IndiGo chief exits after operational crisis

The chief executive of India’s largest airline, IndiGo, has resigned with immediate effect following months of scrutiny over a major operational disruption that forced the carrier to cancel thousands of flights across the country.

The airline confirmed that Pieter Elbers stepped down for personal reasons, without providing further details on his departure. IndiGo’s co-founder Rahul Bhatia will assume interim leadership while the company begins a search for a new chief executive.

The leadership change follows a significant crisis in December when IndiGo cancelled about 4,500 flights, marking the largest disruption in the airline’s two-decade history. The cancellations left thousands of passengers stranded and triggered widespread criticism of the airline’s operational planning.

The disruption stemmed from the introduction of new pilot duty and rest regulations in India intended to reduce fatigue among flight crews. IndiGo later acknowledged it had underestimated the number of pilots required once the rules took effect. As a result, a shortage of available flight crews meant that many aircraft could not legally operate under the revised regulations.

India’s aviation regulator responded by imposing a fine of roughly $2.45m and criticised several senior executives, including Elbers, over how the airline handled the disruption. The crisis drew particular attention because IndiGo dominates India’s domestic aviation market, controlling about two-thirds of passenger traffic, making operational failures highly visible across the country’s rapidly expanding air travel sector.

Elbers joined IndiGo in 2022 after a long career in aviation, including senior leadership roles at KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. During his tenure he oversaw significant expansion plans for the carrier, including a landmark order with Airbus for 500 narrow-body aircraft alongside additional wide-body planes intended to support international growth.

In an internal message to staff following the announcement, Bhatia referenced the earlier disruption and acknowledged the scale of the challenge facing the airline, noting that the events of December should not have occurred while thanking employees for managing the situation during the crisis.