With a global delay in the delivery of new aircraft, Pieter Elbers, the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of IndiGo, is not ruling out the possibility of the airline going for short-term leasing of aircraft. Elbers joined IndiGo after spending his entire thirty-year-long career with KLM, where he was President and CEO until July after the KLM Supervisory Board elected not to renew his contract. In conversation with Pieter Elbers - IndiGo's new CEO. AirInsight had an exclusive interview with Pieter Elbers (second on the left on the main picture) shortly after IndiGo’s maiden service from Mumbai to Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates. The new service, which was launched on September 22, is the 100th for IndiGo. Ashwini Phadnis: With reported delivery delays of Airbus aircraft, is IndiGo looking for short-term leasing of capacity? Pieter Elbers: “The shortage and the supply chain challenges in the market are a global issue. A lot of airlines are being faced with these delays. IndiGo with a lot of fleet on order is also affected. We're in constant dialogue with the aircraft and engine manufacturers. We are evaluating all options. I’m not ruling out any possibility. We would like to serve our customers. There's a lot of demand in the market. Airports in India like Mumbai are facing record numbers of customers. We would like to serve our customers and for that we need capacity.” AP: Are you planning to look at business class or first class in your cabin? PE: “If we're going to make any changes for international going forward, it's because we feel that's the right time to do it, it's not because of competition.” AP: Will the changes for international be on the narrow body or wide body? PE: “We are not ruling out any future developments. Today is a great example of developing our international network. We have the A321XLR order, which can fly further. The aircraft will come in a few years and that will help us have a larger range of network developments that could offer more destinations, more opportunities.” AP: The Airbus A321XLR will join the IndiGo fleet in 2024-25. Will their deployment be more on the international side or domestic? PE: “XLR stands for extra-long range. So by definition, they would operate on longer range routes, which is international.” AP: Are you talking about doing one-stop international or looking at non-stop international flights? PE: “The longest flight we have in our network is probably our flight to Istanbul. The XLR will enable us to fly further into Europe, and also further into Asia to North Asia to Southeast Asia. IndiGo’s network is already impressive. And looking at the size of India, where we fly from Delhi to certain parts or from Chennai or Hyderabad, we have a very different network from each of these places. The moment we have the extra-large, we could just expand that range and that reach of our network. That’s our vision.” AP: Is London on the cards? PE: “We haven't set up the precise set of destinations yet. We're working on getting all the details. We haven't published it yet. And we won't publish it yet. First, we will work out all the details. But clearly moving further into Europe, as well as further into Asia would be part of that.” IndiGo launched the new service to Ras Al Khaimah on September 22. (IndiGo) AP: Another start-up airline (in India) has raised pilot salaries to phenomenal levels. Is that putting pressure on IndiGo to follow suit? PE: “I think at IndiGo we follow our own strategy, our own policies. At the end of the day, we should look at how we move forward as a company. If we move on every dynamic or everything which happens in the world around us, we're getting nowhere. We should draft our own plan. Of course, we at look what's happening around us both from Akasa and Air India but we draft our own course and from there we build.” AP: What prompted your shift to India? You have spent your entire life in Europe. PE: “Well, I spent my entire career at KLM. I worked for thirty years at KLM. My choice for IndiGo really was the ambitions of the company and the potential of the company in combination with where India is moving in terms of drive, in terms of economic development, in terms of its place on the global stage, and the role IndiGo can play and that's a very exciting proposition.” AP: How much will your experience in dealing with pilots in unions in Air France-KLM help you in IndiGo? PE: “At the end of the day, I'm very much a believer that airlines are a people's business. You can buy two, maybe three different types of aircraft, you can buy two or three different types of seats, and you can buy two or three different types of engines. But what stands out eventually is the people who do the job, they make the service for our customers. At KLM it was a people's business. Here also it's a people's business. And that's the fun part of aviation. That's why it's so addictive. And that's why after thirty years, I continue to stay in the aviation field.” Meeting the new boss ahead of the first service to Ras Al Khaimah. (IndiGo) AP: Since you're the CEO of the company, do you feel Rakesh Gangwal reducing his stake will create instability in the company? PE: “I've been hired to run the company and that's what I'm doing. Being here today in my third week. I've been hired to develop the network to develop the company and to move it forward.” AP: How will you take on competition given that the Tatas will have four airlines? What kind of full-service carrier experience will you get into the low-cost carrier? Pieter Elbers: “IndiGo has built its position in a fantastic way over the past sixteen years. That's incredible and impressive by any standards. The fact that the Tatas are moving forward with Air India and their brands, it’s a good thing for the overall development of the aviation industry in India. The market will mature, there's room enough for everyone. The potential for India to grow as an aviation market is still enormous. It will be more competition for us. We welcome competition. It's good for the market.”
