IndiGo board to bring external experts to investigate flight disruptions, apologises to stranded passengers: IndiGo Chairman

IndiGo Chairman Vikram Singh Mehta declared the Board of the airline on Thursday that they will invite external technical experts to cooperate with the management and get to the bottom of the enormous flight cancellations of the previous week.

The specialists will be very useful in the ensuring failure of large-scale operational never happen again, as stated by Mehta.

Apology to affected passengers

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Mehta’s thought started with an apology to the affected passengers who suffered the inconvenience of the disruptions during the period December 3 to 5, as reported by IANS.

He mentioned that a great number of travellers were left without a means of transportation, and also a lot of them were not able to attend personal occasions, business meetings, and medical appointments, or even to make it to their international flights. Baggage delays made the nightmare even worse.

He said, "We are really, really sorry," thus admitting that the airline did not live up to customer expectations.

Mehta continued by saying the Board had originally decided to remain silent rather than to make an early statement as it wanted the management led by CEO Pieter Elbers, to restore operations.

Operational recovery achieved

“IndiGo is now more than 1,900 flights a day, connecting all 138 destinations, and the on-time performance is back to normal levels.” he pointed out.

He also responded to a number of accusations, one of which was that IndiGo created the situation, attempted to sway government regulations, or undermined passenger safety.

Mehta said, “The airline strictly adhered to the new pilot fatigue guidelines and never tried to evade them.”

He further explained, "These disruptions were the result of several internal problems and unforeseen external causes like minor technical failures, changes in the winter schedule, bad weather, air traffic control delays, and the introduction of new crew management rules."

According to Mehta, the Board's involvement was constant, as he stated that they convened an emergency meeting on the very first day of the disruptions and formed a Crisis Management Group which is still daily meeting.

Investigations and compensation

“Refunds amounting to hundreds of crores have already been processed, accommodation and travel assistance have been provided, and the remaining delayed baggage is being delivered,” Mehta remarked.
He assured that IndiGo would conduct a thorough investigation into what happened and would disclose the results to customers, the government, shareholders, and employees.