IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers exits: Will more heads roll at the airline?
After Pieter Elbers exit as IndiGo CEO, the whispers are strong that more heads will roll in the country’s largest airline by market share
- Mar 11, 2026,
- Updated Mar 11, 2026 12:53 PM IST
Pieter Elbers joined IndiGo in September 2022 as CEO and soon, he handpicked his team by nearly replacing IndiGo’s existing top team to roll out his roadmap for the airline's growth.
Elbers exit from the IndiGo has brought focus on his team, including expats, who were offered key positions during his 3.5 years tenure with the airline. There are whispers that IndiGo Managing Director Rahul Bhatia is likely to rework key allocations in the leadership team.
“Knowing Rahul (Bhatia), we knew heads would roll after the crisis in December. It was all about timing,” said a former top IndiGo executive.
Soon after joining, Elbers pushed out some of the key people at IndiGo. This included chief commercial officer Sanjay Kumar, in-flight head Suman Chopra, OCC head Sunita Srivastava and airport customer service head Sanjeev Ramdas.
Kumar, now with SpiceJet, was with IndiGo since 2007 and left in 2018 but joined back in 2020 to leave in December 2022 as IndiGo's Chief Strategy and Revenue Officer. Ramdas was with Bhatia even before IndiGo was born.
Elbers, leading the airline's internationalisation plan, the introduction of business class product and huge widebody aircraft orders, brought his own people from KLM or promoted staff with limited domain experience.
His team included Isidre Porqueras, Chief Operating Officer, who joined in April 2024. In his last assignment, he was the Chief Operating Officer at Volotea, an independent airline in Europe. Before that, he was the Chief of Costs & Operational Performance at Volotea.
Others promoted by him, while not having domain expertise, included Saba Zaidi, Vice President - Inflight Services, Summi Sharma, Senior Vice President, ifly and Customer Experience.
The December 2025 operational crisis brought to the fore the operational challenge, poor planning, and crew mismanagement at IndiGo. During that time, Bhatia was in Switzerland due to health issues.
Elber's resignation took the aviation industry by surprise. He even sought to waive his notice period. His predecessor Ronojoy Dutta was required to serve a six-month notice period when he stepped down and served the airline for 4.5 months before exit.
It’s a rarity that a CEO leaves even before his successor is announced. While the decision was in the offing since December 2025 after IndiGo's operational meltdown, but a definitive word never went out. On March 3, Elbers was announced as a speaker for the Skift India Intelligence Summit scheduled in the national capital on March 26.
Pieter Elbers joined IndiGo in September 2022 as CEO and soon, he handpicked his team by nearly replacing IndiGo’s existing top team to roll out his roadmap for the airline's growth.
Elbers exit from the IndiGo has brought focus on his team, including expats, who were offered key positions during his 3.5 years tenure with the airline. There are whispers that IndiGo Managing Director Rahul Bhatia is likely to rework key allocations in the leadership team.
“Knowing Rahul (Bhatia), we knew heads would roll after the crisis in December. It was all about timing,” said a former top IndiGo executive.
Soon after joining, Elbers pushed out some of the key people at IndiGo. This included chief commercial officer Sanjay Kumar, in-flight head Suman Chopra, OCC head Sunita Srivastava and airport customer service head Sanjeev Ramdas.
Kumar, now with SpiceJet, was with IndiGo since 2007 and left in 2018 but joined back in 2020 to leave in December 2022 as IndiGo's Chief Strategy and Revenue Officer. Ramdas was with Bhatia even before IndiGo was born.
Elbers, leading the airline's internationalisation plan, the introduction of business class product and huge widebody aircraft orders, brought his own people from KLM or promoted staff with limited domain experience.
His team included Isidre Porqueras, Chief Operating Officer, who joined in April 2024. In his last assignment, he was the Chief Operating Officer at Volotea, an independent airline in Europe. Before that, he was the Chief of Costs & Operational Performance at Volotea.
Others promoted by him, while not having domain expertise, included Saba Zaidi, Vice President - Inflight Services, Summi Sharma, Senior Vice President, ifly and Customer Experience.
The December 2025 operational crisis brought to the fore the operational challenge, poor planning, and crew mismanagement at IndiGo. During that time, Bhatia was in Switzerland due to health issues.
Elber's resignation took the aviation industry by surprise. He even sought to waive his notice period. His predecessor Ronojoy Dutta was required to serve a six-month notice period when he stepped down and served the airline for 4.5 months before exit.
It’s a rarity that a CEO leaves even before his successor is announced. While the decision was in the offing since December 2025 after IndiGo's operational meltdown, but a definitive word never went out. On March 3, Elbers was announced as a speaker for the Skift India Intelligence Summit scheduled in the national capital on March 26.