IndiGo top brass to fan out across network with 'rebuilding' message

Before the crisis, the airline operated a total of 2,300 flights per day - about 2,000 domestic and about 300 international

Days after stricter pilot rest and duty norms triggered widespread flight cancellations, IndiGo Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Pieter Elbers on Thursday said the top management, including himself, would travel across its network to engage with employees, understand the challenges they faced, and gather feedback in a bid to rebuild systems. 

Elbers said large airlines in other parts of the world had faced similar operational breakdowns in the past, and lessons from those episodes would be incorporated as IndiGo undertook a comprehensive root-cause analysis and worked to improve resilience. IndiGo cancelled over 4,200 flights between December 1 and December 9 after it struggled to manage pilot duty rosters following the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s full implementation of stricter norms last month.

 

The new pilot rest and duty rules increased weekly rest requirements and reduced permissible night flying hours for pilots.

 

Before the crisis, the airline operated around 2,300 flights a day — about 2,000 domestic and 300 international.

 

In a video message to employees, Elbers said: “Through the storm, we are finding our wings again. The worst is behind us.”

 

“On December 9, I shared an update on the stabilisation of IndiGo’s operations. Since then, we have restored our network to 2,200 flights today. Given our scale and complexity, recovering from such a situation in a short time is a testament to our teamwork and the strength of our operating principles. Now, we focus on three things – resilience, root-cause analysis, and rebuilding,” he said.

 

Elaborating on “resilience”, Elbers said fog-related weather disruptions started this week, and the focus was to solidify the operations and minimise the impact of the external factors on operations and customers. “It’s always a challenging period for us.”

 

On December 9, the DGCA asked IndiGo to cut 10 per cent of its domestic flights for the entire winter schedule to help stabilise operations. The cancellations have been implemented on high-frequency routes in India, not on 600-odd domestic routes where IndiGo is the sole operator.

 

On “root-cause analysis”, Elbers said: “What we witnessed seems to be a compounding effect of several factors. Everyone wants answers. Speculations are circulating but I encourage everyone to please stay calm, focus on your professional responsibilities and avoid engaging in such speculations.”

 

The CEO said a full-scale analysis was the top priority, referring to the board's decision on December 12 to appoint aviation veteran John Illson, who heads Chief Aviation Advisors LLC, to conduct an independent expert review of the recent operational disruption.

 

On the third focus area of “rebuilding”, the CEO said: “Next to the root-cause analysis, the leadership team, including myself, will travel across the network to meet you, understand the challenges you faced during this difficult time, and seek your feedback.”

 

He said insights from employees, combined with the root-cause analysis, would help rebuild IndiGo into a “stronger and better” airline.

 

Elbers said the disruption during those three days should not define what employees have collectively built over the past 19 years. “In 2006, we started with one aircraft... Today, we are 65,000 proud colleagues, and in these 19 years, 850 million customers chose to fly with us,” he added.