New Delhi: Pieter Elbers stepped down as IndiGo CEO on Tuesday following the operational breakdown last December that forced India’s largest airline to cancel more than 5,000 flights, stranding thousands of passengers and forcing the government to get into crisis-control mode.
Rahul Bhatia, promoter of InterGlobe Aviation — the airline’s parent — will act as interim CEO. The company has already identified a new CEO, said people aware of the development.
An internal probe by the IndiGo board pointed to failure of the top management to adequately plan for new pilot rest rules, triggering the operational crisis. “He had lost moral authority to lead the company after such a fiasco,” a top executive said.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation had limited the number of landings a pilot can perform between 12 am and 6 am while increasing weekly rest requirements.
Elbers and chief operating officer Isidro Porqueras were not available in the country when the crisis erupted in early December.“What happened last December should have never taken place,” Bhatia wrote in an email to employees.
“Neither our customers, nor our frontline employees, who bore most of the burnt, deserve it. I join hands with all of you today to ensure that we regain our right of choice with our customers,” he told staff, signing off with the line “Main Hoon Na.”
In 2019, when IndiGo cofounder Rakesh Gangwal raised corporate governance issues, Bhatia had used the same phrase as a form of reassurance, while responding to shareholder queries at an AGM.
IndiGo had chosen Elbers, a former CEO of Dutch carrier KLM, in 2022 to drive its transformation from a largely India-focused airline to a global carrier. His contract was till 2027.
At IndiGo, Elbers had been a prominent figure, emerging as its public face and posting photos of himself wearing traditional Indian attire at festival time. He had reshuffled the airline’s top deck, forcing out many IndiGo lifers and replacing them with younger executives as part of building a new set of leaders.
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Analysts remain upbeat about IndiGo’s prospects despite the December disruption and the Iran war, which is fuelling a surge in oil prices besides impacting operations to the Gulf and the West.
Rating agency Crisil said IndiGo had shown a swift recovery in operations, supported by several corrective measures, including enhanced manpower deployment, while upgrading the company’s borrowing facilities from ‘under watch’ to AA- and A1+ with a positive outlook.