The financial surveillance carried out by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) recently raised several questions on low-cost carrier IndiGo’s safety record and suggested a review of its rapid fleet expansion plans. In a chat with Mihir Mishra, the carrier’s president, Aditya Ghosh, said flying with IndiGo was absolutely safe and there was nothing unusual about the airline’s profits and expansion. Edited excerpts:
You are expanding in a market that is not so favourable. The DGCA report also said your fast growth expansion plans should be reviewed. How would you clarify that?
The paper you are quoting from is not even a report, but an internal memo, which does not carry our version. Once we have given our answers, I don’t think there is any issue that the DGCA has with our operation and expansion. And, our expansion has been gradual, with the induction of an aircraft, or a maximum two, a month and we have not been in a hurry.
What kind of planning is involved in the expansion?
We have 49 aircraft and need 10 pilots a plane. This means 490 pilots and a 100 more as buffer. But we have 700 pilots on our rolls today. This kind of expansion can happen, if you plan in advance. What the DGCA is asking is nothing unusual. Everyone asks the same question: Are you prepared for the expansion? We also ask the same question to ourselves. We have 49 aircraft and we took five and a half years to achieve that. Some of our competitors added double our fleet size in just one and a half years.
A lot of questions have been raised on your safety practices. What would you like to tell our readers?
Flying with IndiGo is absolutely safe and there is no doubt about that. The reports in the media had the questions, but not the answers. The report is five weeks old and we clarified to the DGCA on that three weeks before. Safety is of paramount importance to us.
The civil aviation minister had recently told Business Standard he would look at allowing private carriers to use unutilised bilateral rights. Would you be looking at more destinations?
We think Indian carriers, both private and government, should have a fair share of the international traffic. Today, Indian carriers have not been able to utilise even a third of the total international rights the country has signed with various countries. This means foreign carriers will take away all the traffic. All private carriers who have applied should get an opportunity to fly international.
Do you think allowing foreign airlines to buy stake in domestic carriers would help the ailing industry?
We are not looking for investors, neither foreign nor domestic. But I don’t know whether foreign investment will itself be the solution to all the problems the Indian aviation is into. Foreign investment can bring in money, but how that money will be utilised is a different issue.
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How do you see the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority’s (AERA’s) proposed raise in Delhi airport charges?
Too high. AERA has come out with a consultation paper and we will respond to it. I look at it in a different way. What I always watch is what is the total cost a passenger has to pay for flying? If we make air travel too expensive for people to travel in the country, it will have an extremely damaging role to play in our economy. The high cost of travel will have a damaging impact on the economy and I mean it.
Critics have repeatedly questioned your profitability, especially since another low-cost carrier with the same business model as yours still makes losses. How differently do you run your business?
There is nothing unusual about it. There must be many low-fare carriers in Europe, but not all of those are as profitable as RyanAir. We focus on costs and running safe and efficient operations. And, this has a direct impact on running our operations efficiently. There are several such small things which bring the difference. I would not like to explain it further, as that is our trade secret.