Three days of disruption do not erase two decades of growth, says IndiGo chief
He stated that the airline now operates more than 2,200 daily flights across 141 destinations with a fleet of 440 aircraft and has crossed the $10 billion revenue mark.
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IndiGo chief executive Pieter Elbers acknowledged that the airline failed its customers during three days of severe flight disruption in December 2025 but said the episode should not define the carrier’s 20-year legacy, according to a report by ANI.
Elbers was speaking to the media at the Wings India 2026 Summit in Hyderabad, Telangana, where he reflected on the operational crisis that left thousands of passengers stranded across the country. He said the airline took swift corrective action, resetting its network by the fifth day and restoring stable operations by the ninth day, with passenger volumes returning to about 3.7–3.8 lakh travellers daily.
He informed that IndiGo apologised to affected customers and attempted to communicate changes in a timely manner, offering alternatives and rerouting passengers where possible. He stated that while the airline took deep operational cuts in the immediate aftermath, the measures helped rebuild the schedule and stabilise services before the end of December.
Elbers said three days, or even a week, should not define what the airline has built over two decades, adding that the episode was a learning moment as IndiGo continues its journey to becoming one of the world’s largest airline operators in line with India’s growth potential.
The comments come after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation imposed penalties totalling Rs 22.20 crore on IndiGo following widespread flight disruptions in early December 2025. The action followed a detailed inquiry ordered by the Ministry of Civil Aviation after the airline cancelled 2,507 flights and delayed 1,852 others between December 3 and 5, impacting more than three lakh passengers nationwide.
Highlighting the broader aviation landscape, Elbers said India’s air travel market has surged well beyond pre-Covid levels at a time when much of the global industry is still recovering. He noted that IndiGo marked 20 years of operations this year and carried 124 million passengers in the last financial year, up from 113 million the year before.
He stated that the airline now operates more than 2,200 daily flights across 141 destinations with a fleet of 440 aircraft and has crossed the $10 billion revenue mark. Elbers added that IndiGo’s operational scale places it among the world’s seven or eight largest airlines by size.
He further informed that in 2015, the airline served only 21 cities in India, compared with 96 domestic destinations today. As a result, around 90% of India’s population now lives within 100 kilometres of an airport served by IndiGo, which he described as a significant contribution to national connectivity.
