(Reuters) -India’s top airline IndiGo said on Thursday that it has appointed former U.S. Federal Aviation Administration chief Mike Whitaker as an independent director on its board.
Whitaker served as the head of the FAA, the U.S. agency in charge of air safety, efficiency, and the air traffic system, from October 2023 to January this year, during which he oversaw the agency’s response to significant safety issues at Boeing.
IndiGo, the world’s second-largest airline by market capitalisation, has been tapping India’s growing outbound travel market to drive growth as capacity constraints hinder domestic growth.
The appointment comes as IndiGo has been expanding internationally, while also trying to attract more affluent passengers in a departure from its low-cost model focus. It ordered its first-ever widebody aircraft in April last year.
Whitaker’s extensive experience in international governmental affairs “will be hugely instrumental as IndiGo continues its global expansion”, said Managing Director Rahul Bhatia.
Later this year, IndiGo will fly its wet-leased Boeing 787s to Manchester and Amsterdam, marking its entry into long-haul travel.
(Reporting by Ashish Chandra and Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
