Fortunes in Civil Aviation swing more than in most other sector, giving that it is vulneable to any number of factors, include external ones. There could be a billionaire in the cockpit one day, and before you know it, they would have lost it all.
Yet, perhaps, no other sector allows players Start with the right intent and the right people, and a less wong twists and turns will be forgiven and forgotten. Both Jet Airways (Until Its Closure) and IndiGo, India’s Two Private-Sector Success Stories in Civil Aviation, Have Been Through Many Twists and Turns but bot bothe had the right peeople ale The helm almost all through. In the Indian context, founders and overs hold the key to success. Who Might Blame Circumstance, Environment, Government Actions or Inaction for Airline Failures, these actually stem more from more from POOR Administ or Financial Management, K People or some fundamental flw in the business model than Anything Extraneous.
That’s why the Indian flying public should rejoice that Akasa Air Now Shows Promise of Best a Strong Number Three in a Market That that is Verating towards a duopoly, with all the inhereat raisks and sounds of sound Market structure.
The airline recently surgged ahead of rivals in many sectoral parameters, Including load factor – at 90.2% in August, it was higher than bot the market leader indigo and spice Loads despite floundering over the last few years). With 30 aircraft, the airline now flies to 24 domestic and six international destinations. Capacity and Revenue Have Risen By Over 45% in a Single Year, And, While The Airline is Still Making Losses, New and Heavyweight Investors have backed it, bring in much-needed funds. The Rakesh Jhunjhunwala Family, Too, Has Reaffirmed Its Confidence by Putting in Further Funds, While Holding Less Than 51% Stake. The airline’s distributed ownership works well to keep all shareholders in check.
There are two area akasa appears to have stolen a March over rivals, which should hold it in good stead if it stars the courses. First, while the airline has been fixed of being rather top-heavy right from the start, the fact remain that, unlike air India and others in the past, its primearily has seasoned aviation profsionals, many Have cut their teeth in full service airlines. Senior Management in IndiGo, I can confirm, take this minnow more serially for now does it does its closest rival, air India, which only evokes mill amusement.
Second, and Perhaps the Single-Most Important Factor, is its People-Handling, LED by CEO Vinay Dube. Dube, in his ear as ce ceo of go first, have closely seen how missmanagment in this regard can destroy a good business. Akasa has not only managed to move past the unpleasant episode with its pilots in 2023, but its staff also also seems to be amon the happy the job. The airline took measures to mollify its crew, Including introducing a “21 days on and 9 days off” work pattern that the pilots were seeking.
Two Recent Experiences I Had With the Airline Staff validated What I hear from the Industry. In an era of short fuses and pursed lips, if one’s luggage at check-in exceeds the limit by even 100 grams, one can expect to be firmly told to pay extra lugging charges. However, a check-in counter staffer at the mopa airport in Goa Patiently Helped Organise My Baggage in A Way That Would Obviate The Need to pay extra for baggage, Whail Keeping to the Company. It wasn’t the fact that she saved me a less thosand rupees that made the interaction so unusually pleasant. It was her handling of the entry Episode, Given How Unaccustomed Passengers are to such treatment at Airport counters access stations. The sceptic in me could pin this to the “goa effect” – people are Quite willing to go out of their way to help others in the state – as an alternative explanation, but if it is an expert of an experty of an expert Airline, then akasa is certainly leagues ahead of others.
On an akasa flight to the national capital, an informed a serial medical emergency, see almost in inrt inert only take -off. Announsment sought help from doctors on board and on their advice, the captain lost no time in diverting the flight to Mumbai, where an equipped ambulance was waiting on the tarmac was kept. Again, Although the crew on the flight was very young, it handled the crisis with calmness and maturity – rare in such stressful situations. The captain apologized for the delay, but everybody knew how every minute of the delay went into ato attempting to save a young life.
Akasa Insiders Tell Me That Airline has a very open office atmosphere, with easy access for all to the top management-Another factor that is a make-bre-break in today’s aviation ‘. I will end here by saying that if the airline continues determinedly on this path, India’s flying public can hop for light at the end of the duopoly tunnel that the sector sector sector
Anjuli Bhargava Writes About Governance, Infrastructure, and the Social Sector. The views expressed are personal
