People Matters

How has the economic scenario in India impacted your business?

In a global economy, no country is an economic island and India is no exception. Having said that, I would not describe the present economic scenario as ‘grave’. The consumption story in India remains strong and there is huge potential for growth. India is one of the most under-penetrated aircraft markets in the world and tens of millions of Indians need to fly. IndiGo will continue to chase that opportunity.

Is there any implication on your talent strategy?

There will be no impact. We will continue to hire and train, in keeping with our growth. In fact, we are almost doubling our learning and development facility called ‘i-fly’ over the next few months.

What does the airline do to develop leaders within itself? Please shed some light on the in-house training that happens in this regard.

At IndiGo, I have a vision that we will be able to build out an ‘army of leaders’ who can take IndiGo to the next level, as well as create something that we, as Indians, can be proud of - a world beating benchmark. IndiGo is what it is today because of the team that I get to work with every day. And that’s not just the leadership team in Gurgaon, but all 5,400 of us, spread across the country. Each and every team member is a leader and my hope is that one day, each and every one of them, will feel and act as ‘the President of the company’.

We have a phenomenal learning and development team at our learning academy called ‘i-fly’. The dedicated leadership related coaching vertical at i-fly along with the folks at HR, are the people who work the magic.

The airline industry is obviously a high-pressure industry. How do you motivate your team?

Motivation comes from within. Not from a manual or a set of instructions. We are all chasing a dream at IndiGo. That dream is not one. It is different for different people. But that opportunity that IndiGo provides for each one of us, to chase our dreams every day, is what motivates us to run to the best of our ability. If the time spent at IndiGo, gets us closer to our personal dreams, then it is really worth our while!