IndiGo vows to return to earlier on-time performance standards

The airline is trying to reach above 80 percent OTP performance soon, Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers said (file image)

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26 Aug, 2025 12:21

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IndiGo Airlines' Chief Executive Officer  Pieter Elbers said on January 18 that the airline will improve its on-time performance (OTP) by next week returning to earlier standards, after the country's biggest carrier clocked its worst OTP earlier this week as dense fog restricted visibility, delaying flights.

The airline is trying to reach above 80 percent OTP performance soon, Elbers said at the Wings India 2024 event.

On IndiGo, a total fine of Rs 1.2 crore has been slapped for five offenses, including the incident in which passengers of its delayed flight were seen eating on the tarmac.

Elbers also said that IndiGo is working on reiterating its standard operating procedure to its employees to ensure such an incident doesn't happen again.

As of Jan 17, IndiGo's OTP remained at 43.7 percent, lowest among its peers, according to data from ministry of civil aviation. "Flight cancellation and delays on January 14 have caused a cascading effect on our OTP over the last week," Elbers said, adding that the airline needs to expand its digital network to make sure it's frontline staff is aware of correct information to pass on to customers.

The comments come as a video went viral on social media showing IndiGo passengers having food on the tarmac besides an aircraft at the Mumbai airport . The incident, from Sunday, pertains to a Goa-Delhi flight, which was diverted to Mumbai, due to heavy fog-related disruptions at Delhi airport.

"IndiGo had a tough last two weeks.  Fog over north India effected nearly 1/3rd  of IndiGo's flight operations," Elbers said addressing the incident.

"We will review our operation along with the industry to avoid operational disruptions going forward. We have updated our navigation system two days ago," he added.

According to reports, the airline, which is a prominent player in the Indian aviation industry, clocked an impressive 77.5 percent on-time performance (OTP) for November 2023.  It secured 92.5 percent OTP at the four metro airports in December, media reported citing ministry data.

"It's nonsense that IndiGo doesn't care about its customers," Elbers said assuring that the airline will return to earlier standards soon.

Elbers also condemned the attack of a passenger on a pilot of the airline, adding that the matter is now sub judice.

He also said that IndiGo is in the process of evaluating the new Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms and will add necessary pilots to keep growing its network.