Six Years Old and Still 6E

According to the aviation ministry, in September 2012, the market share for Jet Airways’ stood at 23.8%, Spicejet at 18.5% and Kingfisher Airlines at merely 3.5%. It is tough to run an airline. You could probably count the number of profitable ones on your finger tips with a few fingers to spare. Indigo Airlines celebrated their sixth birthday in August this year. They are six years old and still look lean and fit. They now hold more than 27% of the market share.Indigo has taken the road less traveled. They do not give frequent flyer miles, they charge for food and have no lounge at the airports and they have no Business Class. Isn’t this what has driven the whole frequent flyer system? Reward loyalty of the customers and they will be back in true Pavlovian style. Wrong. In the service industry, ultimately it can only and obviously be only about customer delight. Indigo has done just that.Airline customers have had two extremes to choose from. They could either choose one of the low cost airlines which are no better than flying versions of Haryana Roadways buses or pay a steep premium and even as the airline keeps removing every single premium feature.As a frequent flyer with Jet I saw this happen. The fleet was not modernized and the planes got tacky. To hide the operating inefficiencies the premier carriers had to cut costs. While Jet and Kingfisher both tried to subtle and invisible in the fat trimming measures, after a while it became hard to hide. Then they didn’t care what you thought of it. They first stopped magazines and newspapers. Then they shaved the corners off food and reduced the number of cabin crew. The seats became cramped. The only thing they could not drop further was punctuality. It was already the pits. And they didn't care if the passengers noticed.You will notice everywhere that when service levels drop, the leaders get into denial. The first step of denial is to commission customer feedback surveys. If you know what to fix why waste time by asking people to fill surveys. At a point, it was so bad that if any passenger made eye contact with any of the cabin crew, they would be handed out a feedback form to fill.  If you asked for a glass of water and got it, you could bet the crew member would smile and ask you to fill up a feedback form.What does Indigo do differently? They differentiate in ways that make them unique and yet cost no money.Punctuality: Airlines must remember that their fundamental raison d'être is to take off and land on time. This is perhaps the big difference that drew me to choose Indigo in the first place. After being cooped up in a Jet airways flight, with no air-conditioning for ninety minutes and then waiting on the tarmac queued up in that sauna like condition, I finally felt I had had enough. There are was no point filling yet another Kasht Se Mar (aka customer) surveys that wouldn't even get acknowledged. It was time to switch.When I hear the Indigo crew announce with a swagger that the flight has taken off punctually as per "Indigo Standard Time" I can't help sharing their pride. Let the other airlines follow Indian Stretchable Time, I couldn't care.Humanize The Employee-Customer Relation: The Indigo cabin crew is introduced by name, the city they belong to and the languages they speak. Trivia like that always makes it more interesting and creates a “connect” between the passengers and the crew. That little gesture suddenly makes them real people. Many of the other airlines announce the names of the cabin crew and pilot. Without that little personal information about their city and the languages they speak, merely announcing their names makes it sound impersonal like the long list of names of unknowns from Jhumri Talaiyya who would request songs on Vividh Bharati.Sense of Humour: Their signage looks hip and friendly. The tongue-in-cheek humour makes the brand comes alive as irreverent, smart and ready to challenge convention. To advertise same day return flights in metros, Indigo had run a campaign called, “Sleep with your wife”. The head of the cabin staff gets to wear a badge that says "Leading Lady".  They sell cashew nuts in a collectible, reusable tin marked "Nut Case". I like that wacky sense of humour. The airlines code for Indigo is 6E. Their in-flight shopping mag is called Hello 6E that makes it sound very close to ‘Hello Sexy’. I wish they would sell some useful stuff like books and music instead of the useless knick knacks that I am not sure I have seen anyone buy. The sign on the door that leads to the cockpit says, "Flying is a serious profession. Do not carry your worries beyond this point." Their ad for Captains and co-pilots was unlike most job ads. It was cool and appealing. Humour works.Every airline must be judged by the experience of the economy class passenger. Indian consumers are extremely conscious about what they will describe as value for money. It is not about affordability. It is about getting what we pay for. People take pride in being frugal but hate being called cheap. Airlines would do well to remember that lesson.-----------------Read my other posts from the Times of India Blogs <click here>