Senior officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the Ministry of Civil Aviation, and the Airports Authority of India met at the Prime Minister’s Office on Tuesday evening to assess IndiGo’s ongoing operational disruptions. The review focused on passenger complaints related to refunds, missing baggage, and overcrowding at airports.
The high-level meeting came after Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu summoned IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers for an earlier discussion. Following the meeting, the minister ordered a 10% reduction in IndiGo’s flight operations and assessed the airline’s handling of passenger grievances after more than 5,000 flights were cancelled since November.
To help stabilise operations, IndiGo has voluntarily withdrawn 400–500 flights—a cut nearly double the government’s mandate. An airline official said passengers will now be informed about cancellations at least 72 hours in advance, acknowledging that the notification system had failed last week, leaving many stranded amid long delays and abrupt cancellations.
IndiGo is currently operating around 1,800 daily flights, down from its usual 2,200–2,300. The airline has refunded Rs 829 crore so far and has traced and returned 4,500 of the 9,000 missing bags.
Meanwhile, SpiceJet is preparing to expand its winter schedule by adding nearly 100 additional daily flights following regulatory approval. This move comes a day after the government directed IndiGo to cut 10% of its winter operations to stabilise its network.
SpiceJet stated that demand is strong across key routes this winter and that the airline will scale operations to ensure sufficient capacity in the aviation market. Over the past two months, 17 aircraft have been added back into service through damp leasing and the return of SpiceJet’s own aircraft.
The airline said the strengthened fleet will give it greater operational flexibility to deploy capacity on high-demand routes and enhance network resilience. “Our priority this season is to induct more aircraft, maximise utilisation, and boost connectivity through improved planning,” SpiceJet said.
