IndiGo intends to stabilise operations by December 10

New Delhi: As it faced more questions on its functioning, IndiGo on Sunday said it was on track to operate over 1650 flights during the day and it intends to stabilise the network by December 10 ahead of the announced deadline.

With its Board of Directors facing criticism, the airline said a Crisis Management Group headed by Chairman Vikram Singh Mehta was set up to monitor the situation.

An open letter claimed to be written by an unnamed employee criticising IndiGo is also doing the rounds on social media.

In a statement, the airline said there have been further significant and sustained improvements. It said the airline was on track to operate over 1,650 flights, up from Saturday's around 1,500, as against its daily services of around 2,300.

The airline claimed that its On Time performance has risen to 75 per cent, up from 30 per cent on Saturday. “Our teams are working relentlessly to stabilise operations…We are making very significant progress in restoring our flight schedules and strengthening our customer support systems," it said.

It also said there is growing confidence for stabilisation of the network by Wednesday, in comparison to the earlier timeline between December 10 and 15.

In a separate statement, IndiGo also said the Board of Directors of Interglobe Aviation Limited, which runs IndiGo, met on the first day the problem of cancellations and delayed flights arose.

This meeting was followed up with a session confined to only Board members at which it was decided to set up a Crisis Management Group (CMG) comprising the Chairman and Directors Gregg Saretsky, Mike Whitaker and Amitabh Kant and CEO Pieter Elbers.

This group met regularly to monitor the situation and is being constantly updated by the management of the measures being undertaken to restore normal operations, it said.

"The Board of Directors is doing everything possible to take care of the challenges faced by our customers and to ensure refunds on cancellation and offer waivers on cancellation/ rescheduling during the period of crisis," it said.

The open letter by the unnamed IndiGo pilot named top management of the airline accusing them of adopting measures that were detrimental to working conditions of pilots and other employees.

The letter demanded that minimum wages be set for ground staff, enforce minimum manpower per aircraft, revisit fatigue rules with employee representation and penalise operational negligence that affects lakhs of passengers.