Aviation industry veteran and analyst Captain Ranganathan said IndiGo has fairly safe operations but there seems to be the element of becoming bigger in size.
Elbers, the former chief executive of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, was named as the next CEO by IndiGo on May 18, 2022.
Pieter Elbers would be replacing IndiGo's outgoing chief executive officer Ronojoy Dutta, who was at the airline's helm since 2019.
Dutta is to step down as the Whole Time Director and CEO of InterGlobe Aviation, the parent of the country's largest airline IndiGo, on September 30 whereas his current tenure is till January 23, 2024.
The aviation regulator DGCA had last week imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on the airline for denying boarding to a specially abled child at Ranchi airport on May 7.
.Moreover, India's largest airline IndiGo is likely to introduce a business class in certain international flights as it is looking to expand to regions like Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia, he said in an interview to PTI.
The high cost of fuel and a sliding rupee, along with the war in Ukraine has been the bane of IndiGo, like many other airlines across the world
InterGlobe Aviation, the operator of IndiGo airline, on May 25 reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 1,681.80 crore for the quarter ended March 2022, due to a surge in aircraft fuel expenses.
Elbers, who has served as the chief executive of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, will join IndiGo "on or before October 1, 2022".
The email was sent to employees by the CEO on April 8 as there were various media reports saying that there are disagreements between the airline's top management and staff.
On March 16, Jet fuel prices were hiked by over 18 percent, that pushed the prices to an all-time high of Rs 110,666.29 a kl
Though Bhatia’s appointment as Managing Director has surprised industry watchers, many believe the airline is gearing up to take on upcoming challenges. Competition is set to heat up with Air India going to the Tatas and ultra-low cost airline Akasa set to enter the market this year.
The airline is just 35 flights short of its all-time daily domestic record by flight count. The capacity deployment in flights and available seat kilometres (ASK) is an indication of the demand returning back in the industry
While addressing analysts and shareholders on the earnings conference call of InterGlobe Aviation Dutta said that it is now time for the Indian aviation industry to repair and heal from the damage caused by the pandemic.
Rononjoy Dutta added that India’s aviation market is big enough to accommodate two or three airlines.
“Things are improving slowly,” IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta told Bloomberg Television, adding that a "bullish" target can be set as the air traffic is going up.
The introduction of CFM LEAP engines will allow IndiGo to maintain its focus on "lowering operating costs and delivering fuel efficiency with high standards of reliability", a top official of the airline said.
Chief Executive Officer Ronojoy Dutta says IndiGo is recovering 'nicely', especially domestically, though the recovery in international capacity may take time.
In FY2020, IndiGo Chief Executive Officer Ronojoy Dutta Dutta received a total remuneration of Rs 11.4 crore in his role as CEO and whole-time director.
While the underlying demand, Dutta added, was good, the restrictions announced by some of the states was hurting traffic
In a recent post-earnings conference call, Indigo said it planned to raise Rs 3,000-Rs 4,000 crore in additional funding over nine months.
The country's largest domestic airlines had on Friday announced pay cut ranging between 5 and 25 percent, in addition to its leave-without-pay programme for May, June and July, for senior employees.
Aviation sector has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. All major airlines, including IndiGo, have taken cost-cutting measures like pay cuts for employees during the last few weeks.
"In situations like these, companies do not manage to growth or profitability but to liquidity. That means our singular focus is on cash flow. We are examining all our fixed costs and looking for ways to minimize them," he said.
In 2018, IndiGo went public on its interest in acquiring only the international operations of Air India, and that included the latter's low-cost arm Air India Express.