Indian Airlines: Indigo's Sustainable Model

Facing a 3 hour delay on Kingfisher, I negotiated a transfer to Indigo airlines on my last domestic flight in India. I was impressed with the start-up discount carrier and I believe that have the most sustainable long-term model for India's growing domestic market.

Indigo most closely resembles Southworst or RyanAir - a no-frills, all-economy-class airline flying a single jet type (A320) on short-haul routes. Indigo has no fancy in flight entertainment, no fancy amenities, and just like RyanAir, sells products and snacks other than water on board. For a 90 minute flight, this is just fine and I didn't see any passengers complaining.

The no-frills structure allows them to turn aircraft faster than competitors and while I have no data to prove it, I'm guessing that they enjoy a superior on time performance as a result. Additionally, as wage costs and congestion affect the Indian skies, Indigo's quick turn, low-cost model may be much more scalable than the high touch services offered by competitors.

In my experience, Indian consumers are very modern in their approach to purchasing products - they adhere to the "Well Curve" philosophy rather than the "Bell Curve". That means that for some services they prefer low cost, low touch and for others high cost and high touch. While domestic services for Jet Airways and Kingfisher sit in the middle of this picture, Indigo sits neatly at one end of the scale. I believe it will be a hit with cost conscious Indian travelers.