IndiGo employee writes 'open letter’ accusing CEO Pieter Elbers and ‘toxic’ culture

What began as a week of flight cancellations has now turned into a war of narratives. As shared by MoneyControl, an unverified 'open letter' allegedly written by an IndiGo employee has gone viral on social media, accusing the airline’s top leadership, including CEO Pieter Elbers, of engineering the carrier’s operational collapse through years of arrogance, fatigue-driven rostering and a culture of intimidation.

Indigo employee's anonymous letter

The letter has surfaced just as India’s aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, issued a show-cause notice to Elbers over what it called 'significant lapses in planning, oversight and resource management' at IndiGo.

The author also aims at the airline’s treatment of customers, alleging a deliberate shift in attitude: “If you call them passengers, they’ll think they own the airline.”

As disclosed in the letter, eight top officials are responsible for the meltdown. At the top is CEO Pieter Elbers, who is criticised for being on holiday in the Netherlands during the crisis.

Other executives named include senior leaders from operations and control functions. According to IndiGo’s public disclosures, Isidore Porqueras heads operations, Ashim Mitra leads flight operations, and Jason Herter oversees the operations control centre.

None of the individuals named in the letter has responded publicly to the allegations so far.

The letter has gone viral amid one of the biggest operational disruptions in IndiGo’s history. Over the past week, the airline has cancelled hundreds of flights and delayed many more across major airports.

The trigger was the enforcement of revised DGCA Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms, which tightened rules on consecutive night operations. The sudden reduction in available crew exposed a deep pilot and staffing shortage.

On Saturday, the regulator formally issued a show-cause notice to Elbers, demanding an explanation within 24 hours and warning of enforcement action if the airline fails to respond.

MC further reported that on Sunday, IndiGo announced that its board had activated a high-level Crisis Management Group (CMG) following an emergency meeting on the very first day of the disruption.

• The CMG comprises: Chairman Vikram Singh Mehta

• Directors Gregg Saretsky, Mike Whitaker and Amitabh Kant

• CEO Pieter Elbers

The board said the group is reviewing stabilisation efforts, with other directors also participating in crisis calls.

The anonymous author’s appeal is not limited to IndiGo’s management, but urges the central government to intervene by:

• Setting minimum wages for ground staff

• Mandating minimum manpower per aircraft

• Revisiting fatigue rules with formal employee representation

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