India, Dec. 9 -- The government has directed IndiGo to cut planned flights by 5% amid rampant cancellations, even as India's largest airline by passengers carried limps back to normalcy-in fits and starts.

What does this mean for the passenger? Fewer flights does mean higher ticket prices, especially during the year-end holiday season. But the reality is more nuanced. Let's dive in.

This is not the first time that India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation has asked an airline to curtail its schedule.

To be sure, the DGCA is well within its rights to ask the airline to curtail its schedule for lack of its ability to fly.

According to the winter schedule, IndiGo hae scheduled 2,145 daily or 15,014 weekly flights-including 13,897 dom...