New Delhi: As IndiGo grapples with one of the worst operational crises in its history, an anonymous letter purportedly from an IndiGo employee has emerged, placing the blame squarely on the airline’s top leadership. While the authenticity of the letter could not be independently verified, it has added to the scrutiny faced by the airline following mass flight cancellations and regulatory action by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The letter, addressed to the general public and the management, paints a grim picture of the internal workings of India’s largest domestic airline. According to the employee, the roots of the crisis stretch back years, warning that the airline’s downfall was long in the making. “Nothing happened overnight — We All Saw It Coming. IndiGo didn’t collapse in a day. This downfall was years in the making,” the letter states. The anonymous author describes enduring long shifts, insufficient rest, squeezed paychecks, and repeated operational pressures, claiming that management consistently ignored employee concerns.

The letter singles out several members of IndiGo’s senior leadership for responsibility, including CEO Pieter Elbers, COO and accountable manager Isidro Porquerus, senior vice-president for operations command centre Jason Herter, and senior VP for flight operations Ashim Mittra. The employee alleges that over the years, positions of power increasingly took precedence over competence, eroding the airline’s internal culture and operational effectiveness. “The real rot started when titles became more important than talent,” the letter reads. Employees reportedly watched as individuals were promoted to senior positions for the perks, ESOPs, and authority attached to the title rather than for capability, creating an environment where operational concerns were sidelined.

The letter traces the airline’s trajectory from its early days in 2006, when the workforce took pride in building the company, to its later years, when growth became synonymous with greed and arrogance. “The attitude became: ‘We are too big to fail.’ And we, the employees, kept warning — sometimes quietly, sometimes desperately. But no one listened,” the letter adds. It also accuses IndiGo of aggressive market practices that stifled competition, citing tactics used against Akasa Air and other emerging carriers. “Everyone saw it — passengers, employees, the government. But we all looked away, and now we blame this on monopoly,” the letter claims.

Meanwhile, the DGCA has intensified regulatory scrutiny on IndiGo’s leadership. On Saturday, the aviation regulator issued show cause notices to CEO Pieter Elbers and accountable manager Isidro Porquerus, citing “non-provisioning of adequate arrangements” to meet the revised requirements under the approved Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) scheme. The notices demand responses within 24 hours, though IndiGo has sought and been granted an extension until 6 pm on Monday to reply. According to the DGCA, the large-scale operational disruptions affecting thousands of passengers were primarily due to lapses in planning, oversight, and resource management under the new FDTL rules.

The FDTL framework, introduced to prevent crew fatigue, mandated stricter rest periods for pilots, which significantly impacted IndiGo’s high-utilisation scheduling model. Pilots’ unions and industry analysts had repeatedly warned that IndiGo lacked adequate staffing and operational buffers to comply with the regulations, but according to the letter, these concerns were ignored. “When positions prevailed over talent, and somewhere along the way, pride turned into arrogance and growth turned into greed,” the anonymous employee writes, describing the internal culture that, in their view, contributed to the crisis.

The letter also paints a picture of a workplace in which employee feedback and concerns were often dismissed, and where operational efficiency took a back seat to hierarchical structures and personal gain. “Suddenly, people who couldn’t even draft a proper email were becoming VPs — because being a VP meant access to ESOPs and power. And how do you justify that power? By squeezing the employees under you,” the author states. This, according to the employee, created systemic weaknesses that left IndiGo ill-prepared for regulatory changes and operational disruptions.

The letter has resonated with passengers and observers as it coincides with IndiGo’s ongoing operational meltdown, which has seen over 4,500 flight cancellations since the beginning of last week, affecting major airports across India. Crowded terminals, delayed luggage, and frustrated travelers have drawn significant media attention, while the airline has issued refunds totaling ₹610 crore and worked to stabilize operations. DGCA officials continue to monitor IndiGo closely, and public confidence has been shaken by the scale of disruptions.

Industry experts note that while IndiGo’s operational model focused on high aircraft utilization and rapid expansion, the recent crisis has exposed vulnerabilities in staffing and contingency planning. The employee’s letter reinforces this perspective, suggesting that internal mismanagement compounded by cultural and structural issues played a significant role in the airline’s current predicament.

Though the letter is anonymous, its publication highlights employee frustration and gives a rare, candid insight into the challenges faced within one of India’s largest carriers. The letter serves both as a critique of corporate governance and a cautionary tale about the risks of prioritizing growth and hierarchy over operational integrity and workforce engagement.

As the DGCA evaluates IndiGo’s response to the show cause notices and the airline works to restore normalcy, attention is also turning to broader implications for the aviation sector. Questions about crew management, operational readiness, and leadership accountability are now at the forefront of discussions among regulators, industry stakeholders, and the public. The letter, whether fully accurate in its claims or not, underscores the perception of internal lapses and has intensified the scrutiny on IndiGo’s top management.

For the millions of passengers affected, the letter offers a glimpse behind the scenes of a corporate crisis that has had very real consequences on the ground. As IndiGo moves to stabilize schedules and restore passenger confidence, the issues raised in the letter — from leadership accountability to operational planning — remain central to understanding how the crisis unfolded and how similar disruptions might be prevented in the future.

The unfolding scenario at IndiGo highlights the delicate balance in the aviation industry between rapid growth, competitive strategy, and regulatory compliance. The employee’s letter, with its mix of personal testimony and pointed critique, provides a human perspective on an otherwise corporate and regulatory issue, emphasizing the profound impact management decisions have on both staff and passengers alike.

Authorities, passengers, and aviation experts will continue to monitor how IndiGo addresses these challenges, how leadership responds to regulatory demands, and whether systemic changes are implemented to prevent similar crises from recurring. In the meantime, the airline and its workforce face the daunting task of regaining trust, stabilizing operations, and learning lessons from an unprecedented operational collapse that has left an indelible mark on India’s aviation sector.