Authorities were 'moderate' in approving summer schedule flights after IndiGo crisis in December: Source

Airlines will be operating lesser number of flights in the current summer schedule as the civil aviation authorities decided to be 'little more moderate" in approving the number of services in the backdrop of IndiGo's massive operational disruptions last December.

A highly-placed source said the civil aviation ministry and regulator DGCA do not want a situation similar to what happened at IndiGo in December last year.

The summer schedules of the airline have been approved after taking into consideration the availability of aircraft, pilots and other aspects, the source said.


In the domestic summer schedule, airlines are set to operate at least 10 per cent less flights compared to the number flights flown during the same period a year ago.

Aviation watchdog DGCA has published the domestic flights summer schedule, which is from March 29 to October 24, for nine scheduled airlines.

During the 2025 summer schedule, there were 25,610 weekly flights and this time, a 10 per cent reduction would mean the number of services will come down by 2,561. Accordingly, the total count will be about 23,049 weekly flights, as per an analysis.

According to the highly-placed source, authorities have taken a "little more moderate" approach in approving the domestic summer schedule, adding that once the airlines add more planes and adequate pilots are available to operate them, then more flights can be approved, the source added.

In the wake of the massive operational disruptions at IndiGo that resulted in hundreds of flight cancellations in December 2025, DGCA curtailed the airline's winter schedule by 10 per cent.

IndiGo, in the current summer schedule, intends to start with nearly 2,000 daily flights in April.

Earlier this week, airline executives said there was a lot of uncertainty and that there could be further reductions in the existing summer schedule.

The schedule was mostly prepared in January and February, a period during which there were no risks related to the Middle East conflict, which started on February 28. Now, the scenario is completely different and operational complexities have increased, one of the officials had said.