Who is Jason Herter and why DGCA wants him gone from IndiGo?

IndiGo

• DGCA had asked IndiGo to relieve Senior Vice President (OCC)
• IndiGo said an in-depth review of the robustness of internal processes is underway
• IndiGo is preparing to return to full operations normalisation post Feb 10

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On January 17, India’s civil aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), made public the findings of a four-member inquiry committee constituted to investigate the unprecedented operational disruption faced by IndiGo in early December.

The committee’s conclusions were unequivocal. The crisis, it said, was not triggered by a single event, but by a combination of over-optimisation of operations, inadequate regulatory preparedness, deficiencies in system software support, and, most critically, shortcomings in IndiGo’s management structure and operational control.

At the heart of these findings was IndiGo’s Operations Control Centre (OCC), a function widely regarded as the nerve centre of any airline. The DGCA’s subsequent regulatory action squarely focused on the OCC and its leadership—specifically Jason Herter, Senior Vice President in charge of the OCC.

'Unprecedented operational breakdown'

Between December 3 and December 5, IndiGo cancelled more than 2,500 flights and delayed over 1,850, leaving upwards of 300,000 passengers stranded across airports in the country. The scale of the disruption also triggered a cascading impact on the operations of other airlines, placing stress on airport infrastructure, ground handling resources and air traffic management systems.

In response, the DGCA constituted the inquiry committee on December 6 to undertake a review the circumstances that led to what it said was an unprecedented operational breakdown.

According to the committee report, IndiGo’s management failed to adequately identify planning deficiencies, maintain sufficient operational buffers and effectively implement the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) provisions. These failures, the report said, directly resulted in widespread delays and large-scale cancellations.

The inquiry also highlighted an overriding focus on maximising utilisation of crew, aircraft and network resources. Crew rosters were designed to stretch duty periods to their limits, with increased dependence on dead-heading, tail swaps, extended duty patterns and minimal recovery margins. While such measures can improve efficiency under stable conditions, the committee noted that they significantly reduced roster buffers and compromised operational resilience when disruptions occurred. In effect, IndiGo’s operating model left little room for error.

Following the inquiry, the DGCA ordered IndiGo to reduce its daily flight operations by 10 percent — amounting to a cut of just over 200 flights from its usual schedule of 2,050–2,100 services a day. The regulator also directed the airline to compensate affected passengers as per applicable regulations and imposed a financial penalty of Rs 22.2 crore.

Leadership under fire 

However, the most stringent action was taken against IndiGo’s top operational leadership. The DGCA ordered the removal of Jason Herter, senior vice president (Operations Control Centre), from current operational responsibilities and barred him from holding any accountable position. The regulator cited failures in systemic planning and the timely implementation of revised FDTL provisions.

The OCC is often described as an airline’s nerve centre. It exercises operational control over flights and is responsible for the real-time coordination of aircraft, crew, flight dispatch and network decisions. The OCC continuously monitors weather patterns, airspace restrictions, aircraft technical status, crew duty limitations and airport conditions.

When disruptions arise—whether due to bad weather, technical snags, airspace closures or crew shortages—the OCC decides whether flights should operate, be delayed, diverted or cancelled. It also oversees route planning, fuel requirements, alternate airports and compliance with regulatory limits.

Crucially, the OCC ensures that flight crews are properly qualified, legally rested and available at the right place and time. Any misjudgement in this complex balancing act can rapidly snowball into widespread disruption, particularly for a high-frequency, tightly scheduled airline such as IndiGo.

Herter has served as IndiGo’s Senior Vice President (OCC) since July 2023 and is among the airline’s senior leadership. A former Group Head of the Network Management Centre at AirAsia, he was set to complete a decade with IndiGo in September 2026.

His responsibilities include oversight of the OCC, crew resources and operations management systems. This spans crew manpower planning, roster and training planning, crew scheduling, network management and flight dispatch—functions that sit at the core of day-to-day airline operations.

More than a week after the DGCA order was issued, IndiGo is yet to formally comply with the directive to remove Herter from operational responsibilities. Responding to queries, IndiGo chief executive officer Pieter Elbers said the airline had received the order and was evaluating it.

“The board and the management of IndiGo are committed to take full cognizance of these orders and will in a timely manner take the appropriate measures,” Elbers said.

He added that an in-depth review of the robustness of IndiGo’s internal processes is underway and that the airline is engaging with the regulator. A key focus, he said, is ensuring continuity and stability of operations as the revised FDTL norms are lifted on February 11.

The December disruption has underscored a fundamental truth of airline operations: efficiency without adequate buffers can quickly turn into fragility. For an airline of IndiGo’s scale, the OCC is not merely a back-office function, but the command centre that safeguards safety, compliance and operational continuity.

As the DGCA’s findings suggest, failures at the OCC level can have consequences that extend far beyond a single airline—affecting passengers, airports and the wider aviation ecosystem.