After CEO’s apology, IndiGo chairman says airline 'erred', promises full review of crisis

A day after IndiGo CEO Peter Elbers apologised for massive disruptions over the past week, IndiGo Chairman Vikram Singh Mehta has now issued an unconditional apology, acknowledging that the airline “let passengers down” as thousands were stranded across the country. “As Chairman of the Board, the company apologises without conditions or excuses,” Mehta said via a video message.

IndiGo’s crisis began on December 2, when the country’s largest airline by market share began cancelling flights, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at airports. Because of its scale of operations and its market share of more than 60 per cent, more than 500 flights have been cancelled.

‘Disruptions caused by a combination of factors’

He said last week’s disruptions were caused by a combination of internal and external factors, which he said pushed systems beyond their limits. To understand and learn from the incident, Mehta said the IndiGo board has appointed external experts to probe the root causes and to ensure such a crisis never occurs again.

 “On 3rd December, an unexpected chain of events led to large-scale flight cancellations. This continued into the 4th and 5th of December. Thousands of our passengers were left stranded. Many missed important family events, business commitments, medical appointments, and international connections. Baggage was delayed or misdirected. I know how much distress this has caused. I want to say, very simply and very clearly: we are sorry,” said Mehta.

He acknowledged that the airline did not meet its customers’ expectations during those days. “For that, we are truly, truly sorry.”

‘Would examine every aspect of what went wrong and learn’

He clarified that last week’s disruptions did not happen because of any deliberate action but a combination of internal and unanticipated external events. “This is not an excuse; this is simply the truth. Clearly, this combination of events pushed our systems beyond their limits.”

Mehta promised that the airline would examine every aspect of what went wrong and learn from it. “The fair criticism is that the airline let you down. We owe answers to our customers, to our government, to our shareholders, and equally importantly, to our employees.”

As part of corrective measures, Mehta said the Board has decided “it will involve external technical experts to work with the management to determine the root causes and ensure corrective action, so that this level of disruption never occurs again”.

Talking about the pilot fatigue rules introduced by the government, the IndiGo chairman said the airline has followed these rules as they came into effect. “We operated under the new rules throughout, both in July and in November. We did not attempt to bypass them, nor did we do anything that negatively impacted our unblemished safety record.”

Clarifying claims that the IndiGo Board was not engaged, Mehta said that it’s not correct. “The Board has been closely involved in this matter for many months… Following the first day of disruptions, we held an emergency Board meeting and set up a Crisis Management Group. Since then, Board members have been in continuous contact with the management team.”

He said the collective focus of the board, the crisis management group, and the management has been clear: restore operations, support passengers, communicate transparently, and prevent this from ever happening again.

‘Operations are now back to normal’

Speaking about the current situation, Mehta said IndiGo operations are now back to normal, earlier than expected. “Refunds worth several hundred crores have been processed. Hotel and travel assistance have been provided. The remaining delayed baggage is now being delivered.”

He acknowledged that last week’s events were a blemish on this airline’s “pristine record”. Assuring about the company’s commitment to safety and reliability, he promised that IndiGo would learn from the crisis and would emerge stronger. “Our company has erred, there is no denying this. It now has to build back your trust. This will not be easy. It will depend on actions, not words. It will be a journey. IndiGo has proudly served the country steadfastly for 19 years. It will continue to do so.”

​​On December 9, Pieter Elbers, the Netherlands-born CEO of IndiGo, announced that operations were back on track and that the airline is flying to as many as 138 of the 139 destinations it serves. The government has meanwhile cut 10 per cent of IndiGo’s scheduled flights for the winter season, reducing its operations by about 200 daily flights.