Last week, Akasa Air completed its first year of operation. The airline took delivery of its 20th aircraft, thus becoming the fastest in Indian skies to reach the magic number which allows the airline to start flying internationally. As the airline celebrated these two milestones at its headquarters, a few kilometers away, another airlines’ headquarters was brewing with efforts and question marks to bring the airline back in the air.
Ironic as it may seem, Vinay Dube was the CEO at Go FIRST before moving out one fine day. He then went on to start Akasa Air. Not just Vinay, many from the initial team at Akasa Air have a small pit-stop at Go FIRST. The similarities don’t end there! Akasa Air placed an order for 72 aircraft, exactly the same number for which Go FIRST (then Go Air) had placed the order in 2011. While Akasa Air welcomed the 20th aircraft with much fanfare, the 20th aircraft for Go Air was not taken up(ntu) by the airline, instead opting to wait for the A320neo and in the process delaying international operations. Go Air started international operations 13 years after its inception, while Akasa Air would do it in its second year itself.
Why would I speak about this now and draw parallels? When IndiGo started operations in 2006, (nine months after Go Air), the founder of Go Air, has often talked about this being a marathon (and not a sprint). In the Indian aviation space, anybody who has tried running a marathon has not been successful and has drained money. Akasa Air, too, has drained money in the first year but it has achieved the critical mass which is likely to grow from here on.
Is it a coincidence that Akasa Air’s sprint and Go FIRST’s marathon went in different directions in the same year? It will take a long time for everyone to know what exactly went wrong with the engine deal at Go FIRST. No doubt the engine created issues, but the subsequent allegations and counter allegations have not led anywhere, thus far.
As more groups plan foray into aviation, both known and unknown entities – it is important to keep this in mind that a sprint works better than a marathon, but aviation is a series of sprints which feels like an unending marathon and needs deep pockets until some critical mass is reached.
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