How Akasa Air’s Vinay Dube is taking on the IndiGo-Air India duopoly
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Mumbai/Delhi: When it fell on its sword on 2 May 2023, Go First suggested that one issue alone was to blame for its downfall. It blamed Pratt & Whitney, saying problems with the American company’s engines had forced it to ground half its fleet of Airbus 320neo aircraft.
The airline had somehow lurched on amid flight cancellations, a drastically reduced schedule, layoffs and resignations. Eventually, however, the asphyxiating Wadia Group-owned low-cost carrier could not stave off respiratory failure—unable to meet its financial obligations, it voluntarily filed for insolvency. Vinay Dube, who had been chief executive officer (CEO) of the airline for a short stint that had ended in August 2020, probably heaved a sigh of relief that he was not at the helm when Go First went under.
He’d been in that situation once before, at Jet Airways four years earlier. It was a dubious distinction he was happy to avoid repeating, even if both airlines had been facing turbulence well before he joined them. Dube is now the CEO of Akasa Air, which, like Go First, faces a recurring problem.
Akasa Air’s entire fleet is made up of one aircraft type; while this is a practice followed by airlines around the world, as it helps keep operations and maintenance costs in check, the plane that Akasa chose to operate is the Boeing 737 Max. It is an aircraft that has faced frequent problems since its inception. Akasa has ordered 226 Max planes for its fleet, getting a discount thanks to it not being the first choice for most airlines.
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