‘We could not live up to our promise’: IndiGo CEO apologises after 300 flight cancellations
Elbers pointed to a convergence of challenges — technology glitches, schedule changes, bad weather, congestion across the aviation ecosystem, and the rollout of revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) — as triggers for the meltdown.
- Dec 4, 2025,
- Updated Dec 4, 2025 10:45 PM IST
India’s largest airline, IndiGo, is scrambling to stabilise operations after days of massive disruptions that culminated in around 300 flight cancellations on Thursday alone. Acknowledging the scale of the crisis, CEO Pieter Elbers told employees that the airline had “not lived up” to its promise of delivering a reliable and comfortable travel experience.
In an internal letter circulated on Thursday, Elbers said the airline has publicly apologised to passengers affected by delays and cancellations. He cited a combination of operational setbacks that triggered a chain reaction, severely impacting the carrier’s network.
“These past few days have been difficult for many of our IndiGo customers and colleagues… We serve close to 380,000 customers a day and want each of them to have a good experience. We could not live up to that promise these past days,” he wrote.
Elbers pointed to a convergence of challenges — technology glitches, schedule changes, bad weather, congestion across the aviation ecosystem, and the rollout of revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) — as triggers for the meltdown. The updated FDTL norms, intended to ensure adequate rest for pilots and crew, have been one of the major contributors to crew availability issues.
“An accumulation of several operational challenges… compounded negatively to create a cascading impact on our operations,” he said.
The CEO assured travellers that the airline is working to resolve issues “as soon as possible,” adding that teams are proactively reaching out to affected passengers to minimise inconvenience.
“We are feeling our customers' concern and anxieties just as deeply… helping them in every way possible to ease their discomfort,” Elbers noted.
Earlier in the day, IndiGo officials met representatives of aviation regulator DGCA, which is currently examining the causes behind the widespread delays and cancellations.
Elbers appreciated the efforts of frontline staff and operational teams, including pilots, cabin crew, engineers, the Operations Control Centre (OCC), and digital and customer support teams. He also thanked airport authorities and regulators for their assistance.
While expressing confidence that operations would stabilise, Elbers cautioned that restoring punctuality across a network as large as IndiGo’s “is not an easy target.”
“Given the size, scale and complexity of our network, these disruptions grow large immediately and require interventions on multiple levels,” he wrote. “Our immediate goal is to normalise operations in the coming days.”
He concluded on a note of optimism: “We have faced tough moments before… Together, as one team, we will overcome this challenge and emerge even stronger.”
India’s largest airline, IndiGo, is scrambling to stabilise operations after days of massive disruptions that culminated in around 300 flight cancellations on Thursday alone. Acknowledging the scale of the crisis, CEO Pieter Elbers told employees that the airline had “not lived up” to its promise of delivering a reliable and comfortable travel experience.
In an internal letter circulated on Thursday, Elbers said the airline has publicly apologised to passengers affected by delays and cancellations. He cited a combination of operational setbacks that triggered a chain reaction, severely impacting the carrier’s network.
“These past few days have been difficult for many of our IndiGo customers and colleagues… We serve close to 380,000 customers a day and want each of them to have a good experience. We could not live up to that promise these past days,” he wrote.
Elbers pointed to a convergence of challenges — technology glitches, schedule changes, bad weather, congestion across the aviation ecosystem, and the rollout of revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) — as triggers for the meltdown. The updated FDTL norms, intended to ensure adequate rest for pilots and crew, have been one of the major contributors to crew availability issues.
“An accumulation of several operational challenges… compounded negatively to create a cascading impact on our operations,” he said.
The CEO assured travellers that the airline is working to resolve issues “as soon as possible,” adding that teams are proactively reaching out to affected passengers to minimise inconvenience.
“We are feeling our customers' concern and anxieties just as deeply… helping them in every way possible to ease their discomfort,” Elbers noted.
Earlier in the day, IndiGo officials met representatives of aviation regulator DGCA, which is currently examining the causes behind the widespread delays and cancellations.
Elbers appreciated the efforts of frontline staff and operational teams, including pilots, cabin crew, engineers, the Operations Control Centre (OCC), and digital and customer support teams. He also thanked airport authorities and regulators for their assistance.
While expressing confidence that operations would stabilise, Elbers cautioned that restoring punctuality across a network as large as IndiGo’s “is not an easy target.”
“Given the size, scale and complexity of our network, these disruptions grow large immediately and require interventions on multiple levels,” he wrote. “Our immediate goal is to normalise operations in the coming days.”
He concluded on a note of optimism: “We have faced tough moments before… Together, as one team, we will overcome this challenge and emerge even stronger.”