IndiGo said on Tuesday that CEO Pieter Elbers had resigned from his position with immediate effect for personal reasons, months after mass flight cancellations left tens of thousands of passengers stranded and drew regulatory scrutiny.
The airline said its managing director Rahul Bhatia would manage the company in the interim until a replacement is hired. Bhatia’s InterGlobe Enterprises is the largest shareholder in IndiGo operator InterGlobe Aviation, with a 35.69% stake as of December.
India’s largest airline scrapped about 4,500 flights in the first weeks of December, highlighting concerns over limited competition in the world’s fastest-growing aviation market.
The airline apologized to customers after it failed to make roster changes in time to comply with stricter pilot fatigue rules set by the government.
Elbers last year shared the stage with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a global airlines meeting in New Delhi, basking in IndiGo’s role as the host airline of the annual gathering.
