Amid the ongoing crisis and the chaos caused by flight cancellations and delays, IndiGo has promised the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that its operations will be fully restored by February 10. According to media reports, the company asked for relief from some provisions that limit pilot duty while acknowledging that the disruptions have arisen primarily from "misjudgment and planning gaps" in implementing the second phase of pilot duty rules.
IndiGo told the regulator that more cancellations will continue for next two to three days as part of schedule stabilisation efforts and that it will reduce flight operations from December 8 to minimise disruptions.
DGCA, in a statement, noted that IndiGo has been experiencing sharp rise in cancellations at around 170-200 flights per day, which is substantially higher than normal.
Meanwhile, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers admitted that the airline could not live up to the promise of providing a good experience to customers.
In a message to the staff on Thursday, Elbers said the airline's immediate goal is to normalise operations and bring punctuality back on track. He, however, admitted that this is not an easy target.
On Thursday alone, more than 300 IndiGo flights were cancelled, and scores of others were delayed.
Elbers said these past few days have been difficult for many of IndiGo's customers and colleagues. "We serve close to 3,80,000 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.
He observed that 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.
"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.
