The missing piece in India’s aviation boom: a business intelligence platform
India is the fastest-growing aviation market on the planet. In terms of passenger numbers, it is already the world’s third biggest market, according to aviation consultancy Capa. Passenger numbers have been growing at a clip of more than 20% over the past three years.
That’s not all. The government is finally paying attention to an industry that is synonymous with convenience, prosperity and growth. After much wrangling, an aviation policy is in place. A raft of incentives is available to investors who want to launch regional airlines.
Growing passenger numbers and a supportive government: Indian aviation has never had it so good. Yet, there is something missing in the euphoria — good aviation journalism.
The Indian aviation community is not getting the information and insights it needs. Those in the sector are tired of journalism that barely scratches the surface of such a dynamic sector.
The frustration is palpable. “There is plenty of sensational (non) news, but I am struggling to get relevant news and information,” an airline boss told me recently.
A Fundamental Problem
What he and his counterparts in the industry meant was that the mainstream media in India is not serving the aviation community well. The coverage has largely been abysmal or erratic, incongruous for a sector that is both fast growing and vast. It is not entirely the media’s fault though.
Aviation is just one of the several hundred topics that a newspaper or a TV channel covers. The New York Times on any given day may contain only a few articles on aviation. But the US has several journalism platforms that serve its aviation community.
In India, aviation journalism is as much a problem of quality as it is of quantity. A few trade publications and magazines exist. But they are awful, to put it charitably, producing puff pieces or reproducing press releases.
In short, the aviation community in India desperately longs for a quality journalism platform. This is the fundamental problem I am trying to solve with my business intelligence platform, Rede.
I strongly believe the future of journalism, or of media startups, lies in the ability to provide value to readers. Readers, or a community, will be better served with news and information that they can use to improve their lives.
A Platform for the Aviation Community
Ergo, Rede will diligently document and decode the rapid changes in passenger behaviour, technology and the business for the aviation community in India. We will provide a deeper understanding of new concepts, developments and trends in commercial aviation for key stakeholders in Indian aviation so that they can become more able and active participants in the rapidly changing environment that they operate.
I understood the potential of such a platform and the problem it would be solving a year ago. But it wasn’t until I came to The Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism in New York in January that I figured out the section of the aviation community that would wholeheartedly welcome it.
One striking feature of aviation is that though it is a niche community, it is vast. There is the flying public, airlines, airports, professionals such as pilots, cabin crew, engineers etc, private jets, plane makers, planespotters, inflight entertainment companies… You get the idea.
So should Rede be a B2B or a B2C or a B2B2C platform? Should it be serving the flying public or the key players in commercial aviation such as airlines, airports, private jets, ground handling companies and aviation training centres, among others? At first I was confused.
Fortunately, I found the answer quickly based on several user interviews and meetings with Jeff Jarvis, Jeremy Caplan and other members of the faculty at Tow-Knight. The flying public’s only interest in aviation, I gathered, is cheap fares and deals. There are several platforms already addressing that need.
The people who would truly require and appreciate a journalism platform are the key sectors of commercial aviation.
As a business intelligence platform, Rede will serve decision makers, marketers and professionals in commercial aviation with a signature mix of reporting, information, insights, data, in-depth analyses tips and trends.
We have set the ball rolling. There is more to come.
