IndiGo on Thursday said it will offer travel vouchers worth Rs 10,000 to each “severely impacted” passenger whose flights were cancelled or delayed during the airport chaos between December 3 and 5.
Compensation strategy and undefined eligibility
However, the airline has not yet defined what constitutes “severely impacted” or how it plans to identify eligible passengers. Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu said the government is examining whether IndiGo’s compensation measures are adequate and whether airlines engaged in unfair pricing practices during the disruption.
IndiGo has also not disclosed the number of PNRs cancelled specifically between December 3 and 5, when the crisis peaked. However, according to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, 9,55,591 passenger name record (PNR) bookings were cancelled between November 21 and December 7, 2025. Around 5,000 IndiGo flights were cancelled during these three days alone.
The airline said the travel vouchers will remain valid for any future IndiGo journey for the next 12 months.
IndiGo added that this compensation is over and above the Rs 5,000–Rs 10,000 payout mandated under government guidelines for passengers whose flights were cancelled within 24 hours of departure.
The airline also said its services have been fully restored for the past four days. It said it expects to operate over 1,950 flights on Thursday, carrying nearly 300,000 passengers.
However, around 100 flights were still reported to have been cancelled on Thursday.
“IndiGo continues to strengthen its operations, improving its services day by day to now operating 1,900+ flights that seamlessly connect all 138 destinations across our network. Our commitment to operational excellence has led to significant efficiency gains, and our on-time performance has been restored to top-tier industry standards,” the airline said.
The government recently cut IndiGo’s winter schedule by 10% after the airline’s inadequate preparation for implementing new flight safety norms resulted in a major crew shortage.
Minister Naidu Signals Tough Action
Meanwhile, Naidu on Thursday said that despite continuous communication with the airline, IndiGo’s top leadership had not addressed key public concerns. “The IndiGo chairman (Vikram Singh Mehta) has not answered many questions in his video on Wednesday,” Naidu said, signalling the government’s dissatisfaction with the airline’s explanations.
Naidu said the Centre is scrutinising every aspect of the crisis, including allegations of price gouging by airlines after fares on alternative flights surged during IndiGo’s disruptions.
On criticism that the government intervened too late in capping fares, Naidu said the ministry had to carefully assess the situation before acting. Asked whether the government could remove the CEO of a private airline, the minister acknowledged procedural limits but did not rule out action if serious lapses are established.
“If it is established that negligence or the inability of senior management caused the crisis, then action must be examined in the interest of the people,” he said. “In one day everything is falling down, who is responsible for that?”
Positioning the episode as a turning point for the sector, Naidu said the government aims to reduce concentration in the aviation market. “We need at least five airlines with around 100 aircraft each, so the country is not dependent on one or two carriers. This is essential to avoid monopoly and duopoly.”