Flamboyance to fraud: How Indian aviation sector changed in the last decade

Despite phenomenal growth, Indian aviation has been a mixed bag with many lost opportunities

A century is about events. A decade is about people. Perhaps nowhere does George Friedman’s maxim hold as true as in India’s aviation sector. The decade gone by has been dominated by personalities and the high and lows brought about by the actions of these dramatis personae, ranging from the flamboyant Vijay Mallya to Tony Fernandes.

Alongside the story of these men’s obsessions and destinies, the sector has tripled from 52 million passengers in 2010 to the estimated 170 million who have flown this year.  The players who dominate the skies, too, have changed. At the start of the decade,