In his forthcoming book, business journalist Tarun Shukla analyzes Indian commercial aviation and deciphers the secret behind IndiGo’s success and the likely future for the airline.
As we know, IndiGo was one of the late entrants in the low-cost airline business in India. The market already had strong players by then, many of them new – including Capt. Gopinath’s Air Deccan, Ajay Singh’s SpiceJet, Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines, and Wadia-Group’s GoAir.
The book — ”Sky High: The Untold Story of IndiGo” — reveals how IndiGo, in a matter of a few years, not only became profitable but also the most valuable airline in the history of Indian aviation, while other airlines struggled and continued to, and others simply grounded. It also talks about what makes it prosper despite a troubled and often loss-riddled industry.
Published by HarperCollins India, ”Sky High: The Untold Story of IndiGo” will be released on 28 June on SoftCover, ThePrint’s online venue to launch non-fiction books.
The author — Tarun Shukla — has been a business journalist for over a decade now, with his works published in Mint, Hindustan Times, WSJ, Ashgate Publishing, Financial Express, and The Pioneer. His series exposing India’s air safety gaps in 2010 bagged a Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) gold award for investigative reporting.
Sky High is a detailed account of how one dream, two friends, and some great execution created the biggest airline in India. It is based on years of meticulous research, extensive interviews, and authoritative data.
Air Deccan’s founder, Captain G.R. Gopinath, praised Tarun in the foreword of the book, mentioning that he has done a commendable job. “That is, to write on aviation with all its complexity and technicalities, to get behind the façade of glamor and hype that surrounds it and sift facts from folklore and present the story on the making of an impressive and successful airline in the Indian context, in a way that appeals to the common people who are curious about aviation, and adds to the knowledge of aviation enthusiasts. This is no easy task, especially when the promoters of IndiGo are self-effacing and avoid the inquisitive press”.
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