The Indigo Story: Inside the Upstart that Redefined Indian Aviation

by Shelley Vishwajeet

The IndiGo Story is a fascinating analysis of the manner in which an unknown entity entered the perilous Indian sky and became its undisputed leader both in terms of market share and profitability. Lucidly written and sharply argued, this book highlights the company's formative years as a fearless start-up and its evolution into one of India's most game-changing, profitable brands. Going into great detail and with a deep understanding of the airline industry, the author uncovers little-known facts about how the airline displaced old players and new competitors, and proved the doomsday predictors wrong in double-quick time. So what was the magic IndiGo wielded? What was the secret mantra of their success? How did they get it right when most failed or struggled? Uncover all this and much more in this captivating book.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, India, Biography, Entrepreneurship, Indian Literature, Management

179 pages, Hardcover

Published September 20, 2018

Reviews

[Dr. Appu Sasidharan (Dasfill) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book discusses how a small company with very few aircraft became the largest airline company in India, surpassing seven rival companies led by business giants with a lot of expertise and money like Naresh Goyal and Vijay Mallya.

The three pillars which were the reason for the success of Indigo are dealt with in detail in this book

“Indigo continues to adhere to these three pillars
1) On time performance
2) Low cost connectivity
3) High service standards.”

When most LCCs worldwide failed and suffered huge losses, and most business visionaries like Warren Buffet lost hundreds of millions of dollars (Buffet lost more than 700 million dollars in airline stocks), how this small company called Indigo became successful is a remarkable story. Indigo’s success story also had few setbacks like the PV Sindhu issue, training issue, and pilot exodus. But despite these setbacks, the perfect copilots Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal dared to dream and converted a wild idea to a reality, which proved helpful to millions of people.

This book is not just the story of Indigo airlines, but it also is the history of global aviation and Indian aviation and is a must-read book if you are an aviation enthusiast.

[Ashish Iyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book focuses more on Indian airlines and very little on Indigo. Book does have a lot of graphs and data. Read it if you are into comparative study or case study.

[AK · Rating 3 out of 5]

My honest view is that the title of this book is misleading. There is nothing more you get to know from the book about Indigo than is already there in media. I was expecting to know about the entire making of Indigo what it is today but the book disappointed me.

The book is however full of charts and statistics which gives you some insight into shaping of airline industry !!

[Sourabh Rohilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indigo - That flight you take when you have to be on time. Indigo has come to dominate air-travel mindshare of flyers with impeccable neatness, unfailing clockwork, courteous staff, super-efficient operations and no-nonsense experience. Shelley Vishwajeet does a commendable job of writing the story of Indigo, starting from scratch in 2005 to their current 40% market share in domestic market.
Also, pretty cool insights on aviation business, how Indigo runs the show and manages to be operationally super-efficient, history of aviation sector in India (starting from 1911 btw), and evolution of LCCs phenomenon around the world.
You have to read the story of people who pulled off Indigo, one of the finest businesses built in India over past 15 years.

[Dr. Tathagat Varma · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is not just the story of Indigo but starts with history of global aviation followed by history of India aviation before finally starting with the Indigo story. To that end, the listener (I listened to Audible version) can fully appreciate the overall context in which Indigo was launched, but the discussion on Indigo gets reduced to just a few chapters!

However, overall, I would recommend the book to anyone looking for a good well-researched introduction to (or a version of the historical accounts in Indian aviation).

[Ravi Shankar · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want to know the history of Indian aviation, I would highly recommend this book, this is interesting for me as I'm currently in aviation, I don't think I could've finished it if I was not working in this industry.

[Alok Kejriwal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alas, another "DO NOT BUY" recommendation. It's a book that starts well and fades into a boring record log of data points. The more significant issue is that the book seems outdated & frozen in time (2018?)

Nevertheless, any book and its author usually have some exciting nuggets & wisdom in their writing. Here are the highlights and my comments below:

- "The uniqueness of IndiGo comes with its ability to listen and adapt to what the new generation of Indians want from air travel."

(The airline's success is a playbook for entrepreneurs = the market HAS imperfections. Look, find, fix, win?)

- How J.R.D Tata did NOT accept the recommendation of his Chief Legal Adviser to cut the commission of his partner.

(WHY Tata IS Tata)

- The PHENOMENA called "Southwest Airlines" and how it completely re-invented aviation & the low-cost carrier model.

"No frills" did NOT mean lackadaisical service. Point to Point vs Hub and Spoke models. Faith in a single class of aircraft - Boeing 737-800. SW doesn't believe in hiring people with fancy management degrees. It made its first loss AFTER 48 years, unfortunately, due to Covid)

(Suggestion - read up on the airline directly.)

- Stelios Haji-Ioannou - Founder of Easyjet motto "Making flying as affordable as a pair of jeans".

- Operating cost of an airline: Fuel cost (ATF): 35–45 % B. Lease and rentals: 15–20 % C. Maintenance: 7–12 % D. User charges (airport charges + passenger services): 10–15 % E. HR + administrative cost: 10–20 % F. Ticketing, sales and promotions: 5–10 % G. Other operating expenses: 5–10 %

- IndiGo has the lowest count of employees per aircraft at 110. SpiceJet and Jet Airways have more than 140 employees per aircraft, while GoAir has 120. (Not sure if this is updated)

- Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Atlantic and Virgin America, had once famously remarked, 'If you want to be a millionaire, start with a billion dollars and launch a new airline!'

Book notes - https://bit.ly/dkb-indigo

[Nitin · Rating 1 out of 5]

The foreward of book made it sound so promising. And that was best part. Book just nosedived from there. When book subtitles starts with "Inside the upstart", one will expect at least some insider story from the company. But unfortunately, book makes no effort. It has been written based on stories already available in public domain. Author didn't seem to have even interviewed founders, ex-ceo or anybdoy else for the book. The story is added with graphs and tables available publicly and even when the content was not enough, author probably chose to add history of Indian aviation and LCC across the world. Added to misery, there are numerous inconsistencies, typos, grammatical mistakes. Some parts are just repetitive. Avoid this book with hope to read about real Indigo story, better written by somebody else. I am sure there will be one.

[Swateek · Rating 3 out of 5]

The airline business is fascinating, and to understand why so is genuine curiosity. The Indian aviation sector had a turbulent previous decade but this one airline which stayed fresh and well ~ Indigo is a curious case.

Richard Branson once famously wrote, "To become a millionaire, have a billion dollar and start an airline business".

This book is very stats heavy, which speaks for its thorough research and takes a bit to consume, however you learn quite a lot!

[Anshuman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written book, not only does it talk about how Indigo came into existence but also the history of Indian Aviation.
It’s quite an interesting read, talks about the challenges the airlines need to overcome in order to be profitable or just to keep their heads above the water.
Recommend this to the ones in Aviation.

[Cyril Danthi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The indigo story summaries on the overall aviation industry in India from the beginning, which is really interesting. The author has put all-out efforts in bring how indigo started as an underdog could achieve the market share and profits compared to the competition.
Although quite surprising without having vision and mission, the leadership could only poke upon 3 pillars,
1. On-time performance
2. Low cost connectivity and
3. High standard service
Became the overall mantra for the operation and decision making.

The author provide an high-level insight on what worked well for Indigo
1. Steadfast adherence to cost optimization goals
2. Consistent performance
3. Managing to do more with less

There are no details on how technology, people and systems played a role in above. Without people, process and systems it couldn't have happened is missing in the book.

Overall a good read to understand how aviation industry was underplayed by succisve government.

[Tejaswini Sharma · Rating 3 out of 5]

The content of the book hasn't done justice to the title. It's having whole Indian Aviation Story more than the Indigo Story alone.

[Rz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book with Indigo's side of the story on their growth and the aviation market in India. Could be a quick read for any Aviation enthusiast. It's one hell of a story how Gangwal and Bhatia came together and built Indigo.

[Anshuman Agrawal · Rating 2 out of 5]

- Lot of data and charts which reflects lot of number crunching but misses a narrative to tie it all together. At times, it begins to feel like PowerPoint sides.
- Aviation puns (like hit an air pocket, nosedived, et al.) which would have been funny if used judiciously but are repeated so often that it becomes annoying.
- Corny lines such as 'Indigo did nothing different but did things differently' taken right out of a Shiv Khera manuscript.
- Attempt at summarizing Indigo's strategy looked like excerpts from their investor pitch and is aimlessly repeated every once in a while without tying it all together in a coherent narrative.
- No real insights into the airline business which has fascinated yet eluded many a seasoned businessmen around the world.
- Errors and discrepancies in dates, numbers, etc. in consecutive paragraphs and some times in consecutive sentences.

- A good, very brief history of aviation in India and prominent LCCs across the world, though.

Disappointing read, could barely finish reading it only because I was immensely interested in knowing about the industry and the company.

[Priyadarshi Ranjan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice and entertaining format for explaining a business and the book is easy to understand. Details on how the partnership forged and how various market situation played is captured. Deep diving into certain aspects of what additionally went wrong or which ideas were not pursued should have been added #kitaabjunction

[Vivek Srinivasan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite possibly the least entertaining book that could have been written on the subject. It was anything but a story. The first quarter of the book was a chronicle of aviation industry and the prevailing industrial setup at from the time of independence.

Then a huge amount of the book is spent bad mouthing competitors rather than focusing on the inside story of what went on at Indigo.

Get it if you are looking to read an industry report.

Thoroughly disappointed.

[Veenit Mavani · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a third person's view/assessment on the history of Indian aviation, market scenario and consequent rise of Indigo. It includes indepth analysis of the market conditions and competitive analysis of various Low Cost and Full Service Carriers prior to and during Indigo's growth. While it is an interesting read, I would have liked if it gave a sneak peak into the journey of the founders Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal in making Indigo a marker leader.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked up from the airport bookstore for my newfound interest in aviation sector and curiosity.

Surprisingly a great read I had. Mr. Viswajeet has structured it well with great amount of research going into it. I recommend this to readers curious about aviation industry, the business and how low cost airlines can make it profitable

[Harsh Thaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent write up on the Indian civil aviation sector. Gives the reason on why Indigo is currently ruling the skies and the pitfalls to avoid like the one's committed by defunct airlines. For a business analyst it gives an benchmark on how to measure successful airlines.

[Anuj Pant · Rating 1 out of 5]

More an long essay than a book

The book is nowhere close to doing justice to its title.
It's an amalgamation of facts graphs, random quotes, public press releases, aviation in general and one or two tidbits about indigo.

[Saprativa Bhattacharjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only Indigo, this book talks about the entire Indian Airlines industry.

[Prakhar Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent view into the rise, fall and state of Indian aviation industry

[Ruturaj Yadav · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great start for anyone trying to understand at Aviation sector. Also the story of Indigo is no doubt commendable which is put forth in a meticulous and apt way by the author.

[Sathish · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you are expecting a behind the scene look at how indigo airlines was created, this is not the book for you. The author, despite his claim of being an aviation industry insider, does not seem to have any first hand sources worth mentioning. The book was not written with the co-operation of the promoters or the leadership of Indigo Airlines. Using newspaper stories and articles and (often sketchy) blogs as the primary source of information, the book is neither comprehensive nor informative. The outsider view that the book presents is no better than a "D-" assignment from a lazy college student trying really hard to reach the 200 page limit. Paraphrasing sections from news reports and repeating the same graphs over and over hardly counts as journalism. A quick Google search about the author throws up very little to show that he is well versed in the workings of the aviation industry; and this book is testament to that.

While the content is regurgitated news articles, the readability of the book is somehow worse. Rupa as a publishing house is not known for stellar standards but even they seem to have dropped the ball with this book. The author uses words that he doesn't seem to know the meaning of. On a whim the tone of the book shifts from first person to third person to dispassionate observer to corporate propaganda to mindless sycophancy. Sometimes a single sentence would use both future and past tense, making it close to impossible to understand. The worst transgression was towards the end of the book, the author, no doubt in jubilation over having reached the end of his Magnum Opus, gets the name of the company co-founders mixed up.

What this book needs is an editor who could have deleted those redundant paragraphs and cleaned up the mistakes and used the right words (or just deleted the manuscript). What this author needs is a friend who tells him the truth; the truth that he should ideally not be writing anything more strenuous than a shopping list.

AVOID like the plague The author is a grifter trying to line his pockets and increase his clout by writing about a company he knows very little about.

[Bhuvanesh Kandasamy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book to understand the aviation industry in India. The book is structured well with the initial sections giving an overview of history of aviation in India along with successes and failure of aircraft companies across the world. The southwest airline business model of LCCs was learned and refined by Indigo for the Indian market. The book explains the gruesome business of the aircraft industry by breaking down the costs such as fuel, employee cost, maintenance, permits etc. and only thin margins left for the most well run player. Indigo's innovative way of buying a single model of Airbus along with signing contracts with Airbus for engine failure protection for fixed term helped it maintain lower costs than its competitors. Indigo which was started by an aviation industry veteran Rakesh Gangwal and a serial entrepreneur Rahul Bhatia brought synergy to grow the business. They achieved high flight utilisation by providing good customer service along with ontime departure and arrival. The book is written in a neutral tone sharing successes and failures of Indigo. Currently, both the founders' relationship with each other has gone sour with Gangwal slowly exiting the company. But the story of how they built the company is case study for all.

[Avtar Ram Singh · Rating 3 out of 5]

IndiGo's rise is an incredible story, unfortunately it's not covered well in this narrative. Other reviewers are correct in stating that this reads more like a history of Indian aviation, a well-researched piece that chronicles the rise and fall of many airlines - but only talking about public information, and content that you'll be able to find in plenty of places.

What I was hoping for, was the IndiGo story, as the title promised. There is however, no peek behind the curtain. No excerpts or stories from board rooms or meeting rooms, no information from people that worked at IndiGo or other airlines that give you their perspective. A lot of rigorous secondary research went into this, but barely any primary research.

I was also mildly alarmed by the grammatical errors, and the overall editing. The charts weren't properly designed, numbers faded into bars of the same colour, and it lacked that editing polish that you'd expect. We're a little off tangent here, but it's worth noting.

In the absence of another story that talks through the rise of IndiGo, this will do, but I'll be very surprised if this goes down as the authoritative piece. It's far from it.

[Ankit Jain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book details the airline’s journey from its inception in 2006 to its dominance in the market, emphasizing its disciplined cost structure, operational efficiency, and customer-centric approach.

One of the standout aspects of the book is how it explains the airline’s simple yet powerful strategy—sticking to a single aircraft type, maintaining quick turnaround times, and focusing on punctuality. It also delves into the leadership of Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal, whose vision and execution played a crucial role in IndiGo’s success.

The book is well-researched and engaging, making it an interesting read for business enthusiasts, aviation lovers, and anyone curious about how companies can disrupt an industry with strong fundamentals and a clear vision. However, it focused a lot on general airline industry and had a ton of graphs and chart for comparison, it could have explored more of the internal challenges and leadership conflicts in greater depth of Indigo.

Overall, The Indigo Story is an inspiring read that highlights how discipline, strategy, and customer focus can lead to extraordinary success.

[Aditya Jandial · Rating 3 out of 5]

For starters, it's a book easy enough for anyone to read and make sense of the Dynamics of Indian Aviation and it's growth since 1920s. The book goes almost overboard in singing paeans about the airlines that changed the way investors look at airlines

My problem with the book:
1) I always found it just scratching the surface with hardly anything that someone aware of the market would not know. We all know how cost cutting is the mantra to LCC business but barring flight purchases and keeping it no frills, there is hardly anything the book offers.
2) I seriously started feeling nauseating when the writer went back again and again just to talk about the yearly market share trend indigo has been able to capture.
3) Chart selection at most just helped me skip the page knowing what the text was about
4) The book just comes too close to paid advertising for the airlines especially when it says, 'the firm has always aimed at increasing the aviation pie rather than striving for a bigger share' and all I could do was grim at the writer's choice of words.

[Nagarjun · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light but fun read for Indian aviation enthusiasts. Richard Branson famously said, "if you want to become a millionaire, start with a billion Dollars and launch an airline." Running an airline is probably the most challenging and most operationally/capital intensive business in the world.

Despite all of these challenges, Indigo grew to become India's largest airline. Growing to such a scale in a price-sensitive market like India is doubly impressive! The author uncovers the origins of the company, it's founders, and sheds light on the relentless discipline with which the business is run.

While Indigo's story is awe-inspiring, it is not without problems. This book was written before the boardroom tug-of-war that led to the departure of the company's celebrated CEO - Aditya Ghosh. The author doesn't venture into any negative aspects of the company, so this book feels positively biased. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading it!

[Bhads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shelley Vishwajeet's "The Indigo Story" is a detailed, transparent work of the most successful airline in India- Indigo, that brought about a huge boom in the aviation sector. Indigo's ups and downs since 2005 have been very clearly narrated by the author.

Truly the visions of Bhatia and Gangwal has created the most 'cost effective' airline in India. Today, the undisputable position of Indigo is more or less a story of ethical sucess and growth for all. Worth reading for new knowledge regarding the aviation sector in the international and national spheres too.

The transformation of the airline industry, the various ups and downs of competitors like Spicejet, Kingfisher, Jet Airways etc give a brief insight into the sector altogether. Congratulating Shelley on this quite impressive writing, what with facts and figures, makes a very interesting read.