PM Modi says ‘rules must ease life’ as DGCA trims IndiGo schedule by 5% amid chaos
His remarks come as the DGCA trims IndiGo’s winter schedule by 5% and orders a revised plan, following eight days of mass cancellations and operational breakdowns across key routes
Amid the ongoing IndiGo flight chaos, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed the need to ‘ensure rules and regulations improve governance and do not force hardship on Indian citizens,’ Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Tuesday (December 9), providing details of the PM’s remarks on the aviation sector crisis during a meeting of NDA MPs, NDTV reported.
"It is our responsibility to ensure that no citizen of India faces any hardship from the government simply because they are Indian citizens. Rules and regulations are good… but they should be used to improve the system, not harass the public,” Rijiju quoted PM Modi as saying.
The prime minister's remarks come a day after Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu said that the government will scale back IndiGo’s winter schedule and redistribute a portion of its flights to other carriers in light of the airline’s recent operational breakdowns.
Also read | Govt to curtail IndiGo’s winter schedule amid mass flight cancellations
IndiGo told to revise schedule
Aviation safety regulator DGCA on Tuesday said it has reduced IndiGo's flight schedule by 5 per cent, following large-scale flight disruptions since December 1, 2025.
The order to this effect was issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday. The flights have been cut across sectors, particularly on high-demand, high-frequency routes, according to the statement.
IndiGo has also been directed to submit a revised schedule to the DGCA by 5 pm on Wednesday (December 10), it added.
The DGCA order follows the Civil Aviation Minister's statement on Monday that the government will reduce the number of routes IndiGo is operating under the ongoing winter schedule.
As part of the Winter schedule for 2025-26, the airline has been operating over 2,200 flights per day.
Meanwhile, IndiGo cancelled around 180 flights from Bengaluru and Hyderabad on Tuesday, as the disruption in the crisis-hit airline prolonged for the eighth consecutive day, sources said.
"IndiGo is not operating 58 flights to and from Hyderabad on Tuesday. Of these, 14 are arrivals and 44 departures," the sources said, adding that the number of cancellations at Bengaluru Airport stood at 121, of which 58 are arrivals and 63 departures.
What the Centre said
Earlier, speaking to DD News, Naidu said IndiGo currently runs about 2,200 flights a day and confirmed that some routes will be cut. He added that refunds amounting to Rs 745 crore have been issued for 7,30,655 cancelled PNRs between December 1 and 8, and that 6,000 of the roughly 9,000 delayed passenger bags have already been returned, with the remainder expected by late Monday or Tuesday morning.
Also Read: How IndiGo crisis exposes India’s fragile skies
Meanwhile, the DGCA said it has received IndiGo’s reply to the show-cause notice over the mass cancellations and will review it before deciding on enforcement action. The regulator noted that IndiGo has expressed deep regret over the disruptions.
IndiGo's response to DGCA
In its response, the airline attributed the chaos to multiple factors, including technical issues, winter schedule adjustments, adverse weather, congestion and the rollout of updated crew rostering rules. IndiGo said identifying a single cause was difficult given the scale of operations and indicated it may need more time for a full root-cause assessment.
Also Read: IndiGo crisis: Could the chaos have been prevented? | Ex-AirAsia CFO explains
Naidu has also signalled stricter measures to deter future regulatory lapses, even as IndiGo gradually restored flights after last week’s widespread cancellations.
The backdrop
IndiGo, which commands more than 60 per cent of India’s domestic aviation market, is recovering from a week of severe disruptions triggered by its inadequate preparedness for the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules. The revised regulations, issued by the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation, impose stricter limits on duty hours and require longer rest intervals between flights.
The airline’s inability to align staffing with these norms led to hundreds of daily cancellations, with estimates suggesting that more than 4,500 flights were grounded over seven days as IndiGo struggled to deploy crew without breaching the updated guidelines.