IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers Resigns; Rahul Bhatia To Oversee Airline Management In Interim
Pieter Elbers has stepped down as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IndiGo, owned by InterGlobe Aviation, effective March 10, 2026, months after the airline faced flight cancellations across its network.
According to a company statement, promoter Rahul Bhatia will oversee the management of the airline in the interim.
Last year, IndiGo cancelled more than 4,200 flights between December 1 and December 9. The disruptions occurred after the airline faced issues in managing pilot duty schedules following new rules issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The rules increased weekly rest requirements for crew members and reduced night flying hours for pilots. The aviation regulator later conducted an investigation and found deficiencies in operational planning and crew management. The DGCA imposed a penalty of Rs 22.2 crore on the airline following the findings.
Elbers is an airline executive with more than 30 years of experience in the aviation sector. He served as CEO of IndiGo from September 2022. Before joining IndiGo, he spent about three decades at KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, where he held several roles in the Netherlands, Japan, Greece, and Italy. He became Chief Operating Officer (COO) in 2011 and later served as President and CEO of KLM from 2014 to 2022. During this period, he was also part of the leadership of the Air France–KLM Group. Elbers holds a bachelor’s degree in Logistics Management and a master’s degree in Business Economics. He has also completed executive programmes at IMD Business School and Columbia University and serves on the International Air Transport Association Board of Governors.
Bhatia is the Group Managing Director (MD) of InterGlobe Enterprises and Promoter and MD of InterGlobe Aviation, which operates the airline IndiGo. He founded InterGlobe in 1989 with a focus on air transport management. Over more than three decades in the travel sector, he has overseen the group’s expansion into aviation, hospitality, logistics, technology, airline management, pilot training, and aircraft maintenance. He received the Entrepreneur of the Year recognition from Ernst & Young and The Economic Times in 2011 and was listed in the Forbes Global Game Changers list in 2016. He also serves on the Boards of companies, including InterGlobe Hotels Pvt. Ltd. and InterGlobe Education Services Ltd. Bhatia holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Waterloo in Canada.
