Willie Walsh’s IndiGo flight path takes two routes

Interglobe Aviation

01/04/2026 10:14

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own. Refiles to remove extraneous word in paragraph one.

By Ujjaini  Dutta

BENGALURU, April 1 (Reuters Breakingviews) - India's largest airline is swapping one international CEO for another. Just weeks after erstwhile KLM boss Pieter Elbers quit following mass flight cancellations in December, IndiGo INGL.NS on Tuesday revealed that Willie Walsh will jump into the corporate pilot seat in August. The former Aer Lingus and British Airways and International Airlines Group boss will bring extra lift to the under-fire $16 billion IndiGo. A successful flight path would take two routes.

The 64-year-old pilot-turned-airline-boss brought Aer Lingus back to profitability with cost cuts. Following a similar playbook at British Airways earned him the nickname ‘Slasher’ Walsh. He then oversaw its merger with Spain's Iberia, as well as smaller acquisitions, to build one of Europe’s largest airline groups, IAG, before leaving in 2020. He has run the International Air Transport Association since 2021.

That combined experience makes Walsh a neat fit for IndiGo. It had already expanded rapidly overseas under Elbers and has added business class offerings to tap into the premium travel market. But it plans to do even more: the airline has the largest order book of about 1000 aircraft to be delivered within a decade. Walsh can help guide the company through any of the resulting turbulence.

There's plenty of that still to deal with domestically. Just four months ago the airline, which provides some 65% of India’s air travel, cancelled over 4,500 flights after it neglected to plan for tighter pilot rest rules. As a result, revenue grew just 6.1% to 234.7 billion Indian rupees ($2.50 billion) in the quarter to the end of December 2025, half the rate of the same period in 2024. Profit plunged 78%. Meanwhile, the Iran war has forced IndiGo to cancel many of its Middle East routes, which account for up to 20% of its top line and where India's international passengers fly to the most, according to brokerage Motilal Oswal. Higher jet fuel prices and per-flight costs due to rerouting Europe-bound flights is adding to the pressure.

There's also much to appeal to Walsh, beyond overcoming current challenges. India's aviation market is growing fast, with the number of domestic passengers expected to nearly double from 165 million people last year by 2030. It helps that the pay is decent, too. Elbers' overall compensation doubled in the financial year to the end of March last year to $4.6 million - not far shy of the $6.2 million Walsh's replacement at IAG, Luis Gallego, received in 2024.

Granted, Walsh has his work cut out. But the 8% jump in IndiGo's share price on Wednesday suggests investors are expecting a smoother ride.

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CONTEXT NEWS

Indian airline IndiGo on March 31 said former Aer Lingus, British Airways and International Airlines Group boss William Walsh was to be its next CEO, according to a stock exchange filing.

Walsh is currently the director general of the International Air Transport Association. His term ends on July 31 and he is expected to join IndiGo by August 3 at the latest, the airline said in a statement.

India's overseas passenger traffic flocks to the Middle East https://www.reuters.com/graphics/BRV-BRV/zjvqmnkwevx/chart.png

IndiGo shares outperformed the broader market under Pieter Elbers https://www.reuters.com/graphics/BRV-BRV/lbpgyjnokpq/chart.png

(Editing by Antony Currie; Production by Aditya Srivastav)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on DUTTA/ujjaini.dutta@thomsonreuters.com))