The Indian AvGeek

How does an airport leap from 21st to 2nd place in international connectivity rankings among major European hubs? In the 72nd episode of The Indian AvGeek, we sit down with Ioanna Papadopoulou, the Director of Communications & Marketing at Athens International Airport (AIA), to talk one of the most fascinating growth stories in modern aviation. With India overtaking China as Greece’s leading l...

Episode 71 of The Indian AvGeek: Host Vishal Mehra sits down with two of the sharpest minds in the business. Fresh off AviaDev 2026, Sean Mendis and Behramjee Ghadially join the show for an unfiltered, deeply analytical discussion on the geopolitical and structural shifts in aviation. As India aggressively pursues a multi-hub model across Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and even Rajkot. We look at whethe...

What does it take to run one of the world's largest, busiest aviation mega-hubs while actively chasing the world's fastest-growing aviation market? In Episode 70 of The Indian AvGeek, we sit down with Chris McLaughlin, CEO of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), to unpack the ultra-long-haul economics, airspace complexities, and massive infrastructure upgrades redefining global travel. C...

What does it actually take to build a great passenger experience at 35,000 feet and who's keeping airlines honest when they fall short? In Episode 69 of The Indian AvGeek, Vishal Mehra sits down with Seth Miller, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of PaxEx. Aero and host of the Dots, Lines & Destinations podcast, one of the sharpest minds covering in-flight product, cabin design, connectivity, and the bu...

On Episode 68 of The Indian AvGeek, host Vishal Mehra sits down with Wilco Sweijen, Airline Partnerships Director at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, for a behind-the-curtain conversation on how AMS picks its airline partners, courts new routes, and quietly shapes the future of European long-haul aviation. ✈️ India-Amsterdam corridor: 42 flights/week & 8,48,000 pax in 2025, with 26% point-to-point pass...

In Episode 67 of The Indian AvGeek, we are going under the hood of one of the world’s most aggressive loyalty transformations. Our guest is Mark Potter, Managing Director of Etihad Guest. India is Etihad Guest's second-largest member market globally, and it's growing faster than any other. With 13.5 million members worldwide and a program that's quietly evolving from an airline loyalty scheme into...

Episode 66 of The Indian AvGeek is part 2 of one of the most substantive conversations this show has ever hosted, and it goes deeper. Thomas Jaeger (Founder, ch-aviation) and Addison Schonland (Founder, AirInsight Group) are back, and this time the conversation turns to the questions that keep airline executives, analysts, and engineers up at night. We start with the engine crisis, and the numbers...

Episode 65  In our landmark 65th episode, we bring together two of the world’s most formidable aviation analysts for a rare joint appearance. Thomas Jaeger (Founder & CEO, ch-aviation) and Addison Schonland (Founder & Partner, AirInsight Group) join the show to dissect the state of the industry. We dive deep into the strategic earthquake of Willie Walsh joining IndiGo: Is he there to protect the l...

Episode 64 100 years of Lufthansa. One guest who's been there for 34 of them. In Episode 64 of The Indian AvGeek, we sit down with Felipe Bonifatti, VP Asia Pacific, Middle East & Joint Ventures East at the Lufthansa Group – the man responsible for the Group's entire passenger airline business across this part of the world, covering brands like Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, Discov...

Episode 63 On March 10th, 2026, the Indian aviation industry was rocked by the abrupt resignation of Pieter Elbers from IndiGo. As the architect of IndiGo’s global expansion—introducing wide-bodies, business class, and a massive international footprint—his departure leaves more questions than answers. Is this a strategic pivot back to the airline’s ruthless LCC roots? Does Rahul Bhatia’s "Main Hoo...

Episode 62    This week on The Indian AvGeek, we hit a bucket-list milestone. We are joined by Scott McCartney, the legendary creator of the Wall Street Journal’s "Middle Seat" column. For 29 years, Scott was the ultimate arbiter of the passenger experience, and today, we turn the tables to ask him the hard questions. He is also the co-host of the Airlines Confidential podcast. We go behind the sc...

Episode 61  Just as the aviation industry digests the news of the Lufthansa-Air India MoU and the arrival of the Allegris cabin in New Delhi, we sit down with Kevin Markette, Head of Sales for South Asia at Lufthansa. In this deep dive, we move past the press releases to answer the questions Indian frequent flyers actually care about. From the challenge of choosing between five different business...

Episode 60: What does it take to get a widebody jet from Mumbai to land in Copenhagen? It turns out it’s a mix of high-stakes matchmaking, "slot surgery", and sometimes even a twenty-year game of patience. In this landmark 60th episode, Vishal Mehra sits down with Johan Laurberg, Senior Route Development Manager at Copenhagen Airports (CPH). We go behind the scenes of one of Europe’s most fascinat...

In Episode 59 of The Indian AvGeek, Vishal Mehra sits down with Chris Shindle to explore the evolving world of business aviation through Boeing’s lens. From Honeywell’s forecast of 8,500 new biz jets in the next decade to India’s billionaire class weighing Gulfstreams against BBJs, this conversation dives deep into the trade-offs between speed, cabin volume, and prestige. Chris explains how a BBJ...

Episode 58:  We are kicking off 2026 with a high-altitude deep dive! In the season premiere, Vishal Mehra sits down with Mark Nasr, the Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer at Air Canada. Mark is the man the AvGeek community knows as the architect behind the revamped Aeroplan, but today, he’s steering the operational ship of Canada’s flag carrier. In this wide-ranging conversation...

Episode 57: The 2026 Flight Plan with Ajay Awtaney As 2025 draws to a close, the Indian skies look vastly different than it did twelve months ago. We’ve seen the "arrival" of India on the global stage at the IATA AGM in Delhi, but we’ve also grappled with the sombre reality of the AI171 tragedy and operational meltdowns at IndiGo that tested passenger loyalty to its limit. In this deep-dive season...

Episode 56 Virgin Atlantic isn’t just flying to India; they are painting the skies red with a staggering 350% growth since 2019. In this episode, Vishal sits down with Shivani Singh Deo, Country Manager – India for Virgin Atlantic, to decode how the "cheeky challenger" of aviation is aggressively expanding its footprint in one of the world's largest aviation markets. Transitioning from a marketing...

Episode 55 with Arun Kumar Singh, the CEO of Kyrgyzstan-based TezJet.  From the hyper-regulated regional skies of India’s UDAN scheme to the mountainous terrain of Central Asia, Arun’s journey is as unique as the fleet he operates. With TezJet launching its direct Bishkek-Delhi service this week, we dive deep into the operational reality of connecting India with Kyrgyzstan. But this isn't just a r...

Episode 54 What happens when a pilot, an airline operator, and a strategist decide to reimagine aviation through the lens of data? In this episode, I sit down with Courtney Miller, the mind behind Visual Approach Analytics, to explore how storytelling, visualisation, and forecasting are reshaping the way airlines make decisions. What we discussed: •  Courtney’s journey into aviation: from the cock...

What does it take to reimagine flight for India’s cities — and make it affordable, scalable, and safe? In this episode of The Indian AvGeek, I sit down with Prof. Satya Chakravarthy, Founder, CEO-CTO of The ePlane Company and long-time professor at IIT Madras, to explore how deep-tech innovation is reshaping the skies above us. From his early fascination with aerospace engineering to his bold leap...

A deep dive into the tech, governance, and everyday friction of modern air travel with the person who helped turn a fringe idea into India’s biometric travel backbone. Suresh Khadakbhavi walks us from a muddy auto ride before his BIAL interview to the pilot with Jet Airways that proved passenger-first biometrics could scale nationally and explains how Digi Yatra is designed to enable seamless jour...

In this episode of The Indian AvGeek, we welcome Ameya Joshi, Founder of NetworkThoughts.com to unpack Delhi Airport’s rise as a global transfer hub, explore underserved corridors, and chart India’s changing network dynamics. From terminal revamps and new mega-hubs to airline slot wars and bold contrarian forecasts, Ameya lays out the strategic moves that will define the next decade of Indian avia...

A milestone episode for The Indian AvGeek. For our fiftieth show we welcome Nathaniel Pieper, an airline lifer who now leads Oneworld. Expect a conversation that blends airline boardroom strategy with the pure joy of flight — fleet tales, alliance chess, lounge plans for India, and the kind of technical nitty gritty only someone who’s ridden the industry for decades can tell. ✈️ How it began — Nat...

Episode 49 features Jay Shabat, the founder of Airline Weekly (now Skift Airline Weekly) and senior aviation analyst at Skift. In this episode, Jay shares his unique journey from revenue analyst at US Airways to becoming one of the industry’s most respected voices, teaching IATA courses worldwide, and publishing influential industry analysis. Along the way, Jay shares timeless lessons, academic in...

Episode 48 of The Indian AvGeek featured Behramjee Ghadially, Senior Manager, Route Network Planning at CAMAIR and aviation analyst. We unpacked the latest in network planning, fleet deployment, and market opportunities across Asia, Africa, and the Gulf. The show was led, however, with the revival of India–China direct flights and how airlines like Air India and IndiGo are positioned to capitalize...