IndiGo Board Chairman and Non-Executive Independent Director Vikram Singh Mehta on Wednesday issued an unconditional apology to passengers for last week’s large-scale flight disruptions, acknowledging that the airline failed to meet customer expectations and pledging corrective action to prevent this from happening again.
Addressing speculation around the cause of the chaos, Mehta rejected allegations that the airline had manipulated circumstances or compromised safety standards in the apology video. “The claims that IndiGo engineered the crisis, tried to influence government rules, that we compromised safety, that the board was not involved, are incorrect,” he said in the video. He said IndiGo followed the Pilot Fatigue Rules as and when they came into effect.
In his first public remarks in a video message since the disruptions last week, Mehta said that the board has decided to involve external technical experts to work with the management and help determine the root causes that led to the disruption.
However, Mehta attributed the crisis to a combination of internal and external factors, including technical glitches, scheduling shifts linked to winter operations, weather disruptions, aviation congestion, and the transition to updated crew rostering rules. “This is not an excuse,” he said. “It is the truth.”
"On December 3, an unexpected chain of events led to large-scale flight cancellations ... Thousands of our passengers were left stranded ... I know how much distress this has caused. I want to say very simply and very clearly, we are sorry," Mehta said.
He emphasised that IndiGo complied with updated pilot fatigue rules (FDTL) and operated under them in both July and November. “We did not attempt to bypass them,” he added.
The Chairman explained that he had delayed making a public statement until the airline achieved operational stability. “The board and I felt our first duty was to support the CEO, Peter Elbers, and his team in restoring operations and helping passengers,” he said.
