The experts will work with the management to understand both internal issues and external pressures that contributed to the disruption. - Photo: AFP
NEW DELHI: IndiGo chairman Vikram Singh Mehta on Thursday (Dec 11) acknowledged that the airline failed to meet customer expectations and said the Board will bring in external technical experts to help determine what caused last week’s major flight disruptions.
He said IndiGo wants a clear understanding of what went wrong so that such a situation does not happen again.
In a message to passengers, Mehta apologised for the chaos between Dec 3 and 5, when thousands of travellers were stranded.
Many missed family events, business meetings and medical appointments, while several also faced long delays in receiving their baggage. “We are truly, truly sorry,” he wrote.
Operations return to normal, says IndiGo chairman
Mehta said the Board chose not to make an early statement because it wanted chief executive Pieter Elbers and his team to focus on stabilising operations.
IndiGo is now running more than 1,900 flights a day across 138 destinations, and on-time performance has returned to normal levels, he said.
He acknowledged that the airline received “both fair and unfair criticism,” and admitted that the fair criticism was that IndiGo had disappointed its passengers.
Independent experts to study the causes
Mehta said the Board has decided to involve outside specialists to support the investigation and guide corrective steps.
These experts will work with the management to understand both internal issues and external pressures that contributed to the disruption.
He rejected allegations that IndiGo engineered the crisis or tried to influence government rules. He also said safety was never compromised.
“The airline fully followed the updated pilot fatigue rules and did not attempt to bypass them at any point,” Mehta said, adding that the disruptions were caused by a combination of internal issues and external factors such as minor technical glitches, winter schedule adjustments, bad weather, congestion in the aviation system and the implementation of new crew rostering rules.
Refunds and support for affected passengers
Mehta said the Board was involved from the first day of the crisis. It held an emergency meeting and set up a Crisis Management Group that continues to meet daily.
He said refunds “worth several hundred crores” have already been processed. The airline has also provided accommodation and alternate travel assistance, and “remaining delayed baggage is being delivered”. - The Statesman/ANN
