IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers on Friday said the airline expects to cancel fewer than 1,000 flights on Saturday, adding that operations should return to normal between December 10 and 15.
His message came on a day when the carrier scrapped more than 1,000 flights — over half its daily schedule — amid nationwide chaos triggered by gaps in planning for the new Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms.
In a video statement, Elbers apologised to passengers and said earlier corrective steps had not been enough. “We decided today for a reboot of all our systems and schedules, resulting in the highest number of cancellations so far, but imperative for progressive improvements starting tomorrow onwards,” he said.
He added that DGCA support, through specific relief in implementing FDTL rules, was “of great help”.
The DGCA has kept the new FDTL norms in abeyance after planning lapses in the second phase of implementation contributed to severe disruption.
IndiGo, which usually runs around 2,300 flights daily, has been forced to cut services sharply.
The government expects flight schedules to stabilise from Saturday and fully normalise within three days.
Civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said the decision to pause the new FDTL rules was taken “solely in the interest of passengers” and confirmed a high-level inquiry to determine what went wrong at IndiGo and to fix accountability.
Airlines have also been instructed to issue automatic refunds for cancellations and provide hotel accommodation for stranded passengers.
The crisis has stretched into its fourth day, affecting major airports including Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
On Thursday, IndiGo’s on-time performance fell to 8.5 per cent. The airline said Friday would mark the peak of cancellations as it resets schedules to “start stronger tomorrow”.
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