IndiGo expects to operate more than 1,950 flights today with 3 lakh customers

IndiGo expects to operate more than 1,950 flights today with 3 lakh customers

InterGlobe Aviation, the parent of IndiGo airline, said it expects to operate more than 1,950 flights on December 11 with approximately 3 lakh customers.

"IndiGo continues to strengthen its operations, improving its services day by day to now operating 1,900-plus flights that seamlessly connect all 138 destinations across our network. Our commitment to operational excellence has led to significant efficiency gains, and our on-time performance has been restored to top-tier industry standards," the airline said in a stock exchange filing.

The airline, which faced massive cancellations in the past few days, said all destinations in network have been fully connected since December 8 and that operations stabilised since December 9.

The airline said it faced no same day cancellations in the last three days other than negligible cancellations due to weather, technical, other external or uncontrollable factors.

"As the IndiGo team works hand-in-hand with authorities to further normalise our operations, we remain focused on safety, efficiency, and support to every customer," said IndiGo spokesperson.

The statement from InterGlobe Aviation comes a day after it cut its guidance for capacity and passenger unit revenues for the December quarter, owing to operational disruptions at IndiGo. The order by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to reduce IndiGo's flights for the domestic winter schedule by 10% will also affect the company's capacity guidance for Q3, InterGlobe Aviation said earlier.

Meanwhile, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers has been summoned by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to submit a comprehensive report, including data and updates, on the recent operational disruptions on December 11.

On December 10, IndiGo cancelled 220 flights from across three key airports -- Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai, with Delhi seeing the most cancellations at 137.

On December 10, IndiGo Chairman Vikram Mehta spoke for the first time in 10 days about the crisis, apologising for the chaos and attributing the massive disruptions to a combination of internal and external "unanticipated" events.

These "include minor technical glitches, scheduled changes linked to the start of the Winter season, adverse weather conditions, increased congestion in the aviation system, and implementation of/ and operation under the updated crew rostering rules," Mehta said.

Keeping a tight watch on IndiGo's operations, the DGCA has decided to station its personnel at IndiGo's headquarters, as it steps up oversight on India's largest airline, which continues to cancel dozens of flights despite saying operations have stabilised.

The DGCA has formed an oversight team of eight senior captains, and two of them, along with two government officials, will be stationed at IndiGo's Gurgaon headquarters to monitor cancellation status, crew deployment, unplanned leave, and routes hit by staff shortages.

These teams will submit a daily report to the regulator, as per an order.