IndiGo CEO admits service lapses as airline battles flight disruptions

Amid significant flight disruptions, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers on Thursday said the airline's immediate goal is to normalise operations and bring punctuality back on track "which is not an easy target".

In a message to the staff, he also admitted that the airline could not live up to the promise of providing good experience to customers.

IndiGo, the country's largest airline, is grappling with significant operational disruptions in the past few days and more than 300 flights were cancelled on Thursday while scores of flights were delayed.

Against this backdrop, Elbers said these past few days have been difficult for many of IndiGo's 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 apologised for that," he said.

According to him, an accumulation of several operational challenges, including 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 Limitations) norms-compounded negatively to create a cascading impact on the airline's operations.

The airline operates around 2,300 flights daily and its on-time performance (OTP) plunged to 19.7 per cent on December 3.

"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. Our immediate goal is to normalise our operations and bring punctuality back on track in the coming days, which is not an easy target," the CEO said.