IndiGo CEO Elbers summoned again over flight cancellations, minister says 'strict instruction' on refunds given

IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers was summoned once again by the Aviation Ministry on Wednesday to brief the officials on the ongoing disruption in airline operations, Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu informed on Tuesday, 9 December. Taking to social media platform X, the minister said the IndiGo CEO informed the ministry that refunds for all cancelled flights until 6 December have been completed.

The minister also noted that a “strict instruction” has been conveyed to the IndiGo CEO regarding refunds. Ram Mohan Naidu also posted a picture of Pieter Elbers, sitting with folded hands in front of him.

“Today again, @IndiGo6E CEO Pieter Elbers was summoned to the Ministry to provide an update. He confirmed that 100% of the refunds for flights affected till 6th December have been completed. A strict instruction to expedite the completion of the remaining refunds and baggage handover was given,” Ram Mohan Naidu said.

The civil aviation minister also announced that IndiGo has been ordered to curtail its overall routes by 10%. IndiGo has said it will abide by the order.

He further said, “The Ministry considers it necessary to curtail the overall Indigo routes, which will help in stabilizing the airline’s operations and lead to reduced cancellations. A curtailment of 10% has been ordered. While abiding with it, Indigo will continue to cover all its destinations as before.”

“Indigo has been instructed to comply with all the directives of the Ministry, including fare capping and passenger convenience measures without any exception.”

Earlier in the day, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the aviation safety regulator, had issued an order stating that IndiGo's flight schedule was being cut by 5%.

IndiGo flight disruptions: Will it continue for long?

Starting early this month, IndiGo cancelled thousands of flights, causing severe hardship to lakhs of passengers and there was complete chaos at airports.

As part of the winter schedule for 2025-26, the airline has been operating over 2,100 flights per day and just over 15,000 flights per week.

Airline, on its part, said there was "steady improvement across the network", as it reinstated flights to all 138 stations. It flew more than 1,800 flights on Tuesday, which will go up to nearly 1,900 on Wednesday, December 10, IndiGo said in a statement.

“We have optimised our operations, and our on-time performance is also back to normal levels,” the airline added.

CEO Elbers also shared a message with the IndiGo customers and asserted that the airline is back on its feet. “Our operations are stable. We let you down…when a major operational disruption happened and we are sorry for that.”