The Indian #AvGeek

Fifteen airlines. One alliance. Millions of frequent flyers. And a rather complicated question: how do you make it all work as one?

For Episode 82 of The Indian AvGeek, our Diwali Special, Vishal Mehra is joined by two people who understand the machinery behind oneworld better than anybody: Roger Blackburn, VP Commercial & Loyalty, and Gilbert Ott, Director, Loyalty.

We get into the questions that rarely make it into airline press releases.

Why doesn't oneworld have an Indian member airline? Could Delhi or Mumbai eventually get a dedicated oneworld lounge? Who actually pays when four different airlines are involved in delivering one passenger's journey? And what happens to airline loyalty when AI agents start booking flights on our behalf?

Gilbert, who made his name scrutinising airline loyalty programmes, discusses Alaska's Atmos Rewards, the future of elite recognition, the economics of miles and credit cards, and whether frequent flyers should expect more personalised benefits.

Roger takes us behind the commercial relationships that hold an alliance together, from competing member airlines and joint ventures to the Taj Hotels partnership, Philippine Airlines' planned entry and new opportunities in India.

There are also some unexpected detours into Oman Air, noodles, global Wi-Fi and what both executives would change about oneworld if they could.

www.TheIndianGeek.com

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The Indian AdGeek streams on all podcast apps.

Why do Iceland's low-cost airlines keep going bust, and can long-haul low-cost ever work?

In Episode 81 of The Indian AvGeek, Vishal Mehra speaks with Birgir Jonsson, founding CEO of PLAY Airlines, former Deputy CEO of WOW air & former CEO of Iceland Express. Three airlines, one vantage point on the low-cost transatlantic model.

In this episode:

- Why Iceland Express was the only profitable airline Birgir worked at

- How Iceland's hub-and-spoke model really makes money (hint: not from connecting passengers)

- Whether the A321XLR threatens the Icelandic stopover

- WOW air's wide-body gamble, its Delhi–Reykjavik launch, & why he calls the ₹27,000 fare a marketing stunt

- PLAY's fuel-price & demand shocks, and its ACMI pivot

- Norse Atlantic, IndiGo's wet-lease wind-down and what it signals

- SAS, Air France-KLM and consolidation, plus Norwegian's shrink-to-survive playbook

- His advice for airline founders, including India: protect cash and CASK

www.TheIndianGeek.com

Vishal on X - https://x.com/vishal1mehra

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/vishal1mehra/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishal1mehra/

The Indian AdGeek streams on all podcast apps.

Rome Fiumicino has grown into a 51 million-passenger global hub and India is firmly on its radar for what comes next.

In Episode 80 of The Indian AvGeek, Vishal Mehra speaks with Federico Scriboni, Director Aviation Business Development at Aeroporti di Roma, about how airports actually build airline networks, identify new routes and convince carriers that a market can work.

Federico explains ADR’s “magic triangle” of route development — market opportunity, commercial and marketing support, and operational execution and takes us inside Fiumicino’s next phase of growth.

We discuss Air India and ITA Airways between Delhi and Rome, the opportunity for Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai, ADR’s conversations with IndiGo, and how the Airbus A321XLR could reshape the economics of thinner long-haul routes.

Also on the agenda: Rome’s extraordinary North American growth, Fiumicino’s infrastructure expansion, the proposed fourth runway, and how ADR balances two very different airports in Fiumicino and Ciampino.

A conversation about what it really takes to put a new line on the global aviation map.

www.TheIndianGeek.com

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The Indian AdGeek streams on all podcast apps.

What does it actually take to convince an airline to deploy a $200 million aircraft on a brand new route?

On Episode 79 of The Indian AvGeek, Vishal Mehra sits down with Leon Verhallen, Director Aviation Development at Brussels Airport Company, to look at the business of airport route development.

Few people have watched European aviation evolve from as many vantage points as Leon. He began his career at Fokker, spent years helping develop Amsterdam Schiphol during its emergence as one of Europe's great hubs, and has spent nearly two decades shaping the aviation strategy of Brussels Airport.

Leon also takes us inside the story of Jet Airways' legendary Brussels scissor hub, an operation that once connected India and North America through a tightly choreographed bank of widebody flights at Brussels.

We discussed:

• How airports actually pitch new routes to airlines
• Why winning a route can take anywhere from six months to ten years
• The five factors airlines examine before choosing an airport
• Why incentives alone cannot rescue a weak route business case
• How Brussels competes with Amsterdam, Paris and airports across one of Europe's most contested catchments
• The strategy Brussels calls “Have Seats, Will Travel”
• The role of Brussels Airlines inside Lufthansa Group
• Why Africa remains strategically important to the Brussels hub
• How pharma cargo gives Brussels another competitive advantage
• Why airport politics, noise restrictions and slots can alter network strategy
• Why Brussels believes better high-speed rail connectivity could transform its catchment
• How airport route development has changed over Leon's four decades in aviation

The Indian AdGeek streams on all podcast apps.
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LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishal1mehra/

On many flights you have taken - the booking, the check-in, the cargo hold below your feet, the crew rescheduling when things go wrong, is running on software you've never heard of. That software is IBS.In Episode 78 of The Indian AvGeek, host Vishal Mehra sits down with Somit Goyal, CEO of IBS Software, for one of the most technically rich conversations on this channel. Somit comes to aviation from Microsoft, SAP and Oracle, he's spent two years dismantling the assumption that aviation is "too complex" for modern enterprise software thinking.Episode Timestamps

00:04 – Welcome to Episode 78 00:57 – Debunking the "Aviation is Uniquely Complex" Myth 03:11 – Why Aviation Lags Other Industries in Tech Adoption 04:28 – Core KPIs: Time-to-Value, NPS, and AI Metrics 06:17 – How Airline Boardrooms view AI 07:53 – Customer Success in High-Stakes Aviation ($CS = CX + CO$) 11:05 – iRetail Architecture vs. Legacy PSS Systems 13:22 – Why NDC is a Plumbing Fix, Not Modern Retailing 15:24 – Deploying Agentic AI in Crew & Cargo Operations 18:55 – The Korean Air Migration: "Open Heart Surgery While Running a Marathon" 23:16 – Scale in Indian Aviation: Shifting IT from Cost Item to Strategic Pillar 26:13 – Unlocking Next-Gen Loyalty Ecosystems in India 29:50 – Delivering SaaS Value to LCCs and Regional Airlines 32:56 – $2B Integration: Merging Alaska & Hawaiian Airlines Cargo Operations 35:37 – Mitigating the $60 Billion Disruption (IROP) Problem 40:46 – Powering Air New Zealand's Skynest In-Flight Sleep Pods 44:12 – Episode Wrap-Up & Upcoming Teaser Vishal Mehra on X

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If you've ever walked through an airport terminal and wondered who keeps it all running, this episode is for you. 

In Episode 77 of The Indian AvGeek, Vishal Mehra interviews Sunil Ankalgi, Business Head at WAISL Limited (Ex-Amadeus, Ex-SITA), to discuss the complex digital infra powering modern airports. From why legacy global platforms struggle to keep pace with Indian growth to what an actual Digital Twin does versus a glorified analytics dashboard, this episode strips away the hype around airport tech.

Key Highlights:

• Who is the Real Customer? Balancing airlines, airport operators, governments, and passengers. 
• The Global vs. Local Playbook: Why India’s origin-destination growth breaks traditional global IT models. 
• Airside Goldmine: Why saving 10 minutes on a turnaround unlocks 4 additional flights a day. 
• The Biometric Friction: Why DigiYatra identity resets across check-in, security, and border control. 
• AI Reality Check: Computer vision in production vs. the myth of automated gate assignments. 
• The CEO Metric: Why airport leadership should track Asset Idle Time per Passenger Minute. 

The Indian AvGeek streams on all podcast apps.

Vishal Mehra - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@vis⁠hal1mehra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

#IndianAviation #AviationNews #IndianAirports #aviation #Airports #AirportStrategy 

In Episode 76 of The Indian AvGeek, host Vishal Mehra sits down with Karim Makhlouf, CCO of Royal Jordanian Airlines, for a deep dive in global aviation strategy. 

Karim shares commercial insights from his 27-year career, pioneering €19 fare drops at Germanwings, navigating mid-sized flag carrier challenges at Malév Hungary, and launching premium startups like SaudiGulf. 

He breaks down Royal Jordanian’s roadmap to 52 aircraft by 2032, the performance of the Mumbai and Delhi routes, GTF engine insulation tactics, and turning empty seats into high-yield tourism via the ExplorJordan platform.

The Indian AvGeek streams on all podcast apps.

Vishal Mehra - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@vis⁠hal1mehra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

#RoyalJordanian #ExploRJordan#Aviation #AviationPodcast #AirlineStrategy #MiddleEastAviation #NetworkPlanning #RevenueManagement #IndianAviation 

In a wild 48 hour window, Indian aviation delivered a decade’s worth of news, forcing an emergency out-of-turn Episode 75 of The Indian AvGeek! Air India named Ethiopian Airlines architect Tewolde Gebremariam as its new CEO. Simultaneously, IndiGo has got industry heavyweight Willie Walsh right as it marks its 20th anniversary. To top it off, IndiGo quietly pulled back its leased Boeing 787 long-haul operations, while Air India went on the offensive, expanding North American routes and upgrading its Toronto services.

Host Vishal Mehra sits down with aviation experts Sean Mendis and Ameya Joshi (NetworkThoughts) to break down this historic week.

In this episode:

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Connect with us:

#IndianAviation #AirIndia #IndiGo #AviationPodcast #TewoldeGebremariam #WillieWalsh #Boeing787 #A350 #AviationNews

In a wild 48 hour window, Indian aviation delivered a decade’s worth of news, forcing an emergency out-of-turn Episode 75 of The Indian AvGeek! Air India named Ethiopian Airlines architect Tewolde Gebremariam as its new CEO. Simultaneously, IndiGo has got industry heavyweight Willie Walsh right as it marks its 20th anniversary. To top it off, IndiGo quietly pulled back its leased Boeing 787 long-haul operations, while Air India went on the offensive, expanding North American routes and upgrading its Toronto services.

Host Vishal Mehra sits down with aviation experts Sean Mendis and Ameya Joshi (NetworkThoughts) to break down this historic week.

• The "Indian Plane League" (IPL): Do Tewolde and Willie Walsh signal that Indian aviation has officially moved to global-tier competition? 
• The Tewolde Factor: How he achieved Ethiopian’s 15-year goal in 11 years and whether the "Ethiopian Model" can work for Air India's massive domestic O&D market. 
• Willie Walsh at IndiGo: Can a legacy full-service network leader manage an LCC hybrid evolution without disrupting IndiGo’s cost DNA? 
• The 787 Reality Check: Why IndiGo’s Norse damp-lease experiment failed under currency, airspace, and ACMI pressures. 
• Air India’s Long-Haul Strategy: Capturing diaspora loyalty with Mumbai–Toronto flights and refreshed long-haul cabins. 
• The 5-Year Outlook: Who wins the long-haul battle when two market leaders adopt opposite widebody strategies?

The Indian AvGeek streams on all podcast apps.

Vishal Mehra - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@vis⁠hal1mehra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Sean Mendis - @SeanMendis

Ameya Joshi - @Khabri_Lal

#IndianAviation #AirIndia #IndiGo #AviationPodcast #TewoldeGebremariam #WillieWalsh #Boeing787 #A350 #AviationNews

Why does airline loyalty vanish the exact moment your luggage hits the arrival carousel?

In Episode 74 of The Indian AvGeek, host Vishal Mehra sits down with Safir Jamal, Founder & CEO of Passtination (and creator of Global Nomad Pass). Safir spent over a decade driving global strategy for giants like Procter & Gamble and Ford before turning his attention to a major flaw in aviation: airlines understand you as a passenger in seat 14C, but have zero idea who you are as a person once you step out of the airport.

In this episode:

✈️ How travel spend often leaks away from local economies

✈️ Why airlines are missing out on white-space revenue (dining, local experiences, shopping) by ending their touchpoints at the arrival gate

✈️ Having 50 million enrolled loyalty members means nothing if most are dormant and how activating just 15-20% on the ground changes the economics of loyalty

✈️ Why Passtination intentionally ditched app downloads in favour of native Apple & Google passes to eliminate friction for flyers & airlines

✈️ Merchant-funded discounts, flat-fee destination pricing, 100% margin upgrades, & using on-the-ground perks to clear point liabilities off balance sheets

✈️ How in-destination location triggers allow airlines to detect when a loyal member took a competitor flight and drop an instant push notification offer to win them back!

✈️ Building localised in-destination ecosystems for Indian carriers like Air India and IndiGo, as well as global hubs targeting the booming Indian traveller base

The Indian AvGeek streams on all podcast apps.

Vishal Mehra - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@vis⁠hal1mehra⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

#AirlineLoyalty #AviationPodcast #FrequentFlyer #TravelTech #LoyaltyPrograms #IndianAviation #LoyaltyMarketing