After days of passenger fury, airport bedlam, and at least 2,000 cancelled flights, IndiGo’s elusive chairman finally addressed the public with a long, rambling apology video.

Vikram Singh Mehta, chairman of InterGlobe Aviation repeatedly said the airline was “sorry” for the chaos late Wednesday, insisted the carrier didn’t “engineer” the operational collapse, hadn’t sought to “manipulate the government,” didn’t “compromise safety,” and didn’t “sideline the board.”

“These claims are incorrect,” he declared in his 7.43-minute video.

Mehta said the airline had buckled under a “perfect storm” of glitches, congestion, winter schedules, weather snags, and the switch to new crew-rest rules. “This is not an excuse. This is simply the truth,” he said.

The meltdown began on December 3 several weeks after new pilot rest rules took effect. Because IndiGo’s business model depends on high aircraft utilisation and tight crew scheduling, the stricter rest rules exposed how thin the carrier’s roster planning was, analysts say.

IndiGo had known nearly two years in advance about the stricter, longer rest norms for pilots, but did not increase pilot recruitment. As a result, once the new rules came into force, the airline lacked enough available pilots, leading to massive cancellations, according to observers.

Critics allege the airline had been betting the government would bend the rules, and once under pressure, it attempted to use its dominance in the skies – the carrier controls more than 60 per cent of the domestic passenger market – to pressure regulators into relaxing safety regulations. Mehta denied these accusations.

“An unexpected chain of events led to large-scale flight cancellations. This continued into 4th and 5th December. Many passengers missed important family events, business commitments, medical appointments and international connections,” Mehta said. “Baggage was delayed or misdirected. I know how much distress this caused. I want to say, very simply and very clearly. We are sorry.”

Mehta said IndiGo is calling in external technical experts to uncover the problems in its operations. “The board has decided it will involve external technical experts to work with the management and help identify the root causes and ensure corrective action so that this level of disruption never occurs again,” he said.

He also denied allegations about safety shortcuts or rule-bending. “IndiGo has followed the Pilot Fatigue Rules as they came into effect… We did not attempt to bypass them,” he said.

Because of the disruptions, the regulator granted IndiGo temporary exemptions from key parts of the rest rules until February. Critics say these “special dispensations” erode safety and undermine fairness.

Accused of being missing in action while the airline was in turmoil, Mehta insisted the board had been “closely involved for months.” He said, “Following the first day of the disruptions, we held an emergency board meeting and set up a crisis management group… The crisis management team has been meeting every day.”

There has been no public comment so far from airline co-founder and managing director Rahul Bhatia, who sits on the board.

IndiGo’s board includes various distinguished members, including Mehta, former head of Shell India and appointed chairman in May; Birender Singh Dhanoa, former head of the Indian Air Force; and Meleveetil Damodaran, former chairman of SEBI.

After a week of passenger misery, Mehta said IndiGo had returned to near-normal operations. As of Wednesday, it had more than 1,900 flights operating and had reconnected all 138 destinations. On-time performance had been restored, and baggage was now “being delivered.” Passengers who had missed flights were being refunded, he added.

IndiGo has said it expects stable operations to be achieved only by February. The government has already slashed its winter schedule by 10 per cent.

Mehta admitted the crisis left a “stain” on IndiGo’s reputation. “The company has erred. There is no denying this. It has now to build back your trust. This will not be easy. It will depend on actions, not words. It will be a journey.”