Centre Slashes IndiGo's Flight Schedule by 5% Following Mass Cancellations and "Internal Crisis"

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India's aviation regulator, has ordered IndiGo to reduce its winter flight schedule by 5% in response to an "internal crisis" that resulted in the cancellation of hundreds of flights and stranded thousands of passengers over the past week.

The DGCA has cut IndiGo's approved winter schedule by 5%, which translates to a reduction of approximately 110 flights daily (IndiGo typically operates 2,200 flights daily). The DGCA's notification cited that while IndiGo was approved for a significant increase in its schedule (9.66% over Winter Schedule 24 and 6.05% over Summer Schedule 25), the airline "has not demonstrated an ability to operate these schedules efficiently."

Data showed IndiGo was approved for 15,014 departures per week in the Winter Schedule but had 951 flight cancellations in November 2025 alone. Furthermore, the airline failed to operationalize the approved increase in aircraft.

The reduction is specifically directed "across sectors, especially on high-demand, high-frequency flights," and seeks to avoid single-flight operations by IndiGo on any sector.The government confirmed that the slots freed up by this reduction will be given to other airlines.

Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu stated in the Rajya Sabha that the chaos was due to IndiGo's "internal crisis" following the implementation of new passenger safety norms focused on reducing pilot fatigue. He warned of "exemplary action" against the airline for non-compliance and passenger difficulties.

The cancellations occurred because IndiGo, which had increased its schedule but minimized crew downtime, fell short of pilots needed to comply with the new safety rules. The DGCA had temporarily relaxed these norms as the situation worsened.