Ronojoy Dutta, the outgoing CEO of IndiGo, has agreed to an enhanced non-compete for a period of two years as against one year earlier, the company had said on 30 August, against accelerated bonus and amount in lieu of stock options. The non-compete clause says Dutta shall not engage with any business or allied business that is in any way similar, identical or competitive and will not engage in the Indian aviation sector or providing consultancy services to an entity engaged in Indian aviation.
The board of IndiGo has high expectations from Elbers, who oversaw the restructuring at KLM during the pandemic. Having served KLM as president since 2014, Elbers joins with significant experience in developing international hubs and connectivity.
IndiGo has made it clear that had it not been for the pandemic, it would have already advanced substantially in the international segment.
Dutta was relieved of his duties on 5 September, and not on 30 September as informed by the airline earlier, a company official said. In fact, Dutta agreed to a shorter notice period as per the request of the management.
“It may be noted that as per the original terms of appointment Mr. Dutta was required to serve six months’ notice. However, at management’s request, he agreed to be relieved by serving 4.5 months of notice, thereby foregoing 1.5 months of notice pay," the company’s exchange filing on 30 August read.
Dutta joined IndiGo as a principal consultant in December 2018 to chalk out a five-term business plan. He was appointed CEO for a period of five years with effect from 24 January 2019. While Dutta came to IndiGo at a time when the airline needed stability after the resignation of long-term president Aditya Ghosh, Elbers has to rapidly expand IndiGo in international frontiers and generate diverse revenue streams.
The airline has considered opting for wide-body aircraft for long-haul international flight operations multiple times in the past. While the wide-body discussions have not fructified in the past, the airline has created a strong network of medium to short distance global routes using its narrow-body aircraft.
