In the summer of 2005, retired army officer-turned-businessman GR Gopinath announced that he would enable Indians to fly at one rupee or less than a cent. It was an incredulous sales pitch from the founder of the country’s first budget airline. Air Deccan, his then two-year-old no-frills airline modelled on European budget carriers like EasyJet and Ryanair, had already made flying affordable to millions of Indians. Capt. Gopinath’s tickets cost half of what competitors charge.
Now his airline introduced “dynamic pricing” where a small number of “early bird” customers could travel at a rupee. Latecomers would pay a higher ticket price, which would still be substantially lower than competitors. Not surprisingly, booking counters were overrun with customers, many of them first-time fliers. Critics howled such pricing methods would wreck the industry.
“The one-rupee ticket fired the imagination of the people and quickly became a buzzword,” wrote Capt. Gopinath in his memoir. He believed his airline had not “only broken the price barrier, but India’s caste and class barrier to flying”.
A new Tamil film Soorarai Pottru (Praise the Brave), released on Amazon Prime Video this week, celebrates the life of the maverick businessman. Based on Capt Gopinath’s memoir, the film is produced by Academy Award winner Guneet Monga. While perhaps not as dramatic as the film, his vision did change life in India forever, and the ideas set in stone what most of us take for granted today – a flight to almost any major city in India, for a price every middle-class salaried person can afford. That was the high. There have been many lows in his life as well, including how that vision ended. And though the movie may choose to skip that, here is his life story in full so far – still quite amazing.
“It’s an incredible story about bridging the gap between the have and have-nots. Most Indians were excited when the concept of low-cost flying was introduced by Capt Gopinath,” Ms Monga told the BBC. Tamil film star Suriya, who plays the businessman, says, “He revolutionised flying in India by breaking class and economic barriers”.
Who is G R Gopinath?
Born in the year 1951, Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar Gopinath was raised in a small village named Gorur in Karnataka. His father, a school teacher and a Kannada novelist believed that schools were a system of regimentation and decided to teach his children at home. After a few years of homeschooling by his father, Gopinath was enrolled into 5th standard at a Kannada-medium school. In 1962, he joined the Sainik School, Bijapur, where young boys are trained to join the Indian armed forces.
He further went on to clear his National Defence Academy exams and graduated from the Indian Military Academy. Gopinath spent around eight years in the Indian Army and fought in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
At the age of 28, he took early retirement from the army. He went on to take on a series of entrepreneurial roles such as dairy farmer, sericulture consultant, poultry farmer, hotel owner, Enfield bike dealer, stockbroker, and finally, AVIATION ENTREPRENEUR.
Captain Gopinath’s aviation career started in his middle age in 1996, and it is divided into three segments.
First Venture of Gopinath Deccan Charters
Initially, he started a Chartered Helicopter Service under the name Deccan Aviation. This was aimed at providing Chartered helicopters for VIPs and VVIPs who can afford its service. The service was a hit among many Indian politicians and celebrities who took Deccan Aviation copters for their travels.
After tasting success in this first venture, he decided to try something new which will benefit the lower-middle class and upper-middle-class. It was his long dream to make people of lower-income groups fly. His second venture, Air Deccan was launched in 2003 amid a booming Indian economy and an increase in the number of middle-class people. To launch this airline, Gopinath invested Rs 5 crore that he gathered from his lifetime savings, friends and family members.
Another Venture of Gopinath Deccan Airlines Flight
His second venture, Air Deccan was launched in 2003 amid a booming Indian economy with flights from Bangalore and Hubli. To launch this airline, Gopinath invested Rs 5 crore that he gathered from his life savings, friends and family.
By 2006, Air Deccan operated a route network from seven base airports all over the country and maintained low turnaround times than usual. The Air Deccan airline offered tickets at 50% the price of other airlines operating at the time, owing to their no-frills approach.
Soon, the airline claimed a 22% stake in the Indian aviation industry of that time with a fleet of 43 aircraft making 350 flights every day to 60+ destinations. They earned revenue through advertisements that were allowed within and outside the aircraft and were well-known for introducing 24-hour call centres in India through which fliers could book their tickets.
In 2007, the company started to face stiff competition from other airlines, which incurred heavy losses to the company, and Gopinath was forced to sell to Vijay Mallya, who merged it with his Kingfisher Airlines and rebranded it as Kingfisher Red.
G R Gopinath’s Deccan 360
His third venture was an air-cargo service called Deccan 360 which concentrates on shipping across India. The venture was shut down in 2013 after its revenue stream was not adequate to break even.
G R Gopinath These Days
Not only did Air Deccan change the aviation sector in India forever, but it also turned flying into a reality for every middle-class Indian. Later, Gopinath went on to contest in the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, which turned out to be a failed attempt. After being an active and provocative columnist for media houses, In, 2017, he went on to write another book named “You Cannot Miss This Flight: Essays on Emerging India” which captures Capt. Gopinath’s interests and the depth of his commitment. The 68-year-old now lives in Bengaluru with his wife and two children.
Captain GR Gopinath, the man who made flying cheaper through his low-cost airline Air Deccan and later sold it to Vijay Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines, will return to the aviation business by launching a regional airline.
The promoter of India’s first low-cost carrier is in talks with international vendors to develop software for a scheduled airline (an airline that operates services according to a timetable), said a person, who has direct knowledge of the deal without disclosing the names of vendors. Gopinath plans to first target the growing regional market and connect metros through a national carrier.
“I want to start a regional airline and then also expand it to the trunk national routes, but this will take a while,” said Gopinath. “I need another 10 years of energy and also cash flow is an issue.”
