Civil Aviation Ministry Orders IndiGo to Cut 10% of Daily Flights Amid Nationwide Disruptions
Airline told to reduce operations and expedite refunds as complaints over delays and cancellations rise.
NEW DELHI: The Civil Aviation Ministry on Wednesday directed IndiGo to reduce its daily flight operations by 10% as disruptions continued across airports in the country. Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said the move was unavoidable given the widespread inconvenience passengers have faced over the past week.
IndiGo currently operates around 2,300 flights every day. With the new order, roughly 230 services will be temporarily withdrawn from its schedule.
Naidu said that IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers was called in to explain the situation. “He confirmed that 100% of refunds for flights affected up to December 6 have been processed. The Ministry has issued strict instructions to speed up remaining refunds and ensure timely return of delayed baggage,” he said.
The Minister added that many passengers had suffered “serious inconvenience due to IndiGo’s internal mismanagement of crew planning, flight scheduling and poor communication.”
A follow-up meeting was held with senior airline officials to assess stabilisation efforts and ensure regular operations resume as quickly as possible.
Earlier in the day, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) imposed a separate 5% cut on IndiGo’s approved winter schedule, particularly in busy sectors. Combined with the Ministry’s directive, the airline will now be removing double the number of flights from its daily operations.
For the current winter schedule, which began in October, IndiGo was cleared to operate 15,014 weekly departures. Although DGCA approved operations for 403 aircraft a month—up from 352 in the summer schedule—the airline actually operated only 339 aircraft in October and 344 in November.
The DGCA has also prohibited IndiGo from operating single-flight sectors and has asked the airline to submit a revised flight schedule by 5 pm on Wednesday.
