IndiGo operations may stabilise by December 10; 650 Sunday flights cancelled

Pilloried and under intense scrutiny over its functioning, IndiGo on Sunday said it was on track to operate over 1,650 flights during the day and that it intends to stabilise the network that has been thrown into disarray by December 10.

On Sunday, the crisis-hit airline cancelled over 650 flights. Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said passengers have endured mental harassment and distress due to the operational crisis and assured that steps are being taken to ensure accountability is fixed.

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 of social media.

In a statement, 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,” 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 open letter by the unnamed IndiGo pilot named the top management, accusing them of adopting measures that were detrimental to the working conditions of pilots and other employees.