It's been an amazing ride: Aditya Ghosh, former president, IndiGo

On Friday, Aditya Ghosh, president and director of InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, which owns and operates India’s biggest and most profitable airline IndiGo, stepped down from his posts and would exit the company in July.

Ghosh (42), who holds a bachelor's degree in Law and History from Delhi University, helmed the airline for almost 10 years, a period in which IndiGo has gone on to dominate the Indian skies. Presently, the airline enjoys an unrivalled 40 percent share of domestic air passenger traffic.

“It’s been an amazing ride,” Ghosh tells Forbes India. “From 18 airplanes 10 years ago to over 160 today; More than a thousand daily flights; an eight-fold increase in top line over the past decade.”

At present, InterGlobe Aviation’s market capitalisation is over Rs 55,000 crore, with its stock price having doubled since its listing on the Indian bourses in November 2015. Interestingly, even as the news of Ghosh’s exit came after the markets had closed, the airline’s share price closed on Friday at Rs 1,406.80 a piece, down 6.21 percent over the previous day’s close.

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IndiGo, says Ghosh, is now the fourth largest LCC (low-cost carrier) in the world. “And my most satisfying accolade: One of the best companies to work for 10 years in a row,” he says. He, however, didn’t wish to disclose what we would be doing next. “Not ready to talk about that as yet.”

Meanwhile, Rahul Bhatia, the billionaire co-founder of IndiGo, will be the IndiGo’s interim CEO, while Gregory Taylor, the former executive vice-president of revenue management and network planning at airline, is being considered to take over Ghosh’s position. At present, Taylor has been appointed as senior advisor and will be reporting directly to Bhatia.

“In the coming months, the board will consider the appointment of Greg [Taylor] as president and CEO of the company, subject to receiving the necessary regulatory approvals and paperwork,” said the airline.

“We are delighted at Greg’s decision to rejoin the IndiGo team and welcome him back to the company. His enormous and varied experience and understanding of the complexities of the airline industry will be invaluable to our future plans,” said Rahul Bhatia, interim CEO of the airline.
 
In his 40-year work career, Taylor has held various senior management roles at United Airlines and US Airways in the areas of corporate planning, strategy, network planning, fleet planning, finance, cost management, among others.