IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers resigns months after mass India flight cancellations

Published Tue, Mar 10, 2026 · 10:29 PM

[NEW DELHI] IndiGo’s chief executive officer Pieter Elbers has resigned with immediate effect, marking an abrupt departure months after the low-cost carrier was forced to cancel thousands of flights in December that triggered one of India’s worst aviation crises.

InterGlobe Aviation, which operates IndiGo, said that Rahul Bhatia, managing director, will take over the management of India’s largest airline in the interim, according to an exchange filing on Tuesday (Mar 10). Elbers cited “personal reasons” for his decision to step down in the filing and asked for the notice period to be waived.

The sudden resignation – Elbers’s five year term was coming to an end in 2027 – comes at a tricky time. It forces leadership transition at IndiGo, which controls nearly two-thirds of the local aviation market, just as airlines are struggling with the disruption caused by the Iran war. Indian operators, including IndiGo, are among the hardest hit due to rising jet fuel prices and their large middle-eastern networks.

“The airline is at a critical juncture post the December disruption and given the current challenges due to tensions in the Gulf,” said Kapil Kaul, chief executive officer of Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation India. IndiGo’s board, however, would have factored all this before taking this decision, he added.

The mass cancellations at the end of last year, which caused the no-frills airline’s quarterly profit to plunge, had sparked nationwide outrage and brought tighter regulatory oversight on IndiGo. It was blamed for not sufficiently preparing for new pilot rest rules, which cascaded into a massive chaos. The Indian government back then had said it would take strict action against the airline.

“The December disruption was a turning point,” Kaul said.

India’s aviation regulator had issued a show-cause notice to Elbers for “significant lapses” in planning and said that he had failed in his duty to ensure reliable operations. Indigo was fined and Elbers was cautioned by the regulator in January.

Dominant position

The country’s antitrust watchdog said last month that it will investigate whether IndiGo abused its dominant position during December’s travel chaos.

Elbers served as the president and chief executive officer of KLM for eight years before joining the Indian airline. He took over as IndiGo’s CEO in 2022 and had been helming the carrier’s efforts to go global with more long-haul flights.

The other large Indian carrier, Tata Group’s Air India, is also likely to see a leadership change next year as it braces for a record loss in the aftermath of a deadly plane crash in June that killed over 241 people on board and upended its profitability roadmap.

Air India’s current CEO Campbell Wilson will not be offered an extension after his contract expires in mid-2027, Bloomberg News had reported in January citing people familiar with the matter. BLOOMBERG