Indigo – The king of the Indian skies

As small kids, we all fantasize about flying in the sky someday. And today it is possible for us. But back in the time, when traveling in an airplane was considered a luxury, Indigo emerged as a guardian angel for middle-class people. Today, the dominance of the Indigo is pretty evident. Indigo's name emerges on the top when we search for a flight whether it is a direct or the cheapest. So with this case study, let's learn how Indigo became the only profitable company in Indian Markets.

Indigo’s Rise – A Miracle or a Masterclass?

Indian Aviation is considered a graveyard for airline companies for a reason. In India, there are many examples such as Deccan Air, Jet Airways, Sahara Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, and many more whose planes touched the sky but their profit didn’t. So if you want to survive in the Indian markets, you have to think like Indian consumers. And this is what Indigo exactly did.

In 2005, Indigo took benefit of Airbus’ situation and gave them a bulk order of around 100 aircraft on which they gained a handsome amount of discount. Today also Indigo is a loyal customer of Airbus as they only purchase from Airbus. This loyalty helps Indigo to be efficient and cost-effective. Indigo has learned the art of connecting with its customers.

Their Marketing strategy is so superb that it quickly connects with Indian customers. And the most important thing, Indigo provides us with the cheapest fairs in the world. Indigo also has an impressive operating model called the sales and leaseback model which helps them to earn more profits.

As India imports crude oil from foreign nations, there is no control over the prices of oil. So by using the Airbus aircraft, Indigo’s flights became 10% more fuel efficient, and using the sale and leaseback policy, they also built huge cash reserves as a corpus. As their tagline says, “On time, every time” Indigo used a perfect strategy every time and at a perfect time which helped them become the largest Indian airline.

With this small case study of Indigo, students like us can learn some management thoughts.

1)     It is not impossible to survive even in the worst conditions if you have a concrete plan.

2)     No matter what, always stick to your motto. ( In this case, it was to provide cheap flights)

3)     Good companies learn from their mistakes, great ones learn from other's mistakes.

4)     Each company should perfectly analyze the market conditions, consumer behaviors, and consumer demands and strategize accordingly.

Like this, Indigo touched the Indian skies literally and otherwise. Now you can buy a flight ticket at the same cost as a 2-tier train ticket. Kudos to Indigo!!

Credits: Think School, Winner brand Academy, Finshots- TV

Disclaimer:

ED cell serves as a student-led community focused solely on educational purposes. We do not intend to hurt emotions of any kind, and the articles are not intended to hurt political or religious sentiments. They are based on various sources, opinions, and secondary data. We give credit to all the sources used in the information provided in the above article.