IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers on Thursday told employees that the airline has emerged stronger after a challenging period, saying “the worst is behind us” as operations stabilised and the carrier restored its network to 2,200 flights.
Referring to steps taken since December 9, Elbers said the airline had stabilised operations and rapidly rebuilt capacity. “After that, we restored our network to 2200 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,” he said.
Outlining the road ahead, the IndiGo CEO said the airline would focus on three priorities—resilience, root cause analysis, and rebuilding. On resilience, he pointed to the onset of the irregular operations season and said the emphasis would be on keeping operations stable and minimising the impact of external factors on customers.
On root cause analysis, Elbers cautioned against speculation and said a comprehensive review was underway. “What we witnessed seems a compounding effect of several factors. Everyone wants answers. Speculations are circulating, but I encourage everyone, please stay calm, focus on your professional responsibilities and avoid engaging in such speculations,” he said, adding that an external aviation expert appointed by the board would conduct a full-scale analysis.
On rebuilding, Elbers said the leadership team would travel across the network to engage with employees and gather feedback. “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. A combination of this root cause analysis and your input will help us building Indigo even stronger and even better,” he said.
Urging staff not to let recent days define the airline’s legacy, Elbers recalled IndiGo’s 19-year journey. “In 2006, 19 years ago, we started from one aircraft. Today, we are 65,000 proud IndiGo colleagues and in these 19 years, over 850 million customers choose to fly with us,” he said.
Concluding his message, Elbers said IndiGo would continue to serve the country with its core values. “We continue to serve India with the same focus that built this very company. Reliability, accessibility, discipline and customer focus. Dear colleagues, thank you. Through the storm, we found our wings again. From here on, onwards and upwards,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday disposed of a fresh public interest litigation filed against IndiGo over mass flight cancellations and passenger hardship, observing that the issues raised are already under consideration in an earlier pending writ petition. The Court noted that the concerns primarily relate to remedial measures required following the cancellation of a large number of flights and the disruption of services.
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