Aditya Ghosh : A leader behind IndiGo's flight to triumph

It was a swelteringly hot afternoon. However, this didn't seem to deter Aditya Ghosh's spirits, as he stood with his team for a photo shoot at rooftop of the company's headquarters in Gurgaon.

While the team of eighteen people stood in the scorching summer heat, Ghosh, president and whole time director of IndiGo, effortlessly reduced the discomfort level by often cracking jokes, and making everyone burst into laughter. It will not sound rhetoric if we call Ghosh, a people’s man who is paid to win.

To put it in perspective, his company has been recognized as a ‘Great Place to Work for in India’ for ten years in a row. And with his people management skills and winning trait, IndiGo has posted nine consecutive years of profitable operations.                            

The son of an IAS officer, Ghosh earned Rs 27 crore in gross salary in financial year 2016 – mammoth increase by over 620 percent.  In the financial year 2015, he had received a gross remuneration of Rs 3.7 crore, according to the airline’s initial public offering prospectus.

According to company’s annual reports, his salary in 2015-16 includes Rs 20.99 crore paid in recognition for his efforts towards the growth and success of the company. Nonetheless, his compensation was 770.3 times the median remuneration of the employees.

In 2015, when otherwise media shy IndiGo decided to go for an initial public offering (IPO), lawyer by training, Ghosh led the company.  His astute reading of numbers and sharp analytical and legal skills as a lawyer helped the company gain strong foothold in the country’s evolving aviation space.

After six years of law practice, he made a switch to aviation when InterGlobe, IndiGo’s parent company, began scouting for a General Council in 2004. IndiGo incepted in August 2006, he took charge as president from 2008 and grew from a carrier with one plane to a fleet of 135 aircraft today.  “We currently operate flights connecting to 46 destinations – 39 domestic and 7 international,” Ghosh proudly mentioned.

He deploys a winning mix of professional and personal skills. Under him, IndiGo has become the fastest-growing private airline in the country.

Master’s flight plan

Two years ago, Gulf carriers -- mainly Etihad and Qatar Airways, were attempting to poach highly-skilled commanders from India.  They did poach over a 100 pilots, mainly senior captains, from India in the first six months.

The airline, in an official response to a daily newspaper said that 68 of its pilots had been hired by foreign carriers in the last 24 months. “That is 4.7% over a period of 24 months,” company had told to the paper.

What could be done to retain the talent?  Offer the big money and respect to the talent.

While it was widely reported by financial and general news dailies that the country’s biggest airline by market share, IndiGo, had hiked the salaries by around Rs 1 lakh a month for many pilots, the company has constantly maintained that they have never offered salary hikes above the industry standards, which is between 8 to 10%. To BW People as well, company stoutly denied offering hikes above industry levels. 

IndiGo's Culture : Respect people, they will be with you

“I know most of my people by their names,” he said while walking briskly through the floor filled with trainee air hostesses and flight stewards.  Ghosh was responding to welcome gestures of his staff by addressing most of them by their names.

While discussing the strategy of how to retain talent, Ghosh took a moment out when a trainee requested her super boss to click a selfie. She got the right click after three shots and tried another pose as well, Ghosh was humble, smiling and calm.   

Connecting the conversation again, he said, “We may or may not turn out to be the best paymaster, but atleast that is not our goal.”  In a serious tone, he added, “The goal is to pay what we are promising. Our promise to our internal colleagues is that they will get paid for their hard work and experience. If we promised to pay Rs 100, it will never be Rs 99.90. If somebody else pays Rs. 102, we may or may not pay.  But what we have promised we will. To me, this policy is far more important than anything.”

In the times when the industry was facing retrenchments and salary delays, IndiGo has never retrenched its staff. “We have never delayed the salaries even by an hour.”

An employer must not refuse to believe that if someone is working hard, his or her efforts must be recognised.  “When Sachin Tendulkar hits a sixer why do we clap?” he asked.

“He is supposed to play hard, he earns hefty sum of money through match fees, endorsements and earns unmatchable fame. Still, we clap for Tendulkar at every six he hits, every century he makes. The reason is simple – we reward Sachin not only by money but also by the recognition of his efforts. The respect given to him, encourages him to hit another sixer and make us win,” Ghosh said while munching broccoli salad in his cabin at sixth floor of ifly, Gurgaon.  

Ghosh replicated his anecdote over employees at IndiGo. “Each one of our total 14000 people employed are playing in the middle of the pitch, who put their life in danger by hanging themselves in the middle of the air, leaving their personal responsibilities beside the professional requirements,” Ghosh said while exuding regards for his team.