IndiGo chaos: CEO Pieter Elbers says operations back on track, airline begins internal review

IndiGo Flight

IndiGo Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers said the airline’s operations have stabilised following days of widespread disruptions that led to cancellations, delays and passenger inconvenience across major airports. In a statement posted on X on Tuesday, Pieter Elbers asserted that “IndiGo is back on its feet,” with efforts to restore the network progressing on a “war footing.”

In the latest video message, IndiGo CEO Peter Elbers also said that lakhs of customers, whose flights were cancelled or delayed, have already received their full refunds, and the process is ongoing on a daily basis.

He said the airline is operating more than 1,800 flights today and that on-time performance has “normalised” after the turbulence seen earlier in the week. IndiGo, India’s largest airline, has been battling severe operational challenges triggered primarily by crew shortages.

“IndiGo is back on its feet, and our operations are stable. We’ve let you down when a major operational disruption happened, and we’re sorry for that,” Elbers said in a video message on Tuesday.

“Earlier, we had indicated to normalise between December 10-15. I can confirm now that today, as of December 9, our operations are fully stabilised, which means flights reflecting on our website are scheduled to operate with an adjusted network,” he added.

Acknowledging that the people, whose flights were abruptly cancelled or delayed, were travelling for various reasons, he said, “Thousands of you could not travel, and we are profusely apologetic about that”.

Initially, the airline’s first priority was to get “all stranded and delayed customers safely” to their destinations or back home, Elbers said, adding that “then we started our refunds”.

Lakhs of customers have already received their full refunds, and the airline continues to do so on a daily basis, he said without giving any specific amount that IndiGo has released so far.

“Most of the bags stuck at airports have already been delivered back to your homes, and our teams are working very hard on delivering the remaining ones very soon. And we also continue to address all customer needs,” Elbers said.

He said that the restoration of IndiGo’s network and flights was being done on a “war footing”.

“On December 5, we could only fly 700 flights. Thereafter, gradually yet steadily improving to 1,500 on December 6, 1,650 on December 7, 1,800 on Monday and Tuesday, more than 1,800,” the CEO said.

Elbers added that the airline has now turned its attention inward to examine what led to the disruptions. He said IndiGo has “started to focus internally on what led to the issue,” indicating a deeper review of processes and resource planning.

IndiGo on Tuesday said it has fully reinstated operations across its network after days of heavy disruptions that triggered widespread delays and baggage pile-ups at major airports. The airline said all flights published on its website are now scheduled to operate under an “adjusted network”.

The carrier also said that “nearly all” of the baggage stuck at airports has been delivered to passengers, with teams working to clear the remaining backlog at the earliest.

IndiGo said it operated more than 1,800 flights on Tuesday, covering all 138 stations in its network, and plans to increase this to nearly 1,900 flights on Wednesday. The airline added that it has optimised its operations and that on-time performance has returned to normal levels

The airline has apologised to passengers affected by the delays and maintained that it is working to fully stabilise operations in the coming days.

Meanwhile, a wave of flight cancellations by IndiGo continued to disrupt air travel across India on Tuesday, with hundreds of services cancelled and passengers facing widespread inconvenience for the second consecutive day. Airport authorities said the disruption has led to more than 400 cancellations nationwide so far.

Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) remained the worst affected, reporting 152 IndiGo cancellations — 76 arrivals and 76 departures. Southern airports also saw major operational impacts. At Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport, 58 arrivals and 63 departures were cancelled, with officials stating that the next update would be issued after 6 pm.

Chennai recorded 18 departures and 23 arrivals cancelled through the day.

In Hyderabad, the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) confirmed 44 departures and 14 arrivals cancelled. Thiruvananthapuram Airport reported minimal disruptions with one arrival and three departures cancelled, while confirming that several scheduled flights continued to operate.

Ahmedabad Airport, in its 8 am update, reported 16 cancellations — nine arrivals and seven departures — while clarifying that there were no terminal or airside issues and that all affected passengers were being supported. Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport recorded 31 cancellations (14 arrivals and 17 departures), according to its 9:30 am bulletin.

Patna’s Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport also reported nine cancellations.

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said flight operations were “stabilising fast”, adding that airports were reporting no “crowding or distress”. Addressing the Lok Sabha, he said, “safety in Civil Aviation remains non-negotiable.” Naidu also noted that IndiGo had operated 1,800 flights yesterday, compared with just 706 flights on December 5, signalling a significant improvement.

Earlier today, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ordered IndiGo to cut its operations by 5% across all sectors, citing the airline’s inability to operate its approved winter schedule efficiently and the continuing backlog of cancellations. The regulator has directed the airline to submit a revised schedule by 5 PM on December 10, 2025.

In its notice, the DGCA said IndiGo had been approved 15,014 departures per week, totalling 64,346 flights for November 2025 under the Winter Schedule. However, operational data revealed that the airline managed to operate only 59,438 flights, with 951 cancellations recorded over the month

*With Agency Inputs