Satyendra Pandey

Satyendra Pandey is an India market expert and has held a variety of roles across aviation. An author and a certified pilot, his most recent book is titled: Dissonant dispatches: Indian aviation’s emergent flightpath.

Airline hubs are facing a huge challenge

The Corona pandemic continues to impact traffic volumes across the globes. Airports that were once bursting at the seams are now eerily silent while many of the terminals remain empty. Runways that would count seconds until the next arrival and departure now wait longingly for aircraft to alight. The buzz of jet engines has been interspersed with large periods of silence. …

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The legendary Boeing 757 – a template for the future?

As Boeing struggles to get through the coronavirus crisis coupled with its own 737 MAX crisis, the Boeing 757 is an aircraft that has once again emerged as a hot topic of conversation. Particularly due to speculation on whether Boeing will be forced to revive the New Midsize Airplane (NMA). Initially designed as a replacement for the tri-engine 727, it …

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Cash-flow crisis of Indian airlines

View of part of the ramp at Bangalore Airport at night.

As the airline industry grapples with the largest demand shock in history, India’s skies are closed to all passenger traffic. 650 aircraft are grounded, cash-flows have dried up and pay-cuts and layoffs are the new normal. It does not help that the corona crisis came at a time where the country was also dealing with a banking crisis. Add to …

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Any bailout of airlines must also force structural reforms

With the rapid spread of the coronavirus pandemic, airlines have experienced the largest demand shock in history. Overnight demand has evaporated and each passing day brings with it news of airlines grounding entire fleets. International markets are shut and for India’s airlines, contrary to the narrative that domestic demand will help mitigate the impact, the situation is actually worse. This …

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Has Corona altered aviation as we know it forever?

As of this writing, forty airlines across the globe have announced a complete grounding of their fleet. Others ranging from Emirates and Lufthansa to AirAsia, Qantas and AirFrance-KLM are cutting capacity to as high as 90%. Massive layoffs, bankruptcies and airline shutdowns are likely. All this havoc driven by a particle that is one-billionth of a meter (a nanometer) in …

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How airlines are responding to the Corona virus threat

As the Coronavirus impact spreads and airlines prepare to brace for impact, the airline industry is facing its gravest challenge yet. Casualties have started. FlyBe – the largest regional airline in the UK has already ceased operations after an unsuccessful buyout and attempted turnaround. Other airline failures are all but certain. Forecasts from various industry quarters including IATA estimate a …

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Airlines must brace for impact due to the corona crisis

As the coronavirus continues to spread it is wreaking havoc on the airline industry. With 95,484 confirmed cases and 3,286 deaths, a vaccine and cure are yet to be found. Each day new cases are reported and air travel continues to be impacted. Forecasts from various industry quarters including IATA estimate a drastic decline in demand. Losses emanating from this …

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Repairing and retaining brand Air India will challenge any buyer

The Air India ramp at Mumbai CSMI Airport. Photo by and copyright Devesh Agarwal.

As the government of India attempts to privatise Air India, media reports suggest the second time around is seeing renewed interest. Reports also indicate the government is keen the Air India brand is retained post any sale. One can see why. The airline is still India’s national carrier and the brand has a high recall value and familiarity quotient. Despite …

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What the budget 2020 holds for Indian aviation

As the finance minister presented the Budget this Saturday expectations were that there would be some announcements related to aviation. This because of sections on the economic survey and also the fact that last year’s budget speech had laid out a vision towards India entering the aircraft financing and leasing market; the divestment of Air India; consideration for re-examining foreign …

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Indigo Q3FY20 results analysis

IndiGo first A320neo VT-ITC touches down at New Delhi's IGI airport after a non-stop flight from Toulouse, France

Monday, January 27th was quite a newsday for Indian aviation. In what is becoming a tale of two airlines, while the national carrier came out with its Preliminary Information Memorandum looking for someone to take over 23,286 crores of debt and 8556 crores of losses (for FY19) the other airline Indigo reported profits of 496 crores with another 20,000 crores …

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The changing nature of airline alliances

Representative cabin crew of the oneworld member airlines pose in front of TAM airlines A320

The airline industry is undergoing a transformation while it deals with disruptive shifts. Whether it’s the grounding of the 737MAX affecting capacity plans worldwide, the shift to low-cost travel or declining demand due to movements such as “flight shaming” in Europe – change is happening in a manner not witnessed before. This holds true even in the world of airline …

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Analysis: Are the SpiceJet Q2FY20 results being underplayed?

SpiceJet, now India’s second-largest domestic airline, reported its second-quarter results of the fiscal year 2019-2020 (Q2FY20) this Wednesday. It was a result that was met with mixed expectations and also one that seems to be underplayed. We attempt to present an analysis that may help deconstruct the figures. The focus has been on a net loss of INR 462 crores …

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Indigo Q2FY20 results: clear air turbulence or something more?

Indigo Airbus A320neo VT-ITK. Image copyright Vedant Agarwal.

Indigo reported its Q2FY20 results on Friday. With a loss of 1,062 crores, the results caught many by surprise. It is too early to tell whether the results reflect challenges with the strategic direction the airline is taking (compare this to the profit of INR 1203 crore in Q1FY20) or if this was a one-off driven largely driven by operational …

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Demystifying the Air India Asset Holdings bond offering

The Air India ramp at Mumbai CSMI Airport. Photo by and copyright Devesh Agarwal.

As the government preps Air India for divestment, a key element of the plan is the reduction of the debt burden. The goal is to make the airline a better proposition for buyers. The debt reduction has been carried out by creating a special purpose vehicle (SPV) named Air India Asset Holdings Ltd (AIAHL) and moving half of the debt …

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Ultra-long haul flying: will Qantas succeed?

CGI of the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner in the new Qantas livery.

The recent announcement by Qantas regarding the 21 hour test flight has generated a lot of buzz. For the aviation industry the age of ultra-long haul flying (ULH) is here. Several flights are already operational, the most noteworthy being Perth – Heathrow, Singapore-Newark, Doha-Auckland and the very ambitious “Project Sunrise” of Qantas. The project is Qantas’ ambition to operate nonstop …

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The engines that power Indian aviation

The CFM LEAP engine powering the retro livery Tata SIA Airlines Vistara Airbus A320neo. Image copyright Devesh Agarwal. Used with permission.

Indian aviation has been on a growth path. With demand growing by leaps and bounds, the number of aircraft in the skies has soared. And the growth is likely to continue. These aircraft are faster, more efficient and more advanced than ever before and much of this efficiency is by virtue of the engines. Each aircraft is powered by specific …

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Indigo Q1FY20 results: the greatest quarter in Indian aviation?

IndiGo ATR72-600 VT-IYA. Photo by Vedant Agarwal. Copyright. Do not re-use.

Indigo reported its Q1FY20 results on Friday. With a profit of INR 1203 crore it is the highest net profit for any airline in Indian aviation. The airline looked good on all metrics ranging from financial to strategic and operational. Interestingly, while this quarter was indeed driven by the collapse of Jet Airways, Indigo’s contention is that this did not …

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Analysis: The battle for control at Indigo

Indigo Airbus A320neo VT-ITK. Image copyright Vedant Agarwal.

Indigo seems to have encountered severe turbulence as the fight between the co-founders has now become very public. There have been accusations, counters and name-calling. The issues highlighted range from related party transactions (RPTs) to those of governance. And for an airline that now flies one in every two passengers in the Indian skies, is on a solid financial footing, …

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Key highlights of the IATA Director General’s Report

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) Annual General Meeting recently concluded in Seoul. The event was quite anticipated given the unprecedented geo-political trends. The state of the industry and key focus areas were highlighted by the Director General Alexandre de Juniac in his speech. Key points of this speech that speak to trends were: Safety Flying continues to be one …

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Emirates and the impacts of the A380 phase-out

With the production of the Airbus A380 ending 2021, airline enthusiasts the world over are wondering if there will be a replacement aircraft that is as awe-inspiring. The end of the program is also interesting as it contradicts the fact that airports are increasingly constrained and indeed airlines will have to devise strategies to overcome this. Yet, the impacts are …

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