IndiGo shares fall over 3% amid nationwide flight cancellations
What's the story
InterGlobe Aviation, the parent company of IndiGo, witnessed a decline of over 3% in its shares on Friday. The fall comes as the airline continues to grapple with massive operational disruptions. At around 12:10pm, the stock was trading at ₹5,272 after a loss of 3.03% on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) The ongoing mass cancellations and delays at India's busiest airports have raised serious concerns among investors and passengers alike.
Disruption details
Operational breakdown leads to flight cancellations
The operational breakdown that started earlier this week has now turned into one of IndiGo's worst crises in recent years. The disruptions continued unabated on Friday, with nearly 400 flights canceled so far. This has added to the network strain and left thousands of passengers frustrated across the country. On Thursday alone, IndiGo had canceled over 550 domestic and international flights due to these ongoing issues.
Airport impact
Major airports affected by IndiGo's operational disruptions
The operational disruptions have heavily impacted major airports across India. All domestic flights of IndiGo Airlines departing from Delhi have been canceled till midnight on Friday. Other airports including those in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Goa also witnessed significant delays and cancellations. The ongoing issues have resulted in rolling disruptions during peak travel hours for thousands of passengers traveling through these hubs.
Apology issued
IndiGo issues apology, works to restore normalcy
In light of the widespread impact, IndiGo has apologized for the disruptions. The airline posted a message on X saying, "The last two days have seen widespread disruption across IndiGo's network and operations." They added that they sincerely apologize to all customers and industry stakeholders affected by these events. To minimize further impact and restore normal schedules, IndiGo is working with various authorities including Ministry of Civil Aviation and DGCA.
Performance drop
IndiGo's on-time performance plummets amid operational challenges
IndiGo, which usually operates nearly 2,300 flights a day with optimized aircraft and crew utilization for punctuality, saw its on-time performance plummet to 19.7% on Wednesday. This was a significant drop from the previous day's 35%, marking an all-time low for the carrier. An emergency meeting was held Thursday with officials from Civil Aviation Ministry and DGCA as well as IndiGo's leadership in response to this crisis.
CEO's acknowledgment
IndiGo CEO acknowledges operational challenges in internal email
Post the emergency meeting, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers acknowledged the severity of the situation in an internal email. He said that "an accumulation of several operational challenges" had hit the airline serving nearly 380,000 customers a day. These included minor tech glitches, schedule changes, adverse weather conditions as well as new flight duty time limitation norms. To stabilize operations and rebalance aircraft and crew availability, IndiGo has started implementing schedule revisions and planned cancellations.