How is Indigo doing?

[apachelongbow]

Hi,

Does anyone know how good/bad/ugly is Indigo doing? Since its a privately held concern, there are no figures on their financials/business plans/models.

I know for a fact that the parent group, Inter globe is over Rs 5000 crores in revenues and around Rs 200 crores in profits so they are in pretty good shape.

Wanted to check what is the impact of these trying times on Indigo? Will they survive the next 2-5 years?

Any employees/pilots/expats please comment. It would help newbies like me evaluate each airline before taking a plunge with anyone of them.

PS: If someone wants to PM some details to me, please feel free
TIA

[Left Wing]

if you are a non jet rated pilot and have a job offer on A320 GRAB IT...and get your 500 hrs on type ASAP...

[bad_attitude]

i am one of the people trying to get in. lets see how that works out ...

so far its the only airline not in the news. no news is good news.

[apachelongbow]

Well there is some news today. As per economictimes (www.economictimes.com (http://www.economictimes.com)) Indigo airlines CEO Mr. Bruce Ashby is quitting the airline and will leave as early as begining next quarter. Mr. Rajeev Bhatia (the founder) has not yet announced who will be the CEO, currently a board member is taking over.

Not sure why is Mr. Ashby moving out (he was the founder CEO) and was prone to giving the media lots of quotes. Not sure where is he going.

Not sure how the airline is doing now.

[bad_attitude]

India's Indigo undergoing management change (http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/08/20/314966/indias-indigo-undergoing-management-change.html)

Ashby says when he joined Indigo in August 2005 he signed a three-year contract and agreed to stay for the full three years.
But once the contract lapsed "I decided not to renew but to stay on" for a few more months to help with the transition to a new CEO, he adds.


apachelongbow ... are you trying for their first officer program or the cadet program?

[apachelongbow]

I am doing nither. Just sitting on the fence and watching. btw I am not a cpl holder as yet :)

I just hope and pray for all folks who have spent $$$ to get their CPL, or in the process of doing so, this bad times ends soon and they get their jobs....

[bad_attitude]

well apache, thank you very much for your good wishes for the unemployed CPL holders! :ok:

well, the situation will take a long long to stabilize. as there are way to many unemployed CPL holders floating around right now.

for e.g. Jet Airways had held an exam for trainee first officers last month. for a handful of seats there were well in excess of 1900 pilots!

the odd's right now are looking very good indeed.

[Left Wing]

well in excess of 1900 pilots!..so its back to 90's.....when there about 1000 unemployed pilots in India.....

[Airbusdriverindia]

I just finished a stint at Indigo and I can tell you there word is worth nothing. Ask any expat there, they will tell you the same thing. Lying cheating deception. They lie to get what they want. Thats why most expats leave in the middle of the night never to return. Most have had it .with the local 200hr wonder boys, The 2000 hr captain with a head like a basketball who"s only other experience includes C-150. The D.O Told all the expats F/O's in a re-current class last week to find a new job and find it fast. They don't like expats there and they treat them poorly. they promissed upgrades to experience typed airman and never delivered. They claim it was a DGCA issue. They asked for a two year contract and are telling them to go away after 1. I was told Indigo is one of the better ones to go too. Do yourself a favor and everyone stay away from India .

[cyrilroy21]

Does anyone know whether the Indigo Cadet Pilot program in association with Sabena is still running ?

[bad_attitude]

yes, it is still on. Contact CBB India ASAP.

SFA India (http://www.sfa-india.com/indigo/trainee/contact.htm)

do keep in mind, the bond amount is a measly 110 crores! :ugh::ugh::ugh::mad::mad::mad:

[cyrilroy21]

Is this bond for only for cadet pilot or all pilots who join Indigo ?

Also Do you happen to know how to get the verification of board certificates of 10th and 12th . Mine is CBSE

[spedfast]

110 crores!!! Surely thats a typo!

cyrilroy, as far as I know, the verification letter you are talking about is only required by DGCA at the time of conversion of your license. This letter should be the least of your worries mate.You still got many miles to cover...
cheers

[bad_attitude]

oh guys!

i'm really sorry. the bonds 110 lakhs for cadet pilots and 60 lakhs for trainee first officers!

[flightknight]

Well, I guess if you get enough suckers to come up with that much investment, you can actually start your own airline. Indian Aviation Business never ceases to amaze me. Its the same story all over again -Modiluft, EastWest, etc.. during the 90's.

[Sky Dancer]

Hey are you sure the figures are right and is there any upfront payment as well ???

[WIKI44]

The following is an excerpt taken from the sabena flight academy website regarding the Indigo A320 program.


What is the total cost of the program and what is the bond?
The total cost of the program is approx Rs. 30 Lacs which is paid by IndiGo.. The pilot will sign a bond of 5 years starting from the date he is appointed as a Junior Co-Pilot. A candidate is required to sign a surety bond of Rs. 60 Lacs to cover specialised training and
opportunity cost. The candidate is also required to deposit 5 undated cheques of Rs. 12 lac each with IndiGo at the time of signing cadet Pilot Agreement. For every year of the bond period served, IndiGo would return back one UDC and once the 5 year term from the date he is appointed as Jr. Copilot is served the bond will be considered as served in full and hence all the five UDCs will be returned back.

[satwikroy]

Sir I am looking forward to join the Indigo Cadet Pilot Program.

Will it be a wise decision for me?
I hope Indigo doesn't do the same thing as Spice Jet or some of the other airlines did to their students under their cadet pilot program.
will they make me wait for say one year or so before giving me job after completing my training under their guidance and their fleet?:confused:
:bored:

[bad_attitude]

you guys are really funny! :ok:

[VT-ASM]

To the best of my knowledge, The first batch of cadets is still at SFA in the initial CPL stage.
Will head for TR very soon..
and Flyboy, Indigo flies A320's and not A310's


Regards,

VT-ASM

[bad_attitude]

going for their type rating soon?

i don't think so. they need to convert their license first ...

[hitmanishere]

satwikroy:Will it be a wise decision for me?



Dear sir,
I would say NO!!!:}

[CaptWUFF]

I just finished a stint at Indigo and I can tell you there word is worth nothing. Ask any expat there, they will tell you the same thing. Lying cheating deception. They lie to get what they want. Thats why most expats leave in the middle of the night never to return. Most have had it .with the local 200hr wonder boys, The 2000 hr captain with a head like a basketball who"s only other experience includes C-150. The D.O Told all the expats F/O's in a re-current class last week to find a new job and find it fast. They don't like expats there and they treat them poorly. they promissed upgrades to experience typed airman and never delivered. They claim it was a DGCA issue. They asked for a two year contract and are telling them to go away after 1. I was told Indigo is one of the better ones to go too. Do yourself a favor and everyone stay away from India .


You know you really should tell all of the facts before you post. Maybe you don't KNOW all the facts.

1) DGCA and their rules change quicker then I change my underwear (I change twice a day)

2) If you sign a 2 year contract, there is always a 90-Day notice period on either side. The airlines don't break this unless there is some misconduct on the pilots side or a DGCA intervention to break the contract.

3) Indigo is still recruiting Ex-Pat pilots and have been since they started operating, so there had to be a reason for they let expat pilots go at one time - to make room for indian captains.

It only makes you look bad when you start talking bad about a good company and yo udon't display all the facts. You must be bitter because you didn't get to continue with a great airline like Indigo.

[iamanaussiemavrick]

Hi All,

From my experience with IndiGo, I could say that it is one of the best airline in India at the moment, probably the best.

They are doing very well in all the aspects and they are improving day by day.

They take things differently from other airlines and they are making sure that the company doesnt go to loss.

There expansion plans are still on, they are keeping on hiring there trainees, have not cut salaries, having good traffic load, passenger satisfaction is good. So its in a very good shape.

[VT-ASM]

Blokes,

To e best of my knowledge, the Indigo cadet pilot program is deferred for a while....
Can anybody from Indigo out here shed some light on the restarting of the program ?
Any info will be appreciated..

Regards

[CaptWUFF]

I'm not quite sure when they will start it up again, but I do know it is all dependant upon the economy picking up again....

It's interesting to see in newspapers, especially Indian newspapers that there are so mayn different predictions and rumors that are floating around, so I think as the case is with most things in india, nothing is until it really actually is....