IndiGo, the country’s largest airline, is facing tough times as it grapples with operational outages, staff shortages, flight cancellations and a bomb threat amid huge criticism from travelers across India who have been forced to change or cancel planned travel plans.
In a memo to staff on Thursday, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said the airline’s immediate goal was to normalize operations and get punctuality back on track, “which is not an easy goal.”
He also admitted that the airline could not live up to its promise of a good customer experience.
The airline’s on-time performance (OTP) fell to 19.7 percent on December 3.
Responding to flyers reporting delays or cancellations on its X handle, IndiGo says it sincerely apologizes for the inconvenience caused by the flight delay.
“The delay was due to operational reasons and we understand the impact this may have had on your travel plans. We assure you that we have noted your valuable feedback for future improvements,” the airline said.
Flight cancellation
So far, the airline has canceled over 300 flights at various airports including Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi.
Over 90 flights were canceled at Delhi airport, 85 at Mumbai airport. 70 IndiGo flights and 50 Bangalore flights were canceled at Hyderabad airport. 11 flights from Goa airport were also cancelled.
The staff are crunching
IndiGo flights are facing major disruptions mainly due to crew shortage. Although the airline has announced calibrated adjustments to its flight schedule for the next 48 hours, flights are still running late. The airline has been facing an acute crew shortage since the implementation of the second phase of Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms. IndiGo said its teams are working round the clock to ease customer inconvenience.
Challenges before IndiGo
According to CEO Pieter Elbers, several issues have negatively affected the airline, which operates around 2,300 flights a day, causing delays and cancellations, including — operational issues, minor technological glitches, flight schedule changes, adverse weather conditions, increased congestion in the aviation ecosystem and the implementation of the newly issued FDTL.
What did IndiGo’s CEO say to employees in a statement?
IndiGo’s CEO told employees that they serve nearly 380,000 customers a day and want every customer to have a good experience.
“Given the size, scope and complexity of our network, these disruptions will immediately increase and require interventions at multiple levels and dimensions. There is a lot of work to do right now. Our immediate goal is to normalize our operations and return to punctuality in the coming days, which is not an easy goal,” the CEO said.
Bomb threat
Amid the ongoing disruption, IndiGo’s Madina – Hyderabad flight was subjected to a bomb threat. A bomb threat email was received on the Hyderabad airport customer support ID while the flight was in the air. Later, the flight was diverted to Ahmedabad following a bomb threat.
The flight landed safely at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport and all passengers and crew were disembarked for a thorough search. Officials said the initial search turned up nothing suspicious.
