My story actually began a year before my inaugural flight, at the Paris Air Show in 2005. My founders, Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal, walked up to the Airbus chalets and did something the global commercial aviation industry thought was sheer madness: they placed a firm order for one hundred Airbus A320 aircraft. It happened at a time when the Indian aviation industry combined had little over 300 planes. Today, I alone have a fleet of over 400 planes. My journey of two decades not only changed me, it changed the country and how India flies.
When my first flight was flagged off, Indian aviation had shades of red and blue, but in the last twenty years most of them faded away while I saw the nation of over billion people who faced high fares, unpredictable flight schedules and more. I promised myself to be different, to not offer gourmet hot meals or different buses, I believed in equality and promises of on-time performance, affordable fares and hassle free service. My parents had a keen eye on cost control, so much so that my website was “.in” and not “.com” in the early days. Simplicity was built in so much that my initial A320neo planes came with only 180 seats though 186 could be fit in.
Today, as I complete twenty years of flying through the Indian skies and beyond, this is my story.
The global trade press called it an uncalculated gamble. Industry veterans called it suicidal. Who orders a hundred aircraft for an airline that hasn’t flown a single revenue passenger? What the skeptics missed was the underlying unit economics. By ordering in massive volume, I secured unprecedented purchasing power and manufacturer support. I committed to a single, hyper-standardized aircraft family, the Airbus A320, ensuring my pilots, cabin crew, ground staff, and maintenance engineers only ever had to master one cockpit and one engine type. I introduced the Indian market to the Sale-and-Leaseback (SLB) model, constantly refreshing my operational fleet every six years. This ensured I was always flying fuel-efficient, factory-fresh aircraft with minimal maintenance downtime and pristine cabin interiors.
While my domestic competitors bled corporate cash trying to out-cater and out-pamper each other, I focused heavily on the ground operation. I engineered a thirty minute ramp turnaround, sometimes even twenty-five. The exact moment my aircraft wheels touched the tarmac, my ground crew moved like a trained Formula One pit crew. The focus was not on rapid expansion but measured one which allowed new sectors, and strength at a particular airport rather than thin expansion. I was often criticised to have bus boarding when my peers used aerobridges, but my planes flew for more hours helping keep costs low.
I faced challenges for slots, for office spaces at airports and just about everything. The turbulent Indian skies presented one opportunity after another. In 2011, the 6E feeling went international. My quirky marketing had become a thing by then and from some cheeky billboards like “Sleep with your wife” had made waves, a welcome change from boards which competed with each other to announce change or claim they have remained unchanged. My international debut was similar when our teams said “Sheikh it baby” for our flights to Dubai and “O man!” for flights to Muscat.
First came the debacle of Kingfisher Airlines, which was the epitome of luxury when I started operations. “IT” collapsed under its own lavish financial weight in 2012, while I kept selling Chicken Junglee. I spread more at key airports, getting their slots and expanding our family to induct some pilots, crew and office staff of the former airline. Years later, I watched Jet Airways, once the undisputed king of Indian corporate premium travel ground its operational fleet entirely in April 2019.
In their shadow, I grew systematically. I didn’t just fill the sudden market vacuum; I expanded the country’s aviation grid. What followed was network expansion which was plane by plane, airport by airport, flight by flight and most importantly rupee by rupee, which kept me separate from others. Most wondered how I could be making money when they are not, but when I got listed everything came out in the open and I became a benchmark for everyone. Many small carriers joined the path and went away. I continued with the same symphony, plane by plane, airport by airport, route by route and rupee by rupee.
My growth was noticed beyond the country with regional players wanting a pie of India and trying to take me head-on. I kept my calm, controlled by nerves and continued doing what I was good at, expanding one flight at a time. The ink on the balance sheet spoke volumes for me, while others made news across the media. Over the years, my founders sparred, leadership changed, but one thing remained constant which was regular aircraft inductions. One record after another was set and a thousand planes were lined up over the next nine years for induction.
The pandemic made us all pause, but the fantastic set of managers which I had, found a way out strategically to come out stronger on the other side of the pandemic with higher market share, a growth plan like no other and expansion which is unparalleled.
When I turned 18, it was a momentous occasion for everyone in the company. Parties were organised and it was decided that it was time for me to have a loyalty program and a Business class. From being a point to point carrier, to letting passengers do two flights by self connecting and then selling a multi segment itinerary, I had come a long way already. Just like the classes saw separation, those who stayed with me for 18 years were separated with a different colored lanyard.
No path is entirely free of turbulence and I realised that last December, when passengers, regulators and just about everyone saw me crumble for hours and then days. This was worse than the pandemic when I was staring at empty runways and eerie silence in terminals. The disruption was noisy, people missed weddings, funerals, meetings, presentations and much more. I missed being me, the promise of on-time performance, the very basis of my growth and the promise of being courteous and hassle-free had taken a beating. Things turned around slow and steady and my founder stepped in and then stepped up. The subsequent decisions made one thing clear that mediocrity would not be tolerated for brand IndiGo. The operations now involved multiple fleet types from the turboprops to widebody, a far cry from our earlier single fleet philosophy.
My first decade was dedicated to connecting India to itself, the second was about connecting India to Bharat, the last few years about connecting India to neighbourhood. The next will be about connecting India to the world.
I hold many records, some at national level and some at international. More than records though I like to see the happy faces on first flights, giggling kids on holidays, executives flying safe after successful meetings.
I would have requested the website owner to post this tomorrow when I complete twenty years of existence, but then you do know about IndiGo Standard Time, right ?
To every passenger who has ever hurried through a bustling terminal, grabbed a quick meal from my cart, and landed safely on time: thank you for trusting me with your journey. You may have complained about my seats and cushions or the lack of it, the meals or something else but I am sure you have always been proud of my efficiency.
Here’s to the next twenty years of keeping India moving forward, where people remember me for first flights of Gen Alpha, regular shuttles for Gen Z and aspirations of sitting in the front cabin for Millennials.
6E forever.
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