Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Tuesday assured Parliament that “strict and appropriate action will be taken” against IndiGo for the massive flight disruptions that have affected passengers
across the country. Speaking in the Lok Sabha, the minister said the DGCA has already issued notices to IndiGo and that the airline is being held fully accountable for the chaos caused by its internal crew-rostering failures.
Naidu stressed that “safety is non-negotiable” and said the disruptions stemmed from IndiGo’s internal rostering issues, which left thousands of passengers stranded over several days. He informed the House that more than ₹750 crore in refunds have already been processed and credited to passengers, and that rebookings were carried out without any additional charges. The refund process, he said, is now in its “final stages.”
Highlighting the government’s determination to strengthen aviation oversight, the minister said, “The government is determined to build a robust airline system.”
He added that the DGCA and the Ministry will remain “fully vigilant until normalcy is restored”, ensuring that airlines comply with regulations and that passengers do not face further hardship.
DGCA Asks IndiGo To Reduce Flights By 5%
Aviation regulator DGCA has directed IndiGo to cut its Winter Schedule 2025 operations by 5 per cent, citing the airline’s inability to operate the number of flights it was cleared to run amid a week-long wave of cancellations and widespread disruption. The regulator said the scaled-down was necessary after the airline repeatedly failed to match its approved capacity with actual operations.
IndiGo has been instructed to submit a revised schedule by 5 pm on December 10. In a formal notice issued on December 8, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said it had reviewed IndiGo’s approved Winter Schedule “against the backdrop of wide disruptions due to massive cancellations of flights,” and found significant discrepancies between the airline’s sanctioned operations and the flights it was able to operate.
Under the current Winter Schedule 2025, IndiGo was approved to run 15,014 weekly departures, totalling 64,346 flights for November 2025. The DGCA said the 5 per cent reduction is intended to bring IndiGo’s schedule closer to what it can reliably operate until stability is restored.
