'We're sorry': IndiGo CEO says airline back on its feet as operations fully stabilised

Amid a massive crisis since last week, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers has today confirmed that the airline has fully stabilised operations after last week’s disruption that led to more than 4,500 flight cancellations and stranded passengers across the country. 

In a video message, Elbers issued a public apology, while confirming IndiGo is “back on its feet” as its network has been restored across all 138 destinations. “I can confirm now that today, as of December 9th, our operations are fully stabilised, which means flights reflected on our website are scheduled to operate with the adjusted network.” He also said the company has processed refunds for lakhs of customers, and baggage deliveries are also ongoing. 

“Today, I'm here to share that your airline, Indigo, is back on its feet, and our operations are stable. We've let you down when a major operational disruption happens, and we're sorry for that,” said Elbers.

Apologising for those who could not travel due to massive disruptions, the IndiGo CEO said the beauty of air travel is that it brings together people, emotions, ambitions, and aspirations. “While we cannot undo the cancellations, I want to reassure you that ever since, our entire Indigo team has been working very hard. First and foremost, for you, our valued customers, our priority was to get all stranded and delayed customers safely to their destinations or back home.”

He said the company started refunds immediately, with no questions asked. “Lakhs of customers have already received their full refunds, and we continue to do so daily. Rest assured that we are fully committed to getting this done.”

He said most of the bags stuck at the airports have already been delivered back to people’s homes, and IndiGo teams are working hard on delivering the remaining ones. “As of yesterday, we are back to flying to all our 138 destinations in our network, and our on-time performance has also been normalised.”

The IndiGo CEO, who is facing major heat from the government side as well, said his team continues to work in full cooperation with the government. “Now that the immediate crisis is dealt with, we have started to focus internally on what has led to this. Lessons learned to be drawn and how to emerge stronger from this.”

In a related development, the union government has decided to curtail IndiGo's winter routes and give its slots to other operators.

"We have already talked to DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation), and we've decided to curtail IndiGo's operations. It has about 2200 routes in its flight schedule, which will definitely be brought down. These routes will be awarded to other operators, and when IndiGo shows that it's able to cover those routes, we'll give them back to IndiGo," Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu told Doordarshan in his latest interview.

Additionally, amid the controversy, the aviation regulator DGCA has reportedly ordered IndiGo to reduce its flight operations by 5%. India's largest domestic fleet operator, which operates approximately 2,300 flights daily, will see a reduction of about 115 flights, reports suggest.

Amid today’s development, shares of IndiGo are trading up 1.31% at  Rs 4,988 on the NSE. The company's shares have fallen by over 13% in the past five trading sessions since this crisis enveloped.