In another shakeup in the top management of the domestic carrier, Chief Commercial Officer Sanjay Kumar has parted ways with IndiGo. According to the airline’s official statement, he has put in his papers to pursue other career interests. He was associated with the LCC for the past 12 years and will be replaced by William Boulter – who is currently the Chief Strategy Officer for the airlines. Not too long ago, Aditya Ghosh had resigned as the President and whole-time director and was tipped to be replaced by Greg Taylor. The latter is currently associated with the airline as a Senior Advisor.
Interestingly, William Boulter comes with a wealth of ‘international experience’ and has served as the Board Director of TAAG Angola Airline, CCO of Gulf Air and Group Commercial Director of Virgin Atlantic Airways, among others.
This transition for IndiGo has come about at a time when a new race brewing for the pole-position in the long-haul low-cost segment (LHLC). WoW Airlines, a carrier based out of Iceland, has recently announced LHLC flights to the USA, at prices as low as INR 13,499 for a one-way ticket. SpiceJet, too, has gone public with similar intentions. IndiGo is following suit and later this year is likely to be flying long-haul to Europe and, later, the USA.
Therefore, the changings of the guard in the top tier of IndiGo’s management indicates that the airline is gearing towards facing the challenges in its international operations. The airline has not yet announced any partnership with another carrier – which is expected to be an important issue in its operation. Some experts have also suggested that the airline might opt for a point-to-point approach, restricting itself to secondary airports in the initial phase.
It remains to be seen how the cookie crumbles, but the airline is certainly aligning itself to meeting the challenges ahead.
