IndiGo Airlines CEO Pieter Elbers has told employees that the “worst is behind us”, weeks after the country’s largest carrier was hit by widespread flight cancellations and severe airport disruptions.
In a video message to staff, Elbers said IndiGo restored around 2,200 flights on Thursday, calling the past two weeks “very challenging”. He thanked employees across departments for helping steady operations and said he had informed them on December 9 that the airline had begun stabilising its network.
Elbers said the immediate task was to solidify operations and ensure stability as the bad weather period and the IROPS (Irregular Operations) season begin this week.
“What we witnessed appears to be a compounding effect of several factors, and everyone wants answers,” Elbers said. To address this, IndiGo’s board has appointed an external aviation expert to carry out a comprehensive root cause analysis into the disruptions.
Once the analysis is complete, IndiGo’s leadership team, including the CEO, will meet employees to understand the on-ground difficulties faced during the cancellation crisis.
“Let these three days, from December 3 to December 5, not define what we have collectively built over 19 years,” Elbers added.
IndiGo had cancelled close to 4,500 flights after being caught unprepared for stricter safety norms that came into force in November, particularly revised pilot rest and duty requirements. Poor roster planning led to aircraft being grounded, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded and drawing sharp criticism from regulators and travellers.
In response, the aviation regulator cut 10 percent of IndiGo’s domestic winter schedule and reassigned some airport slots. The airline later lowered its capacity and passenger unit revenue outlook for the third quarter after scaling back winter operations.