Flight operations of IndiGo on Sunday limped back to near normalcy after a week-long chaos in the aviation sector. It operated 1,650 flights of its 2,300 daily domestic and international flights on Sunday, and 650 remained cancelled for the day. Flight cancellations hit airports in Delhi, Kolkata, and Hyderabad the hardest. The airline claims it expects to stabilise operations by December 10.
Earlier, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) served show cause notices to the airline’s CEO Pieter Elbers and Accountable Manager Isidro Porqueras.
The airline has requested the DGCA and the Ministry of Civil aviation for an extension till Monday evening to respond to the show cause.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Sunday said air travel operations across the country are stabilising at a fast pace, as it has taken rapid steps to address the disruption and to ensure that passengers do not face continued inconvenience.
In a statement the company said, “The Board of Directors of Interglobe Aviation Limited (IndiGo) met on the first day that the problem of cancellations and delayed flights arose. The members received a detailed briefing from the management on the nature and extent of the crisis.” This meeting was followed up with a session confined to only Board members, in which it was decided to set up a Crisis Management Group (CMG), comprising, among others, Chairman Vikram Singh Mehta; Board Directors Gregg Saretsky, Mike Whitaker and Amitabh Kant, and CEO Pieter Elbers, it added.
The airline has claimed it will give full waiver on cancellations and reschedule requests for bookings till December 15. The process of refunds and sorting luggage is going on fast, it said.
IndiGo has urged passengers to check the latest flight status on its website before heading to the airport, as minor changes may still occur while the airline continues to fine-tune its operations. It added that cancellations are now being made at an earlier stage, enabling the airline to alert passengers well in advance. IndiGo said its teams are working round-the-clock to bring operations back to normal and improve the travel experience for passengers.
