Episode number 47 of The Indian AvGeek, Vishal sits down with Mike Malik—veteran airline sales leader turned marketing chief at Cirium, to trace a remarkable journey through aviation. From sales at American Airlines and leading Aloha Air Cargo to co-founding Maxjet, Mike shares stories of entrepreneurial grit and strategic pivots that shaped his career.

We then dive into Cirium’s mission: how this data powerhouse powers on-time performance reports, underpins airport and airline planning, and supports emerging markets like India with analytics on regional connectivity, network optimization, and sustainability. Along the way, Mike reflects on rebranding FlightGlobal into a unified Cirium, the challenges of old IT systems (remember only 26 fare buckets?), and the future of aviation tech—from AI assistants baked into operations tools to new products tailor-made for Asia-Pacific growth.

Key topics covered include:

• Mike’s early days in airline sales and the genesis of Maxjet’s low-fare, all-business-class model

• Cirium’s customers, core offerings, and impact of its On-Time Performance rankings

• The role of data and analytics in optimizing routes, regional connectivity, and profitability in India

• Challenges of digital transformation in airlines and how to overcome legacy IT constraints

• Leveraging data for sustainability, environmental tracking, and new green aviation solutions

• Insights on Asia-Pacific expansion, Cirium’s brand vision, and products beyond Emerald Sky

• Advice for young professionals entering aviation analytics or airline management

• Leadership lessons in driving innovation, transformation, and buy-in across people and processes

Whether you’re an aviation insider, data geek, or simply curious about how numbers shape every takeoff and landing, this episode delivers fresh perspectives on the present and future of global and Indian aviation.

Vishal Mehra - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@vis⁠hal1mehra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠