'IndiGo back on its feet': CEO says operations now stable; airline focusing on what led to crisis

NEW DELHI: IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers on Tuesday said the airline was "back on its feet" with stable operations in the backdrop of the recent crisis that saw widespread disruption across country's aviation network.

Elbers said lakhs of customers have received their full refunds, and we continue to do so on a daily basis.




"Most of the bags stuck at airports have been delivered to your homes...We also continue to address customer needs...As of yesterday, we are back to flying to all our 138 destinations in our network...We continue to work in full cooperation with the govt...We have started to focus internally on what has led to this, lessons to be learnt and how to emerge stronger," Elbers aid.

Also read | 5% cut: Government finally aligns IndiGo flights with airline's operating ability

Civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Tuesday said IndiGo is being held “accountable” for its ongoing operational crisis, adding that the airline’s services are stabilising rapidly.

Naidu made the remarks while addressing the Lok Sabha on the IndiGo crisis.

He stressed that no airline, regardless of its size, would be allowed to cause hardship to passengers — the Gurugram-based IndiGo is the country’s largest private carrier.

Naidu further noted that all other airlines are operating smoothly and airports are reporting normal conditions, with no crowding or distress.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed concern over the chaos caused by IndiGo's widespread flight cancellations across major airports in the country, saying "rules and laws are in order to correct the system and not to harass the people."

Also read | 'Rules to correct system, not to harass people': PM Modi weighs in on IndiGo crisis; insists 'people shouldn't be troubled'

Speaking to reporters after the NDA Parliamentary Party meeting, the Union parliamentary and minority affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said, "during the NDA parliamentary meeting the Prime Minister told NDA MPs that people should not be troubled and face inconvenience."

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has cut IndiGo’s approved winter schedules by 5% as the airline has “not demonstrated an ability to operate” the same, 15,014 weekly departures, “efficiently”.

The airline has been directed to reduce operations “across sectors, especially on high-demand, high-frequency flights, and to avoid single-flight operations on a sector by IndiGo.”

The airline has to submit a revised schedule by 5 pm on Wednesday. A 5% cut on 15,014 weekly, or about 2,145 daily, domestic flights translates to about 108 less daily or 751 less weekly flights. Further cuts are not ruled out as the DGCA is now seeing at what level the airlines able to stabilise its operations.

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