IndiGo chief executive Pieter Elbers appeared before the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday, days after the airline cancelled thousands of flights, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded across major airports nationwide. The disruptions, largely blamed on a severe crew shortage, triggered widespread delays and chaos at airports in Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai.
Viral Photo of CEO Sparks Debate
Elbers arrived at the DGCA headquarters at 2:24 p.m. and remained inside for just over two hours. Regulators asked him to submit a comprehensive report detailing the scale of the operational collapse, along with updated data on crew availability, cancellations and corrective measures.
The summons came on a day when IndiGo scrapped 60 flights at Bengaluru airport alone. A day earlier, the carrier cancelled 220 flights across Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai, with Delhi witnessing the highest number of cancellations at 137.
Meanwhile, a photo showing Elbers sitting before Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu with folded hands went viral. Responding to the viral moment, Naidu said the gesture was not directed at him personally but symbolised an apology to the country. “He was apologising not only to me but to the people who faced difficulty,” the minister told India Today.
Govt Orders Sweeping Measures
In the meeting, the government ordered sweeping corrective steps, including a mandatory 10 per cent reduction in IndiGo’s operations to ease pressure on an already overstretched system. The directive followed nearly two weeks of mass cancellations and long flight delays that left passengers fuming and aviation systems congested.
IndiGo later issued a statement confirming it would comply with the ministry’s order while continuing to operate across all its destinations.
The airline’s chairman, Vikram Mehta, also issued an apology on Wednesday, ten days after the crisis erupted. He attributed the meltdown to a combination of “unanticipated” internal and external factors, including minor technical issues, winter schedule adjustments, adverse weather, congestion in the aviation network and the rollout of updated crew rostering rules.
The crisis has also drawn attention to a deeper staffing concern. IndiGo’s pilot strength has dropped by 378 in the past nine months, despite its chief operating officer and accountable manager, Isidro Porqueras, having earlier warned the DGCA that implementing new Flight Duty Time Limit (FDTL) norms would require roughly a 3 per cent increase in crew capacity.
