With IndiGo cancelling more than 1,000 flights on Friday, the airline’s CEO Pieter Elbers said the situation is anticipated to normalise between December 10-15.
Elbers, in a video message, apologised for the major inconvenience caused to the passengers due to the disruptions.
What did Elbers say?
“Regrettably, earlier measures of the last few days have proven not to be enough. So we decided today for a reboot of all our systems and schedules, resulting in the highest number of cancellations so far, but imperative for progressive improvements starting tomorrow onwards,” he said.
“With these actions, we expect tomorrow (Saturday) to have cancellations below 1,000. The support of DGCA, in providing specific FDTL implementation relief, is of great help,” Elbers said.
Aviation regulator DGCA has kept in abeyance the implementation of the new Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms, and gaps in planning the second phase implementation of these norms are one of the key factors for the current flight disruptions.
Elber’s ‘Stronger together’ email
The public apology follows Elbers’ message to IndiGo employees on Thursday titled ‘Stronger together’, where he acknowledged that the airline had fallen short of expectations. “We serve close to 380,000 customers a day and want each of them to have a good experience. We could not live up to that promise these past days and we have publicly apologised for that,” he wrote.
He said a combination of pressures — “minor technology glitches, schedule changes, adverse weather conditions, heightened congestion in the aviation ecosystem, and the implementation of the newly released FDTL norms” – had created a negative compounding impact on operations.
“Given the size, scale and complexity of our network, these disruptions grow large immediately and require interventions on multiple levels. Our immediate goal is to normalise operations and bring punctuality back on track, which is not an easy target,” Elbers said, adding that IndiGo had weathered tough moments before. “This moment will be no different.”