IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers apologised amid the slew of flight cancellations, stating that the situation is expected to return to normal between December 10 and 15.
In a video clip posted on social media, CEO Elbers extended his apologies for the massive disruptions, and also said that cancellations are estimated to be less than 1000 tomorrow, Saturday.
What started as single day of flight disruptions and delays by IndiGo – spiraled into a four-day-saga – with over 400 flights reportedly cancelled on Friday, 5 December alone.
IndiGo chaos - What has happened so far
- December 2: Passengers complained about delays in IndiGo flights at Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai airports, which sources at the airline said was due to operational reasons, and low visibility due to weather conditions.
- December 3: IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Air India flights were delayed following a technical outage that impacted check-in systems at several airports. Sources told Hindustan Times that IndiGo cancelled 42 flights from Bengaluru and 32 from Mumbai on that day.
- December 4: Cancellations, delays across Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Mumbai Airports continued. Two IndiGo flights bound for Hyderabad also received bomb threats, news wire reports mentioned, citing police officials.
- December 5- Airline crisis reaches Parliament: Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari on Friday raised the issue of operational disruptions and flight cancellations by IndiGo in the Upper House, attributing them to a "monopoly" in the aviation sector.
- The government ordered a high-level inquiry into the disruptions, with the DGCA setting up a four-member committee for the inquiry. Earlier in the day, DGCA also withdrew its new weekly rest policy for pilots.
- Shares drop: Shares of InterGlobe Aviation, the parent of IndiGo, dropped over 7% in the past four days ever since a crisis engulfed the airline. On Friday, the stock declined 1.22% to settle at ₹5,371.30 apiece. During the day, it had dropped 3.15% to ₹5,266.
- IndiGo issues apology: Earlier in the day, IndiGo also issued an apology – stating that refunds for the cancellations would be processed automatically to the original mode of payment. It also assured full waiver on all cancellations or reshedule requests for travel bookings between 5 December to 15 December
What triggered the mass cancellations?
Earlier IndiGo attributed the chaos to a convergence of unexpected challenges. It said, “…multitude of unforeseen operational challenges, including minor technology glitches, schedule changes linked to the winter season, adverse weather conditions, increased congestion in the aviation system and the implementation of updated crew rostering rules (flight duty time limitations) had a negative compounding impact on our operations in a way that was not feasible to be anticipated.”
