine experts, psychologists, pilot representatives and human-performance scientists. Their mandate should cover fatigue-risk assessment, roster validation and crew health monitoring, with independent reporting to the DGCA.
An AI-enabled fatigue-risk management system needs to become part of the operating backbone, integrating roster loads, circadian norms, sleep-health surveys and route-risk profiles so that the Board’s safety dashboards combine operational metrics with human-performance indicators. Culture must shift from a “productivity first” posture to “safe productivity sustained by wellbeing,” supported by regular Board–pilot dialogue forums, psychological-safety channels for fatigue reporting and collaborative workshops with regulators to frame reforms as safety engineering rather than compliance policing.
Passengers, too, must be brought into this trust reset. Clear communication that rested pilots mean safer flights can transform delay-related frustration into confidence in the airline’s integrity. Explanations grounded in aviation science should replace generic apology templates. Industrial relations governance must also evolve, with a new doctrine that no grievance should reach court without an attempt at Board-level reconciliation, supported by structured mediation and arbitration mechanisms.
Leadership accountability should link remuneration with FDTL compliance, fatigue-incident reduction, pilot-satisfaction trends and passenger trust indices. An annual Safety and Human Performance Report, co-signed by the Board chair and human-factors leadership, can institutionalise transparency.
The FDTL episode need not weaken IndiGo. With decisive stewardship, it can become the airline that transformed a regulatory challenge into a renewed commitment to safety, dignity and trust — an airline known not just for scale and punctuality but for its respect for fatigue science, its partnership with the regulator and its belief that rested minds are the foundation of aviation safety.
Through Living Board governance, IndiGo can move past the FDTL controversy not defensively, but as the airline that transformed a regulatory moment into a beacon of safety leadership.
The airline with the boldest safety conscience earns the deepest passenger loyalty.
