Rahul Bhatia’s Leadership Renovation Reaches Revenue; Thadimarri is the new CFO of IndiGo | Today’s news
Mumbai/New Delhi: IndiGo on Monday redesigned its chief financial officer (CFO) and promoted his deputy to CFO, the latest in a series of leadership changes at India’s largest airline since chief executive Rahul Bhatia took over as interim chief executive (CEO) in March.
The airline has rechristened CFO Gaurav Negi as advisor to the CEO, effective after business hours on Monday. Deputy CFO Kiran Thadimarri will take over as CFO and key management personnel from Tuesday, the company said in a stock exchange filing.
The move is the latest of more than half a dozen leadership changes at IndiGo since Bhatia took over in March following the sudden exit of former CEO Pieter Elbers. It also comes ahead of the arrival of new chief executive William Walsh, who is expected to take over on August 3 at the latest.
Earlier this month, IndiGo appointed Kanwala Jeet Singh Bakshi as Chief Human Resources Officer, replacing Sukhjit Singh Pasricha, who resigned after serving the airline for over eight years. Bakshi joined from privately held Bhatia’s InterGlobe Enterprises Pvt. Ltd, reinforcing the co-founder’s growing influence on the airline’s senior management team. Thadimarri, the new CFO, was also previously at InterGlobe Enterprises.
Ambitious expansion
The changes come at a time when IndiGo is pursuing an ambitious expansion strategy aimed at nearly 200 million passengers a year, around 3,000 daily departures and a fleet of more than 550 aircraft by 2030.
In March, the airline appointed former Air India Express CEO Aloke Singh as chief strategy officer. Around the same time, she appointed Walsh as CEO.
The leadership changes come in the wake of IndiGo’s severe operational disruption in December, when the company canceled more than 4,000 domestic flights, prompting regulatory scrutiny. The airline also dismissed Jason Herter, senior vice president of its traffic control center, on instructions from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation following an investigation into the breach.
Expanding the list
Separately, Vinay Malhotra, the airline’s head of global sales, resigned in May, joining the list of executives who left during the transition.
While the company described Negi’s move as a renaming rather than a resignation, the latest financial move underscores the ongoing reorganization of IndiGo’s leadership team under Bhatia as the airline prepares for the next phase of expansion under incoming CEO William Walsh.
InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, the parent company of IndiGo, posted a loss in the June quarter as India’s largest airline was hit by expensive jet fuel and rising operating costs, even as demand for air travel remained healthy. It was the second straight quarter of losses for IndiGo.
Indigo ended the June quarter with a loss ₹238 crore in the three months ended June 30 compared with a profit of Rs ₹2,176.3 crore a year earlier. Operating income in Q1FY27 grew by 19% to ₹ 24,584.1 million crowns ₹ 20496.3 crore in Q1FY26.
The leadership changes come at a crucial time for IndiGo as it grapples with higher fuel costs while pursuing an aggressive expansion plan. Analysts at Nuvama Research said in a July 23 report that the airline remains well-positioned to weather near-term challenges, despite pressure on profits from increased jet fuel prices for turbines. The broker believes that IndiGo’s dominant position in the domestic market and planned international expansion enable it to turn current headwinds into long-term growth opportunities.
