‘Deeply Sorry… But Disruptions May Continue For Another 5-10 Days’: IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers In First Video Message Amid Crisis | WATCH

New Delhi: As chaotic scenes continued at airports across India, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers issued his first statement on Friday, as the airlines saw over thousands of cancellations. The CEO, addressing the crisis, called it the "worst day" in terms of disruption faced by one of country's biggest airlines IndiGo. He added the airline is expecting to have less than 1,000 flight cancellations on Saturday.

Elbers in his speech also mentioned that the airlines, which is undergoing crisis, is working round the clock to restore normalcy and he added that the operations is expected to stabilise between December 10 and 15.

The CEO added, “We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience caused. Today has been the most challenging day for us in terms of cancellations and disruptions." Elbers added, while apologising added the main reason behind the issue was rebooting of IndiGo’s entire operational system and also refrained passengers to go to the airport if the flights have already been cancelled.

IndiGo crisis deepens

With over thousands of flights being cancelled, the flyers across major airports had to face the brunt as they were left stranded at the airport and were constantly seeking reply from the authorities. Earlier, Delhi Airport issued a passenger advisory confirming all domestic flights from Delhi have been cancelled until midnight on Friday. Chaos ensued at Mumbai airports as all flights were cancelled till 6pm on Friday. IndiGo's operational disruptions continued for the fourth straight day where all departing flights from Chennai were also cancelled till Friday 6pm.

Crisis also gripped Bengaluru airport as it saw 100 flight cancellations, 75 flights were cancelled at Hyderabad, 35 at Kolkata, 26 at Chennai, and 11 at Goa. Srinagar airport also saw major flight cancellations as 9 flights were cancelled on Friday.

IndiGo issues apology

Grappling with widespread flight disruptions over the past few days, IndiGo on Thursday issued a "heartfelt apology" to customers and the airline said, "remains focussed on streamlining its operations at the earliest."

"We extend a heartfelt apology to all our customers and industry stakeholders who have been impacted by these events. IndiGo teams are working diligently and making all efforts with the support of MOCA, DGCA, BCAS, AAI and airport operators to reduce the cascading impact of these delays and restore normalcy," IndiGo said in a statement posted on X.

DGCA Relaxes Key Pilot-Duty Rules

Amid IndiGo’s spiralling operational crisis,  the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday relaxed a critical provision of the new Flight Duty Time and Fatigue Management norms, effectively giving airlines, especially IndiGo, urgent crew-rostering flexibility amid nationwide disruptions.

The regulator said the withdrawal is “with immediate effect”, signalling the urgency of the situation.

Also Read: Govt Assures Relief Amid IndiGo Crisis: Orders High-Level Probe, Says Flight Schedules to 'Stabilise' Tonight