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Bruce Ashby is IndiGo airline’s CEO
BY OUR AVIATION CORRESPONDENT
17 July, 2005: Bruce Ashby, the executive vice president-marketing and planning of US Airways, will head India’s latest no-frill’s airline IndiGo.
Ashby has handled finance, operations, corporate development, planning and marketing at US Airways.
Ashby, 44, who has put in nine years in US Airways and is currently guiding its proposed merger with America West Holdings, is likely to take charge at the end of July or early August.
Ashby’s designation in Indigo would be Chief Executive Officer, media reports said. Indigo is slated to begin operations only next year.
Reports said Rakesh Gangwal, a former top aide of US Airways, was instrumental in roping in Ashby to Indigo. Rakesh Gangwal is one of the investors in Indigo.
This is not the first time a foreigner has been appointed as a top official in an Indian airliner. Both the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and CEO of Jet Airways, India’s largest private airline, are foreigners. Low-cost airline Air Deccan has chosen a foreigner national from Ryan Air to be its new COO.
India’s aviation sector is currently witnessing a boom, with analysts predicting a growth of 25% every year.
Indigo had hit the headlines at the Paris Airshow recently after it placed orders worth $6 million with European aircraft maker Airbus for 100 A320 aircraft. Liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher airlines as well as Jet also placed some major orders at the Paris Air show, stunning aviation analysts.
Low cost or budget airlines target upper class train travelers by offering cheap prices.Air Deccan, which began operations in August, 2003. It started with regular flights from Bangalore to Mangalore and Hubli. In September, 2003, it started a hub at Hyderabad.Air Deccan was the first private operator to fly Airbus aircraft in July 2004. It also broke convention by linking second rung cities like Coimbatore, Hubli, Madurai, Vizag to the metros and main cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad.
BY OUR AVIATION CORRESPONDENT
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