India’s aviation regulator has cut IndiGo’s flight schedule by five percent after days of major disruptions and widespread cancellations. With the airline operating around 2,300 flights a day, the cut amounts to about 115 flights. Officials say the airline has already been informed, and the routes being trimmed are being chosen carefully to avoid hurting essential connectivity. A second round of cuts may follow depending on how reliably IndiGo can run its remaining flights.
IndiGo had entered the winter season with a larger schedule. Its daily domestic flights increased by about six percent compared to the summer plan. At the same time, new pilot duty rules took effect on November 1, which required more pilots for the same level of flying. The airline did not scale its crew strength in time, and the larger schedule added further pressure. Small issues in November quickly snowballed into a severe operational crisis in early December, causing hundreds of cancellations every day.
Other carriers also adjusted their winter schedules, though the impact was much smaller. Air India and Air India Express saw slight reductions in their weekly domestic flights. Akasa scaled down its winter plan by nearly six percent. SpiceJet, which is rebuilding its network, increased its operations by more than twenty percent.
The situation has raised difficult questions for the aviation authorities. Many are asking why IndiGo was allowed to expand its schedule without confirming whether its crew availability matched the new duty rules. The rules have now been paused for IndiGo’s Airbus A320 fleet until February 10, 2026. The aviation ministry has said that strong action will be taken against the airline for the disruptions.
IndiGo has explained the cancellations as a result of several events happening at the same time. The airline cited minor technical issues, the shift to the winter timetable, bad weather, congestion in the air traffic system and the challenges of operating under the updated crew rostering rules. IndiGo said these factors combined in a way that was difficult to anticipate.
