IndiGo ‘truly, truly sorry’ for flight chaos, hires outside specialists to examine failures
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The experts will work with management to understand both internal issues and external pressures that contributed to the disruption.
PHOTO: AFP
NEW DELHI – IndiGo chairman Vikram Singh Mehta on 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 to ensure such a situation does not happen again.
In a message to passengers, Mr Mehta apologised for the chaos between Dec 3 and 5
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
Mr 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 added.
He acknowledged that the airline received “both fair and unfair criticism” and admitted the fair criticism was that IndiGo had disappointed its passengers.
Independent experts to study causes
Mr Mehta said the board has decided to involve external specialists to support the investigation and guide corrective measures.
These experts will work with 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. Mr Mehta also said that safety was never compromised.
“The airline fully followed the updated pilot fatigue rules and did not attempt to bypass them at any point,” Mr 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, support for affected passengers
Mr 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, which 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 the “ remaining delayed baggage
