NEW DELHI: The Civil Aviation Ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have launched an intensive review and monitoring exercise after IndiGo reported widespread operational disruptions and an unusually high number of flight cancellations across its network since late November 2025.Civil Aviation Minister reviewed the situation with senior MoCA officials and IndiGo’s top management, directing the airline and all relevant aviation bodies to take urgent steps to assist passengers and stabilise operations. The Ministry said it is keeping a “close watch” on the situation, according to DGCA’s statement cited by ANI.“In addition, the Civil Aviation Minister has also held a meeting with senior officers of the Airport Authority of India and instructed AAI to inform all airport directors that they should constantly monitor the situation and provide all support to stranded passengers. He also directed DGCA to closely monitor the airfares during the flight disruptions/cancellations,” according to the released statement.Apart from the ministry, DGCA, in a detailed review meeting chaired by the Director General (Civil Aviation), flagged concerns over IndiGo cancelling 170–200 flights per day, a level significantly higher than normal for the country’s largest airline.IndiGo attributed the disruptions to transitional challenges from the implementation of the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) Civil Aviation Requirements, which came into effect in two phases — 01 July 2025 and 01 November 2025 — following court directions. The airline said the new fatigue-management rules, crew-planning issues, and winter operational constraints have sharply impacted scheduling stability.DGCA has directed IndiGo to normalise operations at the earliest and ensure that the current situation does not lead to fare increases.IndiGo has been instructed to submit:
- A comprehensive roadmap linking projected crew recruitment with its planned aircraft induction.
- A revised plan for crew training, roster restructuring, safety-risk assessments and mitigation, ensuring immediate and full compliance with FDTL norms.
- A mitigation plan detailing urgent steps to reduce cancellations and stabilise flight operations.
- Fortnightly progress reports for the next several weeks, covering improvements in operations, crew availability and roster stability.
- A proposal outlining any temporary FDTL relaxations required to restore normalcy, which DGCA will assess.
IndiGo says more cancellation in next few days
As DGCA released its statement assuring firm corrective action and close monitoring, IndiGo, however, informed the regulator that stabilising its network will require a short transition period. The airline told DGCA that additional cancellations will continue over the next two to three days as part of its schedule-reset effort aimed at restoring roster balance and preventing further last-minute disruptions, as reported by PTI.IndiGo has also conveyed that it will proactively scale down flight operations starting December 8 to minimise passenger inconvenience and allow crew-planning teams to rebuild buffers eroded over recent weeks. According to the airline, this controlled reduction in operations is essential to streamline rosters, align crew availability with revised Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms and ensure that fatigue-management standards are fully complied with.The carrier has assured DGCA that corrective measures are already underway and that full operational stability will be restored by February 10, 2026. IndiGo said its recovery plan includes accelerated crew recruitment, intensified training cycles and a phased reintroduction of flights once adequate staffing and roster resilience are secured.
