Just weeks before the IndiGo crisis erupted, Pieter Elbers, during the post Q2 FY26 earnings call on November 4, painted a picture of operational excellence. He boasted about leading the industry in on-time performance for nine consecutive months, praised the airline’s “meticulous planning” and “relentless focus on execution,” and announced plans for early teens capacity growth.
The 55-year-old Dutch obviously spoke too soon, as there is now much uncertainty about whether he will be able to retain his seat as IndiGo’s chief executive officer. The carrier’s delay in preparing for the new flight duty rules throwing air travel in utter chaos over the past week seems to have undone much of his good work. During one of the biggest aviation crises in years, the airline chose to attribute the disruption to external factors over taking accountability and being transparent.
Elbers’ contribution to Indigo’s growth
To be fair, Elbers, who joined IndiGo in September 2022 after more than three decades at KLM, has done a lot. His contribution to Indigo’s growth cannot be overlooked. Over the last three years, Elbers has steered IndiGo’s market share dominance in the Indian aviation industry even as the Tata group threw a strong challenge with expanded premium and full-service offerings. During his tenure, the airline increased its market share from 57% to 66% (as of October 2025) while its passenger traffic grew around 55% — from 69 million passengers carried in 2022 to being on pace to 110 million passengers in 2025.
He also spearheaded IndiGo’s expansion into international long-haul markets with temporary leasing agreements, including those with Turkish Airlines and Norse Atlantic Airways.
Then turbulence hit in December 2025. Shakti Lumba, who was IndiGo’s head of operations when it first began operating in 2006, alleged in an open letter last week that IndiGo was harbouring a “toxic culture”, and that the airline’s management fostered fear, overwork and arrogance long before the December 2025 crisis.
Born in 1970 in Schiedam, Netherlands, Elbers studied Logistics Management at Fontys University of Applied Sciences and later earned a Master’s degree in Business Economics. In 1992, he started his aviation career as a supervisor for aircraft loading at KLM’s Schiphol hub in Amsterdam. In a span of 22 years, he entered the corner office of KLM.
When airline hit record passenger numbers in 2019
During his time as KLM’s CEO, the airline hit record passenger numbers in 2019, serving more than 35 million travellers through KLM and its subsidiary Transavia. Operational performance improved, with customer satisfaction ratings and operating margins rising from 2% to 10%.
However, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic brought significant challenges, leading to a sharp decline in demand and requiring government support for survival. Starting late 2021, Elbers focused on recovery efforts, and by early 2022, KLM reported profitability for three consecutive quarters. After eight years at the helm of KLM, Elbers announced he would not seek a third term.
At Indigo, Elbers has focused on what he calls “evolution, not revolution”. He has streamlined management structures, enhanced efficiency across the airline’s broad operations, and pushed for digital transformation. His management style stood out for his focus on maintaining operational discipline and cost awareness. Rather than just managing from an office, he made it a point to understand operational bottlenecks firsthand, senior executives from IndiGo told the Financial Express.
A senior official told FE that in January 2024, when IndiGo was clocking its worst on-time-performance as dense fog restricted visibility and delayed flights, Elbers visited almost every airport Indigo operated from “to directly assess infrastructure and identify ground-level issues”.
However, during his tenure at IndiGo, the airline made headlines for some wrong reasons as well. In August 2023, a 40-year-old pilot of IndiGo passed away from a cardiac arrest at the Nagpur airport just before he was to operate a flight to Pune. In January 2024, the DGCA and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) slapped a fine of Rs 1.2 crore on IndiGo for five offences, including an incident in which passengers of its delayed flight were seen eating on the tarmac.
While Elbers’ track record at KLM highlights great expertise in managing complex global networks and navigating both growth and crisis periods with aplomb, his tenure at IndiGo has certainly got a rude jolt. In a LinkedIn post last year, Elbers wrote in Hindi ‘Bharat ab ghar jaisa lagta hai’ (India feels like home). It will surely be some time before he starts feeling at home again.