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Pieter Elbers’ Playbook for Turning IndiGo Into a Global Carrier

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Already India’s largest airline, IndiGo hired Pieter Elbers to accelerate its expansion. Under his watch as chief executive, the company is ramping up its international growth as it transitions from being a regional player into a major cross-border carrier. 

More than 100 long-haul aircraft are on the way. IndiGo has 60 A350-900 widebodies on firm order, plus more than 60 A321XLRs – the latter due to join the fleet before the end of the year. Hundreds more short and medium-haul jets are also in the pipeline.

The airline is eager to expand, but it didn’t want to wait for the factory-fresh A350s to be delivered.

As a short-term workaround, the airline is leasing 787 Dreamliner jets from European carrier Norse Atlantic. These on-loan planes allowed IndiGo to start flights to Amsterdam and Manchester earlier this month.

Airline Business 101

Speaking to Skift in Manchester, Elbers opened the conversation with a quick reminder –  costs determine the airfare and an airline’s positioning in the market. More typical short-haul IndiGo routes see an à la carte offering. It’s a “pay what you use” approach adopted by countless carriers around the world. 

However, the nature of IndiGo’s intercontinental network expansion requires a different approach. It’s what Elbers calls his “fit-for-purpose” product development methodology. “At



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Delta Says It Will Not Use AI to Target Customers

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Key Points

  • Delta Air Lines clarified it does not use AI to set individualized airfares based on personal data, following criticism from lawmakers.
  • The airline uses AI, via a partnership with Fetcherr, to assist in dynamic pricing for a growing portion of its domestic flights, but claims all fares are determined by market dynamics and are publicly available.
  • Lawmakers and officials have expressed concerns about potential predatory or ‘surveillance’ pricing, prompting Delta to stress its commitment to fair, competitive pricing and data privacy.

Summary

Delta Air Lines has publicly stated that it does not use AI to set individualized prices based on personal customer data, responding to recent criticism and inquiries from U.S. lawmakers. The airline acknowledged using AI technology, through a partnership with Fetcherr, to assist analysts in setting fares for a portion of its domestic flights, with plans to expand this use. However, Delta emphasized that fares are determined by market competition, not personal data, and all prices are transparently published, aiming to dispel concerns about privacy and potential predatory pricing.



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U.S. Dollar Slide Hurts Accor, Minor, and Meliá

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Some of the world’s largest hotel companies saw their earnings dented by currency swings in the first half of 2025, as euro and baht-reporting groups absorbed losses while U.S.-based chains appeared largely insulated from the volatility.

Accor, Meliá Hotels, and Minor International all reported currency-related losses that offset solid operational performance. Meanwhile, U.S.-based Hilton and Wyndham, which report in dollars, did not mention foreign exchange impacts in their earnings calls and appeared shielded from the same pressures.

The U.S. dollar index dropped 10.8% in the first half of 2025 following the Trump administration’s April tariffs and public clashes with the Federal Reserve. The resulting investor pullback caused the dollar to weaken sharply against the euro, baht, and other currencies.

Accor: Currency Among Its Biggest Headwinds

Paris-based Accor repo



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Winners, Losers, and Lots of Premium Seats: Europe’s Airline Scorecard

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Skift Take: Premium cabins still drive profits, but it's the low-cost threat that keeps Europe's legacy carriers up at night.

Read the Complete Story On Skift



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