'Excellence has nothing to do with red & blue carpets'

The tag of the number one domestic airline is a milestone for six-year-old IndiGo. However, Aditya Ghosh, the airline’s president, clarifies the company isn’t chasing market share. Instead, he says, IndiGo would continue to grow, add new planes, expand international flights and focus on its core competencies such as on-time performance.

Last month, IndiGo, with 27 per cent market share, pipped Jet Airways (26.6 per cent market share) to the position of India’s largest domestic airline, in terms of the number of passengers. Last year, IndiGo recorded passenger growth of 35-40 per cent. The airline accounts for about 1.5 million passengers a month.

Ghosh, the airline’s publicity-shy chief, gave no press interviews after IndiGo rose to the top spot. There was no press statement either. At a forum organised by Ernst & Young, he said,

“In my business, and possibly many others, market share is overrated. Market share does not put food on the table. The simple way of increasing market share is by dropping fares by Rs 500. All of India would be flying tomorrow, and there will be one less airline in India in the next three months.”

“My challenge is not market share, but consistency with our goals — on-time performance and least number of flight cancellations….Excellence or high quality has nothing to do with red or blue carpets, or whether your spectacles are cleaned,” he stated.

Speaking to the media at the sidelines of the forum, Ghosh said IndiGo was well-capitalised and wasn’t considering raising funds.

“Each airline has its own compulsions. We are not looking at investors, either domestic or foreign,” he said. The airline, he added, would induct Airbus A320s with sharklets on their wings. These would reduce fuel consumption by one to two per cent. Currently, the airline has 60 aircraft in its fleet.

Ghosh said the airline was awaiting government approval for its foreign flights from Chennai and Hyderabad to Singapore, as well as those from Kolkata to Southeast Asia.

“Our international routes are doing well, and we have just added three new flights from Dubai,” he said.