New Delhi: Air travellers across several airports in the country were seriously inconvenienced by a massive disruption of IndiGo services on Wednesday and Thursday.
After 300 of its flights got cancelled or delayed over the past two days, IndiGo blamed “an accumulation of several operational challenges” for the disruptions.
Indigo CEO Pieter Elbers pointed out “minor technology glitches, schedule changes, adverse weather conditions, heightened congestion in the aviation ecosystem and the implementation of the newly released FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limit) norms,” in an internal email to employees which has been seen by Hindustan Times.
New FDTL norms for pilots kicked in from November 1, which resulted in dozens of flights of multiple airlines being cancelled.
Also Read: Chaos At Bhubaneswar Airport As IndiGo Cancels Flights Amid Nationwide Disruptions
“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,” Elbers wrote in the email.
“We have faced tough moments before, but we turned challenges into triumphs, proving our resilience, strength, and unity. This moment will be no different,” Elbers mentioned.
“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 explained.
Expressing “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,” Elbers stated 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,” was how Elbers encouraged the staff.
He also 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,” Elbers signed off.
