“Nearly 500 IndiGo Flights Cancelled as Centre Reduces Airline’s Winter Slots”

IndiGo Cancels Nearly 500 Flights; Centre Cuts Airline’s Winter Slots.

Amid continuing operational disruptions, IndiGo cancelled nearly 500 flights on Tuesday, with Delhi (152) and Bengaluru (121) worst affected. In response, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) directed the airline to reduce 5% of its winter schedule flights, after previously approving a 6% increase.

Other cities impacted included Chennai (81), Hyderabad (58), Mumbai (31), Lucknow (26), and Ahmedabad (16).

The MoCA is holding a review meeting with senior officials from all airlines to prevent a recurrence of the IndiGo crisis. Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu confirmed on Doordarshan that the Centre would reallocate IndiGo’s reduced winter slots to other carriers. He added that 6,000 of 9,000 stranded bags have been delivered, with the remainder expected by Tuesday morning.

In a post on X, Naidu said a high-level review was conducted Monday night, and officials have been sent to airports to monitor operations and passenger services. “Any gaps identified, including those flagged by passengers, are to be fixed immediately,” he added.

Today’s MoCA meeting at Rajiv Bhawan will cover IndiGo’s passenger load, customer care, refund process, and plans to restore full operations. Discussions will also address airfare caps and concerns from other airlines. The Ministry has deployed 10 officials at key airports for 2–3 days to oversee passenger assistance measures.

The DGCA’s High-Level Committee has summoned IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and other top executives on Wednesday. IndiGo has responded to a show-cause notice, offering “profuse apologies” and attributing the crisis to a “compounding effect of multiple factors.” The airline requested additional time to complete a detailed root-cause analysis.

IndiGo stated it is working “on a war footing” to recover operations and support customers. Between December 1–7, the airline arranged over 9,500 hotel rooms and nearly 10,000 cabs/buses for stranded passengers and returned 4,500 misplaced bags, with the remainder expected within 36 hours.

Meanwhile, a Delhi High Court plea seeks directions for the immediate provision of basic facilities to stranded passengers and calls for an independent judicial investigation into the disruptions, along with a mechanism to prevent airfare surges.

From November 21 to December 7, a total of 9,55,591 PNRs were cancelled and refunded, amounting to Rs 827 crore. For December 1–7 alone, 5,86,705 PNRs were cancelled/refunded, totaling Rs 569.65 crore.