As per the communication, the airlines have to send their requests for the vacated slots to the airport operators concerned and the final decision on the redistribution of the slots.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The government on Thursday (January 22, 2026) asked airlines to submit their requests for operating domestic flights on the slots vacated by IndiGo, following the curtailment of the winter schedule in the wake of the December operational disruptions, according to an official communication.
Between December 3 and 5 last year, IndiGo cancelled 2,507 flights and 1,852 flights were delayed, impacting over 3 lakh passengers at airports across the country.
Following the massive disruptions, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) reduced IndiGo’s winter schedule by 10%, which meant the airline had stopped operating services in various slots.
The Civil Aviation Ministry’s communication said the committee on redistribution of the vacated IndiGo slots held its first meeting on January 13, wherein the process and principles for redistribution were discussed.
Following the deliberations, the panel had now asked airlines to submit their requests and preferences for the vacated slots, subject to various conditions, it added.
As per the communication, the airlines have to send their requests for the vacated slots to the airport operators concerned and the final decision on the redistribution of the slots.
Among other conditions, the interested airlines should not discontinue their existing routes to utilise the vacated slots.
“No one [airline] wants to take their [IndiGo’s] slots. They are not leaving anything except the red-eye flights, which no one wants to take. At the most, they are leaving one flight from a station where they have six flights. No one, in fact, is interested in insignificant slots, which they are vacating [after the government slashed their winter schedule by 10%],” an airline industry executive said.
IndiGo is the country’s largest airline that operates over 2,000 flights daily.
DGCA slaps fine
On January 17, the DGCA announced slapping of fines totalling ₹22.20 crore for the December flight disruptions and had also warned CEO Pieter Elbers and two other senior executives for the lapses.
It also directed the airline to furnish a ₹50-crore bank guarantee to ensure long-term systemic corrections.
The watchdog, on January 20, said the disruptions stemmed from mismanagement of adequate flight crew, inadequate regulatory preparedness at the operator level, and shortcomings in system software support, management structure, and operational control.
“The airline’s planning processes did not adequately identify operational deficiencies or maintain sufficient operational buffers. There was an overriding focus on maximising utilisation of crew, aircraft, and network resources, which led to reduced roster buffer margins.
“Crew rosters were designed to operate at the limits of permissible duty periods, with increased reliance on dead-heading, tail swaps, extended duty patterns, and minimal recovery margins. This approach compromised roster integrity and operational resilience and adversely impacted the effective implementation of the revised FDTL provisions,” it had said in a statement.
On Thursday (January 22), IndiGo reported a 78% decline in profit at ₹549.1 crore for the three months ended December 2025 as higher expenses crimped the bottom line.
Apart from operational disruptions, implementation of the new labour laws and currency movements took a toll on the quarterly profit despite higher revenues.
Published – January 23, 2026 12:27 am IST
