IndiGo CEO Acknowledges Service Failures, Says Restoring On-Time Performance ‘A Tough Challenge’

New Delhi- IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers on Thursday acknowledged that the airline is facing serious operational disruptions, saying that while stabilising services and improving punctuality is the top priority, achieving it “is not an easy target”.

In a message to employees, Elbers admitted that IndiGo — India’s largest airline — has been unable to deliver a smooth travel experience in recent days as widespread delays and cancellations caused inconvenience and frustration among passengers.

The airline has been grappling with extensive disruptions, with more than 300 flights cancelled on Thursday alone and many others running behind schedule.

“These past few days have been difficult for many of IndiGo’s customers and colleagues,” Elbers wrote. “We serve nearly 380,000 passengers every day and want all of them to have a pleasant experience. We were unable to meet that expectation recently, and we have publicly apologised.”

Elbers explained that the crisis was triggered by a combination of factors—technical glitches, schedule changes, adverse weather, rising congestion across the aviation network, and the implementation of new Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms.

“Because of the vast size and complexity of our network, such disruptions escalate quickly and require action on multiple fronts. A lot of work is underway to address this,” he said.

He added that the immediate focus is to stabilise operations and restore punctuality in the coming days, though the goal remains challenging.

Elbers assured employees that IndiGo is deploying support across departments to fix schedules, avoid further cascading delays, and address the root causes of the disruptions.

With inputs from IANS