IndiGo’s ongoing operational turbulence has entered its most challenging phase in years, and the airline’s chief executive Pieter Elbers has now written a long, candid and emotional message to employees, acknowledging the chaos, accepting responsibility and urging staff to rally together to restore stability. In his internal note, Elbers admitted that recent days have been “deeply difficult” for customers and staff, and said the airline had fallen short of the service standards it promises to nearly 3.8 lakh passengers each day. Calling customers “no less than god”, he said the airline’s public apology was only the first step as teams work round the clock to fix the disruptions.

In his message, Elbers did not hold back from detailing how swiftly the situation escalated. He wrote that a combination of factors — newly introduced Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) rules, minor technical snags, schedule changes, bad weather and growing congestion across the aviation ecosystem — all collided at once and triggered a cascading breakdown across IndiGo’s vast network.

He emphasised that in a system as large and interconnected as IndiGo’s, “a small crack becomes a fault-line very quickly”, adding that teams from operations, engineering, crew, customer support and digital systems were all stretched over the last few days.

The CEO’s letter repeatedly underscored the airline’s concern for passengers. Elbers said the management is fully aware of the frustration and distress caused by delays, cancellations and uncertain schedules. He said the airline has already begun contacting impacted passengers directly and is assisting them with rebooking and refunds.

“We feel their anxiety as deeply as they do,” he wrote, stressing that the airline is determined to earn back customer trust.

According to Elbers, IndiGo’s immediate focus is restoring punctuality and stabilising operations across its network. He acknowledged that it will take sustained effort and called this “not an easy target”, but insisted the airline is already putting corrective measures in place.

He praised IndiGo’s frontline teams—pilots, cabin crew, engineers, airport staff, OCC teams and customer support—for their resilience and dedication at a time when pressure is high and tempers often fray. He also thanked airports, ATC units and regulators for extending support during an especially complex week.

In one of the most striking parts of the letter, Elbers cited a recent accomplishment where IndiGo teams upgraded 200 A320 aircraft in under 24 hours as part of the mandated software and hardware realignment. Calling it an “unimaginable feat”, he said it proved what IndiGo can achieve collectively even under intense stress. “This challenge too will be overcome the same way — together,” he wrote.

Elbers ended the letter on a note of reassurance, reminding employees that IndiGo has come out stronger after every crisis in its history. He urged staff to remain united as the airline works through the lingering impact of the disruptions and aims to bring schedules back to normal in the coming days.