After 300 cancellations, IndiGo CEO admits failures, vows to restore punctuality

Mumbai, Dec 4: Amid widespread flight disruptions, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers, on Thursday, acknowledged that the airline has fallen short on its service commitments, saying the immediate priority is to stabilise operations and restore punctuality; a goal he described as “not an easy target”.

In a message to staff, Elbers admitted that the past few days have been challenging for both customers and employees.

“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 said.

Elbers cited a combination of operational hurdles, including minor technical issues, schedule changes, adverse weather, congestion across the aviation network and the rollout of the newly implemented Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms, as factors that compounded into widespread disruption.

“Given the size, scale and complexity of our network, these disruptions grow large immediately and require interventions on multiple levels. A lot of work is underway. Our immediate goal is to normalise operations and bring punctuality back on track in the coming days,” he added.

Earlier in the day, the country's largest airline cancelled more than 300 domestic and international flights at Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and other airports, as operational disruptions continued for the third day, impacting the travel plans of scores of passengers.

A significant number of IndiGo flights were also delayed at various airports, as crew woes and adjustments to schedules weighed on the operations of the airline, which is known for its punctuality.

A day after its On Time Performance (OTP) or punctuality plunged to 19.7% down from 35% on December 2, the airline continued to grapple with flight disruptions, and reportedly over 300 flights have been cancelled till afternoon.

At least 95 flights were cancelled at the Delhi airport, 85 at the Mumbai airport, 70 at Hyderabad and 50 at Bangalore. Besides, there were cancellations at other airports, sources told the press.

The sources said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is meeting the airline officials to discuss the situation.

In late afternoon trade, IndiGo shares dropped over 3% to Rs 5,417.90 a piece on the BSE.

On Wednesday, DGCA said it was investigating IndiGo flight disruptions and has asked the airline to submit the reasons for the current situation, as well as its plans to reduce flight cancellations and delays.

Reportedly, the airline has been facing an acute crew shortage since the implementation of the second phase of the FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) norms.

The airline is adjusting its schedules in a calibrated manner to normalise the situation.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has alleged that IndiGo, despite getting a two-year preparatory window before the full implementation of new flight duty and rest period norms for cockpit crew, "inexplicably" adopted a "hiring freeze".

Further, the pilots' grouping has urged DGCA not to approve airlines' seasonal flight schedules unless they have adequate staff to operate their services "safely and reliably" in accordance with the new FDTL norms.

Airline Pilots' Association of India (ALPA) has said the operational disruptions at IndiGo due to crew issues point to a failure of proactive resource planning by dominant airlines, and claimed that there could also be an effort to pressurise regulator DGCA to dilute the new flight duty time limitation norms.

For the disruptions, IndiGo, in a statement on Wednesday, flagged various challenges including "minor technology glitches, schedule changes linked to the winter season, adverse weather conditions, increased congestion in the aviation system and the implementation of updated crew rostering rules (FDTL) had a negative compounding impact on our operations in a way that was not feasible to be anticipated".

PTI