“IndiGo back on its feet”: CEO Pieter Elbers addresses passengers after nationwide cancellations
IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said in a video message to passengers on Tuesday that the airline’s operations had “stabilized” after nearly a week of nationwide disruptions and cancellations that left passengers stranded at major airports including Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.
“IndiGo is back on its feet and our operations are stable. Thousands of customers have received full refunds and we continue to process them daily. Most bags stuck at airports have been delivered to their homes. We are meeting all customer needs,” Elbers said.
He said the airline was currently conducting an internal review to examine the factors that led to the widespread disruptions. Elbers added that the airline has refunded thousands of customers and continues to process them daily.
“As of yesterday, we have resumed our flights to all 138 destinations. We continue to work in full cooperation with the government. Internally, we have started to examine what led to this disruption, the lessons to be learned and how to emerge stronger,” he noted.
Additionally, he gave a daily overview of the number of IndiGo flights that have taken off since December 5. “On December 5, we could only carry out 700 flights. Subsequently, we gradually but steadily improved to 1,500 on the 6th, 1,650 on the 7th, 1,800 yesterday and today over 1,800.”
Elbers advised passengers to check the official IndiGo website for the latest updates. The IndiGo CEO further claimed that the airline’s management is receiving heartwarming messages from its customers.
“While customer anxiety continues, I would also like to share that we are receiving comforting messages from our customers and that people are back booking on our flight, which is very encouraging to us.”
Earlier in the day, Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu told the Lok Sabha that IndiGo was held responsible and refunds would be made for canceled flights till December 15. He added that the airline had so far made refunds worth over ₹750 crore and baggage processing was in the final stages.
“Operations are stabilizing rapidly, safety remains in full force, IndiGo is held accountable, passenger comfort and dignity are protected and long-term measures are underway to make the Indian aviation sector more passenger-centric,” Naidu told the Lok Sabha.
Separately, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked IndiGo to reduce its winter schedule by 5 per cent across all sectors, particularly on high-demand routes. IndiGo said in an update that it has fully restored airline operations and their on-time performance is up to 90 percent across the entire network.
