IndiGo said Wednesday it was appointing Willie Walsh as its new chief executive as India’s leading airline sought to recover from an embarrassing spate of cancellations that threw the country’s airports into turmoil
Walsh currently leads the civil aviation industry’s leading trade association, the IATA. But he also has two decades of experience leading airlines, including a decade at International Airlines Group (IAG), the parent company of Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia and Vueling.
Walsh’s “experience in managing large scale airline operations and navigating complex market dynamics make him ideally suited to strengthen and lead IndiGo for continued growth in an ever-evolving and competitive international aviation environment,” IndiGo’s board chairman Vikram Singh Mehta said in a statement.
IndiGo’s previous chief executive, Pieter Elbers, stepped down on March 10, months after mass flight cancellations by the carrier threw airports across India into disarray.
In January, India’s civil aviation regulator imposed a fine of $2.45 million on IndiGo for poor roster planning that led to large-scale cancellations in December.
The operational meltdown came even though IndiGo had two years to prepare for the new rules aimed at giving pilots more rest periods in between flights to enhance passenger safety.
IndiGo operates more than 2,200 daily flights with a fleet of over 400 aircraft, connecting more than 95 domestic and 40 international destinations.
The airline carried about 124 million passengers in 2025, making it India’s biggest carrier by market share.
Walsh is expected to take over the reins at IndiGo on August 3, days after his mandate at the head of the International Air Transport Association ends on July 31.
