Turbulence at the Top

Three years into his tenure as IndiGo CEO, Pieter Elbers finds himself at a moment that will define his leadership

- HIMANI KOTHARI

WHEN AVIATION INDUSTRY veteran Pieter Elbers stepped into IndiGo’s corner office in 2022, he inherited an airline that was unusually stable for a sector better known for volatility. The airline was efficient, flights consistently took off on time and its financials behaved as if exempt from the usual laws of aviation—those same laws that once led Warren Buffett to quip that durable competitive advantage in this business has “proven elusive ever since the days of the Wright Brothers”.