Worst over and behind us after operational disruption: IndiGo CEO
In a video message to staff, Elbers said IndiGo has restored most of its flight network following the disruptions
image for illustrative purpose
Mumbai: IndiGo’s chief executive Pieter Elbers told employees that the airline has stabilised operations after a period of disruption, saying the worst was over and that the country’s largest airline was now focused on resilience, a root-cause review and rebuilding.
In a video message to staff, Elbers said IndiGo has restored most of its flight network following the disruptions.
In early December, the airline cancelled hundreds of flights - at times more than 1,600 in a single day - due to planning issues linked to new pilot duty rules, crew shortages, winter weather and operational bottlenecks. The cancellations impacted tens of thousands of travellers and triggered regulatory scrutiny, schedule cuts and a temporary suspension of certain pilot duty norms to stabilise operations.
Since then, IndiGo has gradually restored services, operating 2,200 flights on Thursday and working to normalise its network while reviewing causes and compensating affected customers.
“Through the storm, we are finding our wings again. The worst is behind us,” Elbers said. He said the past two weeks had been “very challenging” but credited pilots, cabin crew, airport teams, operations control and customer service staff for restoring the network to around 2,200 flights a day.
“On December 9, I shared the stabilization of IndiGo’s operation. After that, we restored our network to 2,200 flights today,” he said. “Given our scale and complexity, recovering from such a situation in a short time is a testament to our teamwork and the strength of our operating principles.”
The airline, he said, is now focused on three things - resilience, root cause analysis, and rebuilding.
IndiGo has appointed an external aviation expert to conduct a comprehensive root-cause analysis into the disruption, he said, urging employees to avoid speculation while the review is underway.
The CEO said similar disruptions had affected large airlines globally and that lessons would be used to strengthen IndiGo’s systems.
With the onset of the bad weather and peak aviation season, the airline’s immediate priority is to reinforce operational resilience and minimise the impact of external factors on customers, he said.
