Flight cancellations, missed appointments, delayed weddings… India’s Indigo airline created widespread disruption after cancelling hundreds of flights nationwide, leaving airports overcrowded and passengers stranded.Since the chaos began in early December, Indigo has repeatedly issued apologies, attributing the problems to minor technical issues, new government pilot fatigue regulations, seasonal factors, and other challenges. The company’s leadership, …
With four apologies in a week, Indigo makes 2025 the year of public regrets
Flight cancellations, missed appointments, delayed weddings… India’s Indigo airline created widespread disruption after cancelling hundreds of flights nationwide, leaving airports overcrowded and passengers stranded.
Since the chaos began in early December, Indigo has repeatedly issued apologies, attributing the problems to minor technical issues, new government pilot fatigue regulations, seasonal factors, and other challenges. The company’s leadership, including CEO Pieter Elbers, personally took responsibility, releasing public statements to explain the disruptions and outline measures to prevent future issues.
While customers expect accountability from top management — a reality well understood by company executives — one question remains: is an apology sufficient? As the year draws to a close, it’s worth reflecting on 2025 and the many CEOs and senior leaders who publicly apologised for both organizational mishaps and their own missteps.
Indigo flight disruptions
IndiGo acknowledged significant disruptions across its network over the past two days, issuing a statement on X apologizing to all affected customers and industry partners.
The airline stated that it “deeply regrets the inconvenience caused and is focused on restoring smooth operations as quickly as possible.”
On December 5, IndiGo further expressed, “We sincerely apologise and understand the challenges faced by our passengers over the past few days. While a full resolution won’t happen immediately, we are doing everything possible to assist you and resume normal operations at the earliest.” The company added that steps to improve the situation would begin immediately.
“We want our customers to see steady progress,” the airline said. “We are committed to regaining your trust and the support you have shown us over the past 19 years, and we cannot afford to lose it.”
IndiGo also highlighted that its frontline staff and entire team remained dedicated to restoring operations and assisting travelers with care and respect, thanking customers for their patience and understanding.
Later, CEO Pieter Elbers issued a personal apology, acknowledging the severity of the operational disruptions. He noted that December 5 was the most affected day, with cancellations exceeding a thousand flights, more than half of the airline’s daily schedule. “On behalf of IndiGo, I extend our sincere apologies for the significant inconvenience caused to our customers,” he said, outlining three measures the airline would take to address the crisis.
As the disruptions persisted, the airline continued issuing apologies. In response to a show-cause notice from India’s civil aviation regulator on December 8, IndiGo reiterated its regret for the hardships faced by travelers.
The latest apology came from Vikram Singh Mehta, Chairman of InterGlobe Aviation Limited, on December 10. He explained that the Board had initially prioritized restoring operations before addressing the public but now felt it was the right time to speak. Acknowledging the distress, financial losses, and missed commitments of passengers, Mehta said simply, “We are sorry.” He added that IndiGo owed explanations to its customers, the government, shareholders, and employees. “Over the past week, there has been criticism — some justified, some not. The fair criticism is that the airline let you down,” he said.
T100 in Dubai
The T100 is a triathlon that challenges participants to complete a 100km race encompassing swimming, cycling, and running. This year’s edition in Dubai, however, was overshadowed by confusion and organizational issues.
Many athletes ended up completing either fewer or more laps than required. Cyclists were held responsible for tracking their own laps, while the organizers, the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO), attributed errors in the running segment to a malfunctioning electronic counter.
Although a winner was eventually declared, the event drew widespread criticism. Reigning T100 World Champion Marten Van Riel publicly expressed his “extreme disappointment,” describing the confusion faced by himself and other athletes. He added that had he known about these organizational issues, he would not have agreed to participate in multiple T100 races.
In an interview with Tri247, PTO CEO Sam Renouf issued an apology for the mishaps, stating, “We’ve spoken with Marten and all the athletes and apologized for the technical problems that occurred during the men’s run in Dubai. We also sincerely regret the disruption caused to fans, media, and sponsors both at the venue and watching worldwide on TV.”
Renouf added, “We take full responsibility for the errors during the final part of the run and will apply the lessons learned to our next race in Qatar, implementing measures to prevent a recurrence.”
Cloudflare outage
Cloudflare, a major internet infrastructure provider offering content delivery network (CDN) services, cybersecurity solutions, and wide area network support, experienced outages twice within two months—once in November and again in December 2025.
The platform, which handles over 20% of global web traffic, faced “internal service degradation,” causing connectivity issues across numerous websites, apps, and services worldwide on November 18 and December 5. Affected platforms included X, Canva, OpenAI, and Spotify.
Following the first outage, Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince issued an apology in a blog post:
“We are sorry for the impact on our customers and the Internet at large,” he wrote. “Given Cloudflare’s role in the global web ecosystem, any disruption of our systems is unacceptable. The fact that our network was unable to route traffic for a period of time is deeply regrettable for every member of our team. We know we let you down.”
In the detailed post explaining the incident, Prince added: “This is a comprehensive account of what occurred, which systems and processes failed, and it also marks the start—not the end—of our plans to prevent a similar outage in the future.”
Despite these assurances, Cloudflare suffered a second outage less than a month later, and Prince has yet to issue a follow-up apology.
BBC and Trump
Although not a CEO, this case makes the list due to the magnitude of the controversy.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has come under fire from former US President Donald Trump, who is reportedly threatening a $5 billion lawsuit. The dispute arose after the broadcaster aired a documentary that edited segments of Trump’s speech on the day his supporters stormed the Capitol in January 2021, creating the impression that he was encouraging violence, according to Reuters.
The BBC has since issued a formal apology for the documentary. Director General Tim Davie and news chief Deborah Turness resigned, while the organization described the editing as “an error of judgement.”
In a letter to MPs on Monday, BBC chairman Samir Shah acknowledged that the way Trump’s speech was presented in the flagship documentary “gave the impression of a direct call for violent action.”
“The BBC sincerely apologizes for this lapse in judgement,” Shah added, promising reforms to oversight and other measures at the publicly funded broadcaster, as reported by Reuters.
Airbus recall
Following a major recall of A320 aircraft, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury issued a public apology.
The recall was prompted by the discovery that intense solar radiation could potentially corrupt data essential to the aircraft’s flight control systems. Airbus stated that urgent measures were necessary to maintain safety, which in turn caused widespread flight disruptions globally.
In a LinkedIn statement, Faury recognized the challenges faced by airlines and passengers. “The required updates on some A320 aircraft have led to considerable logistical difficulties and delays,” he said. “I want to offer my sincere apologies to our airline partners and the passengers affected. Safety remains our top priority for everyone flying on an Airbus aircraft — as millions do every day.”
Qantas data breach
In July, Australian airline Qantas disclosed that personal data belonging to 5.7 million customers had been leaked online following a significant cyberattack.
The compromised information included names, email addresses, phone numbers, and birth dates, the company confirmed.
“Qantas is among several global companies whose data has been exposed by cybercriminals after a July incident in which customer information was stolen via a third-party platform,” the airline said in a statement. It added that cybersecurity specialists are investigating the breach to assess the full scope of the data exposure.
“We sincerely apologise for this incident and understand the concern it may have caused,” Qantas said. The airline also stated that it has since strengthened security protocols, increased staff training, and improved system monitoring and threat detection to prevent similar incidents in the future.
US Open incident
During the 2025 US Open, Polish tennis player Kamil Majchrzak tried to hand a signed hat to a young fan named Brock, but it was snatched by wealthy Polish CEO Piotr Szczerek, triggering widespread criticism online.
In response to the backlash, Szczerek issued a public apology, admitting he had committed a “serious error.”
The 50-year-old posted on social media: “I want to sincerely apologise to the boy and his family, as well as to the fans and the player.” He added that he had returned the hat to Brock and hoped the act would “at least partially make amends for the mistake,” according to media reports.
