Flying into the red, IndiGo on Friday (May 29, 2026) reported a loss of ₹2,536.9 crore in the March quarter due to multiple headwinds, including challenging operating conditions and rupee depreciation.

The country’s largest airline had a profit of ₹3,067.5 crore in the year-ago period.

For the 2025-26 fiscal, the carrier posted a net loss of ₹2,393.6 crore, but excluding the impact of foreign exchange and exceptional items, it would have been a profit of ₹7,502.5 crore, it said in a release.

Total income in the fourth quarter of the 2025-26 fiscal rose over 3% to ₹23,830.7 crore from ₹23,097.5 crore in the same period a year ago, according to a release.

“For the quarter ended March 2026, IndiGo reported a net loss of INR 25,369 million. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange and exceptional items, the company reported a net profit of Rs 19,206 million,” the release said.

Despite continuing external disruptions in 2025-26, IndiGo said its capacity rose 9.5% on an annual basis, and the total income grew 6.4% to ₹89,513.4 crore.

“Exceptionally sharp rupee depreciation, changes in labour laws and a challenging operating environment offset the operational profit and the company reported a net loss of Rs 23,936 million,” the airline said.

In 2025-26, the foreign exchange loss was around ₹8,100 crore, and the impact of the December flight disruptions stood at ₹580 crore. Besides, the expenses related to the implementation of the new labour laws were at ₹1,200 crore, as per the airline’s financial statements.

IndiGo MD Rahul Bhatia said FY26 was marked by an exceptionally challenging operating environment, which materially impacted its profitability.

“During the year, our capacity grew by 9.5 per cent, and total income increased by over 6 per cent. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange and exceptional items, IndiGo delivered a profit of Rs 75 billion,” he said.

In the June quarter, capacity in terms of ASKs (Available Seat Kilometres) is expected to grow around 3-4% as compared to the first quarter of fiscal year 2026.

The airline witnessed multiple challenges in the last financial year, including the massive operational disruptions, especially between December 3 and 5 last year — a period during which 2,507 flights were cancelled, and 1,852 flights were delayed, impacting over 3 lakh passengers at airports across the country.

In March, Pieter Elbers quit as the CEO, and later that month, the airline announced the appointment of William Walsh, a pilot and current chief of the global airlines’ grouping IATA, as its next CEO.

The airline’s domestic market share stood at 63.3% in March.

Shares of IndiGo fell 3.27% to close at ₹4,418.40 apiece on the BSE.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday (December 10, 2025) told IndiGo to take steps for payment of compensation to passengers left stranded after the large-scale flight disruptions, while also questioning how airfares on other carriers surged to unprecedented levels during the crisis.

On the issue of compensation for passengers, a bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela referred to a circular dated August 6, 2010, issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) dealing with facilities and compensation in cases of denied boarding, cancellations and delays.

Chaos foretold: Editorial on the Indigo crisis, air safety

The court ordered that the provision “for payment of compensation will be strictly adhered to by Respondent 3 (IndiGo) and shall be ensured by the ministry of civil aviation and DGCA”.

“In addition to the presence of the circular, if there are any other measures available for payment of damages, in such situation, the same shall also be ensures by authorities,” the court added.

Begin compensation disbursal: Court

During the hearing, the Bench told the airline to begin compensation disbursal. “Please start making the payment of compensation. It is not only in respect of the cancellation, but also because of the other suffering,” the court said, referring to passengers who spent hours stranded in airports across the country.

When IndiGo submitted that the incident had “dented” the reputation it had built over many years, the court responded that such submissions had no legal basis. “That we don’t know. This is no legal plea. We will pass an order directing you to make compensation,” the court said.

“…What about the agony passengers had to endure as they stood stranded, facing what they described as a hostile staff?” the court remarked, while clarifying that it had not passed any order yet but underscored that compensation is payable under the 2010 circular and must be adhered to by the airline.

Soaring fares during crisis

The Bench also expressed concern over the sharp rise in ticket prices on other airlines at the height of the disruptions. “Air tickets that were available for ₹4,000–₹5,000 went up to ₹25,000–₹30,000… How could the fare go to ₹39,000–₹40,000? How can it happen?” the court remarked, asking how other carriers were permitted to “take advantage” of the situation.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma, representing the Centre, informed the court that it had intervened for the first time by issuing fare caps.

Taking note that the Centre had indeed issued an order to check unreasonable fare surges, the court said, “We appreciate the steps taken by the Ministry and DGCA.”

Economy affected: Court

However, the Court also questioned how such a crisis was allowed to escalate to the point of leaving “lakhs of passengers unattended” at airports.

“Such a situation is not confined to inconvenience to passengers but also affects the economy of the country, as in the present days, fast movement of passengers is an important aspect to keep the economy functioning,” the bench remarked.

The Court was informed by the Centre that a committee has already been constituted to examine the disruptions. The Court noted that since IndiGo will be given an opportunity to present its case, it refrained from commenting on the cause of the cancellations.

The matter has been listed for further hearing on January 22, 2026, with the court directing all respondents to file their responses before the next date.

Targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government at the Centre for failing to protect the interests of passengers following the series of lapses that led to massive cancellations of flights by Indigo, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday (December 8, 2025) that the whole crisis that arose from the “deadlock” led to a “disastrous” situation.

“I have never witnessed such a completely stagnated situation. It is a disaster, and the Government of India should have planned properly before issuing instructions. How can you harass people like this?,” the Chief Minister told media persons.

Contingency plan

Ms. Banerjee also questioned the rationale of making such a decision without an alternative plan for passenger services. The new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) resulted in cancellations of hundreds of flights over the past few days.

“This decision could have been implemented after 15-20 days, so alternative arrangements could have been made. But the new rules were implemented without any such plan,” Ms. Banerjee said, blaming the BJP-led central government for the suffering caused to people.

The Trinamool Congress chairperson said that she will ask the Centre to get at least half the flights operational.

“Make some other arrangements for the rest. I don’t know what they [the Centre] are doing. They have no interest in the country. The BJP government thinks only about the elections. Their interest is in retaining control of EVMs, the Election Commission, and [central] institutions. They are not thinking about people. That is their main problem,” she said.

Ms. Banerjee said that since she is concerned about common people, she is keeping an eye on the situation.

SIR to stall development

Later in the day, at an administrative meeting in Cooch Behar district, Ms. Banerjee alleged that the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was “deliberately timed” to stall development projects in the state.

“I know there is immense pressure on the booth-level officers (BLOs), sub-divisional officers (SDOs) and booth-level agents (BLAs). But, both development projects and the SIR have to continue,” the Chief Minister said. She urged officials not to ignore development work due to the SIR.

The West Bengal government has announced compensation to BLOs and common people who died due to stress induced by the SIR.