IndiGo has vacated 717 flight slots at various domestic airports after the DGCA cut its winter schedule by 10%. The move comes after major flight disruptions in early December 2025. Of the 717 slots, 364 are from six key metro airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. Hyderabad and Bengaluru showed the most slot vacancies. The vacated slots cover January to March, with 361 slots emptied in March alone. On January 22, 2026, the civil aviation ministry asked other airlines to request these available slots. The ministry said, "IndiGo has submitted a list of 717 slots to the ministry, which it has vacated after the domestic winter schedule was reduced by 10 per cent in early December last year." IndiGo usually runs over 2,200 flights daily. Due to the DGCA order, it cut flights to about 1,930 per day from 2,144. The DGCA applied this to avoid last-minute cancellations following IndiGo’s December 3-5 disruptions that led to 2,507 cancellations and 1,852 delays, affecting more than three lakh passengers. An airline executive said, "No one is going to open a sector at such short notice, operate it only to close after a month." Another commented that airlines might avoid taking these slots, as most are red-eye flights late at night. The aviation ministry added that airlines can submit requests for slots but must keep their current routes active. On January 17, DGCA fined IndiGo ₹22.20 crore and warned top executives. It also demanded a $50 crore bank guarantee to ensure long-term fixes. DGCA stated disruptions arose from lack of flight crew, poor regulations, system software flaws, and weak operational control.