'Worst is behind us': IndiGo CEO urges staff to avoid speculation as flights stabilise - video

NEW DELHI: IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers on Thursday told employees that the airline has stabilised operations after recent disruptions, saying “the worst is behind us” and urging staff to avoid speculation and remain focused on their professional responsibilities.

In a video message to employees, Elbers said IndiGo had restored most of its flight network following the disruption. “Through the storm, we found our wings again. IndiGo has restored a network of 2,200 flights. The airline's focus now is on three things: resilience, root cause analysis, and rebuilding,” he said.



Elbers acknowledged that the past two weeks had been difficult for the airline and its workforce. “Dear Indigo colleagues, through the storm we are finding our wings again. The worst is behind us. These last two weeks have been very challenging for all of us,” he said, thanking pilots, cabin crew, airport staff, operations, control and customer service teams for what he described as their collective dedication.


Referring to the recovery, he said, “On December 9, I shared stabilization of Indigo's operation. After that, we restored our network to 2200 flights. Today, given our scale and complexity, recovering such situation in short time is a testament to our teamwork and the strength of our operating principles.”

Elbers said the airline will now concentrate on three priorities. “Now we focus on three things. Resilience, root cause analysis and rebuilding,” he said, noting that the winter season brings increased operational challenges. “Bad weather IROP season started this week and all the focus is to solidify operations and doing our level best to keep the operations stable and minimize impact of those external factors on operations and customers,” he added.

On the causes of the disruption, Elbers said speculation should be avoided. “What we witnessed seems a compounding effect of several factors. Everyone wants answers. Speculations are circulating. But I encourage everyone please stay calm, focus on your professional responsibilities and avoid engaging in such speculations. We need a full scale analysis,” he said. He added that an external aviation expert has been appointed by the board to conduct a comprehensive root cause analysis and that lessons from disruptions faced by other large airlines globally would also be studied.

He said the leadership team, including himself, would travel across the network to engage with employees and understand the challenges they faced during the disruption.

IndiGo faced widespread flight cancellations and delays between December 3 and 5 after operational and system-related issues, affecting passengers across multiple airports. The airline had issued public advisories and apologies during the period, as it worked to stabilise schedules and clear backlogs. Elbers said the disruptions should not define IndiGo’s 19-year journey.