IndiGo shares, earnings estimates for FY26 slide

Airline may have to hire expat pilots at high salary: Analysts

- RAM PRASAD SAHU

The severe disruption in IndiGo’s flight operations since the start of December, cut in its daily scheduled flights by 10 per cent, weak revised guidance for the December quarter and expected increase in costs have weighed on its stock price.

‘The stock of the country’s largest airline, which has two-thirds of the Indian domestic aviation market share, is down by 19 percent since the start of the month as brokerages are cautious on the outlook and have sharply cut their earning estimates for FY26.

Though the stock has been trending down since the start of the month, it ended Thursday’s session with a minor (0.3 per cent) gain at %4,819 per share. The pressure on the stock was largely due to disruptions of the newly mandated flight duty time limitation by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), with effect from November 1, 2025.

This led to cancellation of about 1,600 flights on December 5. The airline’s on-time performance dropped to 68 percent in November from 84 per cent in October. There were 1,200 cancellations in November. It revised its December quarter capacity growth guidance downwards from a high-teens growth to high-single or early-double digit growth. It has also cut its passenger unit revenues from flattish or slight growth projection in November to mid-single digit fall now.