The move comes after widespread disruptions on part of IndiGo that led to over 4,000 flight cancellations in the past week. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered IndiGo to slash 5%, or nearly 115 flights, “as it failed to demonstrate the ability to operate all its flights”.
“It is directed to reduce the schedule by 5% across sectors ,” especially on those routes that already have a large number of flights, while ensuring that no route is left without competition where IndiGo is the sole operator, the DGCA order notes.
IndiGo currently operates around 2,300 daily flights across its domestic and international network.
The order also mentions that the airline cancelled 951 flights in November out of a total of 64,346 flights approved for the entire month. The airline also utilised only 339 aircraft, nearly 100 less than its entire fleet of approximately 430 aircraft.
Despite these constraints the airline sought permission to fly nearly 10% more flights than last winter season.
In the past week alone, the airline has cancelled over 4,000 flights.
IndiGo had earlier informed the DGCA and the Ministry of Civil Aviation that the disruptions stemmed from “planning gaps and a misjudgment” in estimating crew requirements under the government’s revised norms governing night flying for pilots, including for the first time capping the number of landings allowed per night shift to two in response to concerns over mounting fatigue.
As per the airline’s own submission, it currently has 65 fewer captains than required — 2,357 available against the 2,422 needed to comply with the new rule that came into effect from November 1 and snowballed into a major crisis for the airline a month later.
Published – December 09, 2025 08:21 am IST
