IndiGo has blamed “an accumulation of several operational challenges” for over 300 of its flights getting cancelled and many delayed over the past two days. In an internal email to employees, seen by HT, Indigo CEO Pieter Elbers listed “minor technology glitches, schedule changes, adverse weather conditions, heightened congestion in the aviation ecosystem, and the implementation of the newly released FDTL norms”.
Implementation of new Flight Duty Time Limit (FDTL) norms for pilots from November 1 hit many flights, resulting in dozens of cancellations, despite airlines having enough time to plan for a change originally expected to kick in on June 1, 2024.
“These past few days have been difficult for many of our IndiGo customers and colleagues. 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 apologized for that,” Pieter Elbers wrote in the email.
Over 300 IndiGo flights were cancelled on Thursday as chaos continued at major airports across India, with the country's dominant carrier struggling to adapt to stringent new crew rostering rules. On Wednesday, IndiGo cancelled at least 150 flights and announced that it had initiated “calibrated adjustments” to its schedules for the next 48 hours.
In his email, IndiGo CEO Elbers wrote: “We have faced tough moments before, but we turned challenges into triumphs, proving our resilience, strength, and unity. This moment will be no different."
{{/usCountry}}In his email, IndiGo CEO Elbers wrote: “We have faced tough moments before, but we turned challenges into triumphs, proving our resilience, strength, and unity. This moment will be no different."
{{/usCountry}}“Given the size, scale and complexity of our network, these disruptions grow large immediately and require interventions on multiple levels and dimensions. For that a lot of work is being conducted right now,” he further explained.
Elbers expressed “gratitude and appreciation to all the colleagues in operations, including Pilots, Cabin Crew, OCC, Engineers, Customer Support, Digital, frontline staff at airport and their leadership teams who are working tirelessly to manage the situation, minimize the impact, and restore stability as quickly as possible”.
He said IndiGo is feeling its customers' concern and anxieties “just as deeply”. “We are proactively reaching out to affected customers and helping them in every way possible to ease their discomfort,” he added.
“Our immediate goal is to normalize our operations and bring punctuality back on track in the coming days, which is not an easy target. But this is the time for all of us to come together, prove our mettle once again and showcase what IndiGo truly stands for,” he told the staff.
He mentioned the recent software update in some Airbus planes as an example of speed and success.
“Just a few days ago, we performed remarkably well as a united team to achieve an unimaginable feat of upgrading 200 aircraft (A320s) in less than 24 hours. I am confident we all can deal with this challenge too. Together, as one team, we will overcome this challenge and emerge even stronger,” he signed off.