IndiGo CEO’s Folded-hands Gesture Apology to Nation, Aviation Minister Says

A viral image of IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers sitting with folded hands before the Union Aviation Minister K. Ram Mohan Naidu as a gesture of regret has gone viral on social media. The image came as the minister summoned Pieter Elberis after the carrier cancelled hundreds of flights without notice due to crew shortage, which led millions of passengers stranded at airports across India. The government demanded immediate corrective measures to restore order in Indigo's operations.

The aviation minister later clarified that the apology made by the CEO was not only to him but to the entire nation. "He folded his hands; he was apologising not only to me but to the people of the country who faced difficulty," the minister told India Today.

During the meeting, officials instructed IndiGo to temporarily reduce its flight schedule. The airline has been ordered to cut down operations by 10 per cent. According to the government, the reduction may help stabilise the system and ease the staff pressure, allowing the airline to return to normalcy.

IndiGo has agreed to follow the government's directive and announced that it would cut the operations according to the government's stipulations.

The minister, speaking at the Agenda AajTak event, had accused Indigo for poor planning and flawed internal processes for causing the disruptions and asserted that the crisis was preventable and should not have gone to this extend.

CEO Admits Mistakes

In a separate interview with India Today TV earlier this week, Pieter Elbers admitted that the situation had caught him off guard. He explained the disruption as anomalies in the airline's crew rostering system. This time, the carrier failed to follow the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) which defines how many hours a pilot or crew member should work in a day or week. These guidelines are meant to keep employees from getting tired.

The minister accepted that the mistake triggered a chain reaction all around the country as on December 3 and 4 a lot of flights were cancelled and the government hopes that by cutting IndiGo's operations by 10 percent, the airline will be able to solve the staff crisis and bring it to normalcy.

The minister has also warned against the monopoly of Indigo in the Indian aviation sector, where it handles around 63% of the operations, and hinted that new airlines may enter, as the government is holding discussions with various industry groups regarding this matter.