Lend a hand where you can: Air India CEO urges staff to support travellers amid IndiGo turbulence

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson

Amid widespread flight disruptions faced by IndiGo and the resulting strain on the aviation ecosystem, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson on Monday wrote an internal message to employees, appreciating their efforts and urging them to continue supporting travellers and industry colleagues.

“It has been an extremely busy few days for many of you, and I want to convey my deep appreciation for the effort you are making to support travellers and colleagues,” Wilson said in his note to staff.

He emphasised that the empathy shown by Air India crew and ground teams during this challenging period was making “a genuine difference,” adding that he had been “touched by many stories of Air Indians stepping up to the occasion.”

As passenger loads increase due to cascading disruptions, the CEO urged employees to extend kindness not just to Air India customers but also to workers from other airlines.

“Please share some kindness with our industry colleagues too. Whether competitor or service partner, regardless of the colour of our uniform we are all humans sharing the same goal of helping travellers reach their destinations, safely,” he wrote.

In his concluding message, Wilson encouraged staff to “continue to lend a hand where you can,” underscoring the need for collective resilience across the aviation sector during the ongoing operational stress.

Meanwhile, IndiGo on Monday operated 1,800 flights, up from Sunday’s 1,650, as the airline said its network had been fully restored even as its operational crisis entered the seventh consecutive day. The airline reported a 90% on-time performance (OTP) across its network, improving from 75% on Sunday.

Despite the recovery, IndiGo cancelled 562 flights across six metro airports on Monday, including 150 cancellations from Bengaluru alone. The airline, which operates about 2,300 daily flights, had executed all cancellations a day in advance to ensure customer notifications, it said.

IndiGo has also processed Rs 827 crore in refunds, with the remainder under way for cancellations up to December 15.

In Parliament, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said the Centre has ordered a probe into IndiGo’s large-scale cancellations.

“This was an operational issue created by IndiGo… they failed to maintain their roster.”

He said the inquiry would serve as an example for the entire aviation sector.