'Resilience, root cause, rebuilding': IndiGo CEO says 2,200-flight network restored

New Delhi: IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers on Thursday said the airline has restored its operations to 2,200 flights a day and that the worst phase of the recent disruption is now behind the company. In a video message, Elbers said IndiGo teams stood united during the difficult period and supported each other to bring operations back on track. “On December 9, I shared stabilisation of IndiGo’s operation. After that, we restored our network to 2200 flights today,” the CEO stated. He thanked pilots, cabin crew, airport staff, operations control centre teams, customer service staff and all other departments for their efforts during the disruption. He said recovering from such a complex situation in a short time reflects the strength of IndiGo’s teamwork and operating principles. “Given our scale and complexity, recovering such situation in a short time is a testament to our teamwork and the strength of our operating principles,” he mentioned.

The IndiGo CEO said the company is now focusing on three key areas -- building resilience, conducting a detailed root cause analysis and rebuilding systems to become stronger. “⁠Now we focus on 3 things; Resilience, Root case analysis and Rebuilding,” Elbers noted. Elbers also addressed the speculation surrounding the incident and urged employees to remain calm, stay focused on their professional responsibilities and avoid engaging in rumours. He said the board has appointed an external aviation expert to carry out a comprehensive root cause analysis. He added that similar disruptions have occurred at large airlines in other parts of the world, and while every crisis is different, lessons from global experiences will help strengthen IndiGo’s systems. The CEO said the leadership team, including himself, will travel across the network to meet employees, understand the challenges they faced and gather feedback. He said this feedback, along with the findings of the root cause analysis, will help rebuild IndiGo into an even stronger airline. “Today, we are 65,000 proud IndiGo colleagues, and in these 19 years, over 850 million customers chosen to fly with us,” the CEO mentioned.