More exits at IndiGo! Vinay Malhotra resigns as global sales head 

The leadership churn continues at IndiGo after the exit of Pieter Elbers as CEO in March, 2026. Vinay Malhotra, Global Sales Head, has quit the airlines. He was with IndiGo for the past four years and looked after its international sales strategy.    
Elbers’ exit from IndiGo brought focus on his team, including expats, who were offered key positions during his 3.5 years tenure with the airline. There have been murmurs that IndiGo Managing Director Rahul Bhatia is likely to rework key allocations in the leadership team.   

Bhatia has been overseeing the affairs of IndiGo after Elbers’ exit. IndiGo has announced the name of IATA chief Willie Walsh as CEO and will join the airline before August 2026. 

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The December 2025 operational crisis brought to the fore the operational challenge, poor planning, and crew mismanagement at IndiGo. During that time, Bhatia was in Switzerland due to health issues.   

Before joining IndiGo, Malhotra served as the Regional Group Chief Operating Officer – South Asia, Middle East & North Africa, and the Americas – at VFS Global, and was a member of the organisation’s Executive Board. During his Dubai-based role, he was responsible for managing the core visa business in these regions, as well as strengthening allied travel-related B2C services globally.

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Prior to his role at VFS Global, in 2013, Vinay had a 10-year successful stint at Emirates, before which, he played an instrumental role at Swissair and Galileo, subsequently. He has also been an aircraft load-controller, with wide aviation experience which included managing passenger sales, ticket offices, airport operations, as well as cargo operations.