✈️ What occurred: significant reduction in flights
- The DGCA has mandated IndiGo to decrease its flight timetable by 5% , which, considering the airline's approximately 2,200–2,300 daily flights, translates to about 115 flights per day being eliminated.
- In the last week, IndiGo has scrapped at least 2,000 flights across the country, impacting numerous travelers.
- The carrier informed the authorities that the cancellations stemmed from a mix of issues, particularly the newly enforced stricter rules on pilot rest and working hours, along with a few technical problems.
📉 Why the situation worsened — what led to the reductions?
- In November 2025, the DGCA's updated Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) regulations took full effect. These add extra required rest breaks, cap nighttime landings for pilots, and extend scheduling demands for crews.
- As per IndiGo's own statement, they failed to anticipate the increased number of pilots and staff required under these new standards. Their current staffing list was inadequate to cover all flights legally and securely, resulting in extensive cancellations.
- Due to this shortage of pilots and crew, numerous flights—particularly those in the evening or with high frequency—could not be conducted without breaching rules or exhausting personnel.
🔄 What IndiGo is undertaking: reducing now, targeting stabilization by early 2026 (or earlier)
- From December 8, IndiGo proactively started reducing flights to "adjust rosters" and ease the burden on staff.
- The airline has informed the DGCA that it anticipates complete stabilization of its schedule by February 10, 2026—though in a recent update, they advanced this to December 10, 2025 , due to quicker recovery than expected.
- On December 7–8, they reported having regained "95% network connectivity," running around ~1,500 flights daily and linking back 135 of their 138 destinations.
⚠️ What this implies (for travelers, for Indian aviation)
- If everything proceeds as intended, passengers should experience fewer sudden cancellations soon—but anticipate a reduced schedule (fewer daily flights), particularly on busy or nighttime routes.
- The incident has highlighted the difficulties in planning and managing staff under tougher rest regulations—a major test for major Indian carriers.
- Authorities seem open to allowing IndiGo to lower capacity (instead of permitting ongoing cancellations), but this could influence ticket availability, departure times, and choices for passengers until operations fully normalize.
In essence: IndiGo had to slash or cancel numerous flights because of a discrepancy between its prior timetable and the updated rules for pilot rest. The DGCA-mandated 5% reduction—roughly 400–500 fewer flights daily network-wide—is part of a "stabilization" plan that the airline claims will return operations to standard by early next year (or potentially sooner).