‘Doing everything possible’: IndiGo sets up Crisis Management Group amid meltdown

IndiGo announced on Sunday (Dec 7) that it has set up a Crisis Management Group (CMG) amid massive flight cancellations at airports across India. The widespread flight disruptions, which came after a pilot weekly rest norm brought by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) came into effect. The new rule has resulted in significant staff shortage, creating chaos at the airports as thousands of flights were cancelled earlier this week.

“The Board of Directors of Interglobe Aviation Limited (IndiGo) met on the first day the problem of cancellations and delayed flights arose. The members received a detailed briefing from the Management on the nature and extent of the crisis,” the airlines said in a statement. “This meeting was followed up with a session confined to only Board members at which, it was decided to set up a Crisis Management Group (CMG) comprising amongst others the Chairman, Vikram Singh Mehta; Board Directors, Gregg Saretsky, Mike Whitaker and Amitabh Kant, and the CEO Pieter Elbers.”

The statement further added that the group has been holding regular meetings to monitor the situation and restore normal operations. “This Group has been meeting regularly to monitor the situation and is being constantly updated by the Management of the measures being undertaken to restore normal operations. In addition, there have been multiple telephonic discussions, including with Directors who are not members of the CMG,” the statement read.

IndiGo added that it was doing everything possible to ensure refunds to its customers and offer waivers on cancellations and rescheduling during the crisis period.

“The objective of these meetings and exchanges is to address, as quickly as practically possible, the hardships suffered by our customers and other stakeholders while also restoring operational integrity across the airline's network expeditiously. The Board of Directors is doing everything possible to take care of the challenges faced by our customers and to ensure refunds on cancellation and offer waivers on cancellation/rescheduling during the period of crisis.”