(MENAFN- Live Mint) IndiGo, the country's largest airline, is facing tough times as it grapples with operational disruptions, staff shortages, flight cancellations and bomb threats amid huge criticism from travellers across India who have been forced to change or cancel scheduled travel plans.

On Thursday, in a message to the staff, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said the airline's immediate goal is to normalise operations and bring punctuality back on track 'which is not an easy target'.

He also admitted that the airline could not live up to the promise of providing a good experience to customers.

The airline's on-time performance (OTP) plunged to 19.7% on 3 December.

Also Read | IndiGo 'could not live up to promise', CEO tells employees amid chaos

On its X handle, IndiGo is responding to flyers who are flagging the delay or cancellation, saying they sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused by the delay of flight.

“The delay was due to operational reasons, and we understand the impact it may have had on your travel plans. Be assured, that we have noted your valuable feedback for future improvement,” says the airline.

Flight cancellation

So far, the airline has cancelled over 300 flights at various airports, including Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi.

Over 90 flights were cancelled at the Delhi airport, 85 at the Mumbai airport. Hyderabad airport saw 70 IndiGo flights cancelled, while 50 flights were cancelled at Bangalore. Additionally,11 flights operating from Goa Airport were also cancelled.

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IndiGo flights are facing major disruptions, mainly due to crew shortages. Though the airline announced calibrated schedule adjustments for the next 48 hours, the flights are still running behind schedule. The airline has faced acute crew shortage since the implementation of the second phase of the FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) norms. IndiGo has said its teams are working around the clock to ease customer discomfort.

Challenges before IndiGo

According to CEO Pieter Elbers, several issues compounded negatively impacted the airline, which operates around 2,300 flights daily, causing delays and cancellations, including - operational challenges, minor technology glitches, schedule changes, adverse weather conditions, heightened congestion in the aviation ecosystem, and the implementation of the newly released FDTL.

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The IndiGo CEO told staff that they serve close to 380,000 customers a day and want each of them to have a good experience.

"Given the size, scale and complexity of our network, these disruptions grow large immediately and require interventions on multiple levels and dimensions. For that, a lot of work is being conducted right now. Our immediate goal is to normalise our operations and bring punctuality back on track in the coming days, which is not an easy target," the CEO said.

Also Read | IndiGo flight disruptions: Angry passengers allege mismanagement | Watch Bomb threat

Amid ongoing disruption, IndiGo's Madina - Hyderabad flight received a bomb threat. A bomb threat email was received on the Hyderabad airport customer support ID when the flight was in the air. Later, the flight was diverted to Ahmedabad following the bomb threat.

The flight landed safely at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, and all passengers and crew were deboarded to conduct a thorough search. Officials said that nothing suspicious was found during the initial search.

On 2 December, a Hyderabad-bound flight from Kuwait made an emergency landing in Mumbai due to a bomb threat.

Earlier this month, PTI reported that the airline received a message indicating a bomb threat at five airports, including Delhi and Mumbai.

The authorities assessed the threat and found it to be "non-specific", sources said.

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