IndiGo crisis | Airline says operations optimised even as govt curtails its winter schedule by 10%

New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday curtailed IndiGo's Winter Schedule by 10%, up from 5% ordered 24 hours ago, after the Ministry of Civil Aviation's intervention, observing the airline has "not been able to adequately manage" its operational resources following the recent "abnormal" cancellations of services.

The DGCA's fresh order came after Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu summoned IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers for a review, even as the airline said it has "optimised our operations" by operating around 1,800 flights by the end of the day and hoping to operate 1,900 on Wednesday. On Tuesday, around 500 flights were cancelled.

After his meeting with IndiGo management to review service stabilisation measures, Naidu said many passengers faced severe inconvenience due to Indigo’s "internal mismanagement of crew rosters, flight schedules and inadequate communication" last week.

He said Elbers informed him that 100% of the refunds for flights affected till December 6 have been completed while a "strict instruction" to expedite the completion of the remaining refunds and baggage handover was given.

"The Ministry considers it necessary to curtail the overall Indigo routes, which will help in stabilizing the airline’s operations and lead to reduced cancellations. A curtailment of 10% has been ordered. While abiding with it, Indigo will continue to cover all its destinations as before,” he said.

In its fresh order, the DGCA said IndiGo has been directed to submit a revised schedule to the DGCA by Wednesday 5 PM. The regulator said it has examined the Winter Schedule 2025 approved for IndiGo against the backdrop of wide disruption due to massive cancellations of flights. It said 15,014 departures per week were approved for the airline, amounting to 64,346 flights for November.

However, it said, the operational data submitted by IndiGo showed that only 59,438 flights were actually operated during November with 951 flight cancellations. Compared to its summer schedule, IndiGo was allowed an enhancement of the schedule by 6% with 403 aircraft as against 351.

However, the airline could operate only 339 aircraft in October and 344 in November.

"It is inferred that IndiGo has increased its departures by 9.66% in comparison to Winter Schedule 2024 and by 6.05% in relation to Summer Schedule 2025. However, the airline has not demonstrated an ability to operate these schedules efficiently," the DGCA notice said.

"Therefore it is directed to reduce the schedule by 5% across sectors, especially on high-demand, high-frequency flights and to avoid single-flight operations on a sector by IndiGo," the DGCA notice, which is identical to the one issued on Monday, said.