IndiGo chairman apologises for recent chaos across airports, promises full review

New Delhi: IndiGo chairman and Non-Executive Independent Director Vikram Singh Mehta issued a public apology on Wednesday over the crisis in the airlines, leading lakhs of passengers to remain stranded for nearly a week. For the last few days, IndiGo flights have been either cancelled or delayed, resulting in chaos in airports in India.

Mehta releases eight-minute video

In an eight-minute video on Monday, Mehta said that the IndiGo board of directors has decided to take the help of technical experts outside the company to work with the management and help find the root cause of disruptions.

Also Read

DGCA orders 5% IndiGo flight reduction. What it means? Who will benefit

"Systemic failure, financial loss to country"s economy": Delhi HC raps Centre over IndiGo chaos

IndiGo’s ‘paan shop’ warning comes true: How Rakesh Gangwal’s exit left India’s top airline vulnerable

"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.

IndiGo cancelled thousands of flights in the last few days

Since the last few days, IndiGo has cancelled thousands of flights across the country. While the cancellations peaked on December 5, it declined since then. On Tuesday, the airline said that operations have been stabilised and are back to normal. On Wednesday, however, nearly 220 flights were cancelled in three major airports including Delhi and Mumbai.

“We did not meet your expectations during those days. And for that, we are truly, truly sorry," he said. He added, “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. We assure you that we will examine every aspect of what went wrong and we will learn from it."

IndiGo CEO to appear at DGCA office

Pointing out that disruptions did not occur due to of any "deliberate action", Mehta added, “They happened because of a combination of internal and unanticipated external events". The DGCA has asked IndiGo Chief Executive Pieter Elbers to appear at its office on Thursday and submit a detailed report regarding recent operational disruptions.