Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: IndiGo net profit fell 78% to Rs 549 crore in the tumultuous Dec quarter due to flight disruption and provisions for higher gratuity and leave encashment as mandated by the labour code.IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers, who has been issued a warning by aviation regulator for the airline’s failure to plan for crew flying timing requirements, said the operational issues cost the carrier Rs 577 crore, while the impact of the labour code was around Rs 1,000 crore, with the rupee devaluation also having an impact. The airline had reported a profit of Rs 2,449 crore during Oct-Dec 2025.Despite the large-scale disruptions in early Dec; fare caps being enforced for domestic flights since Dec 6 and the airline’s flights cut 10% for this winter schedule, the largest domestic carrier saw its total income rise 6.7% to Rs 24,541 crore in the third quarter of the current fiscal year. IndiGo stock closed 1.1% up at Rs 4,913.8 on BSE Thursday, when the broader market was 0.5% up.During 2025, IndiGo flew 12.4 crore passengers, 9% more than 2024, Elbers said.According to govt data, IndiGo had cancelled a fourth of the 17,404 domestic flights it was to operate between Dec 1 and 9 (both days included). On the other hand, just a shade over 2% of the 2,702 international flights it was to operate at the same time were cancelled. So far there is now word on why the airline did so.
Asked when he sees returning to pre-cut levels, Elbers said: “We are ambitious of returning to not just that level but growing further in comings times. The schedule cut is till this winter schedule (that ends last Saturday of March).”He said the airline is preparing for Feb operations when IndiGo’s exemption from implementing the more humane pilot rostering norms ends, thereby increasing their requirement. “Our long-term plans going forward are unchanged. From Friday we start our Airbus A321 XLR (extra-long range) international operations with Athens flights,” he said.
