As part of its action against airline operator IndiGo for cancelling thousands of flights nationwide following chaos in its internal rostering, aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered the airline to cut its planned flights by 5 per cent on high-capacity routes during winter.
In its December 8 order, the body also asked IndiGo to submit a revised schedule by Wednesday.
The regulator said that despite showing departures to have increased by 9.66 per cent from last year in its current winter schedule, the airline “has not demonstrated an ability to operate these schedules efficiently”.
“Therefore, it is directed to reduce the schedule by 5 per cent across sectors, especially on high-demand, high-frequency flights, and to avoid single-flight operations on a sector by IndiGo,” it said.
DGCA, which previously issued a show cause notice to IndiGo’s chief executive and chief operating officer to explain the disruptions, has also set up a four-member panel to probe the lapses.
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As part of the winter schedule for 2025-26, the airline has been operating over 2,200 flights per day.
Controlling over 65 per cent of the market share, the airline cancelled more than 4,000 flights since December 2, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded and forced to upend their vacation plans, weddings and meetings.
For decades, it had relied on aggressive scheduling and maximum night-flight utilisation to do business. But, when tighter safety regulations came into force, mandating weekly rest period for pilots and sharply reducing permissible night-landings as well as any extended night-duty hours, the working model collapsed, resulting in flight cancellations en masse.
In the Lok Sabha, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said no airline, however large, will be permitted to cause hardship to passengers through planning failures and non-compliance with regulations.
He assured of stabilisation in flight schedules in IndiGo and all other airlines across the country, saying normalcy will return soon.
“Refunds, baggage tracing and passenger support measures remain under the supervision of the ministry. DGCA has issued show-cause notices to IndiGo’s senior leadership and commenced a detailed enforcement investigation. More than ₹750 crore in refunds has already reached passengers,” Naidu said.
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