In its bid to gain a foothold in one of the world’s most competitive air-travel markets, Akasa, a new Indian airline backed by billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, plans to offer stock options to attract staff.

“We want to have an organization that’s very tight knit in values, but diverse in experiences, genders, locations within India,” Chief Executive Officer Vinay Dube said in an interview. “We were saddened by the plight of employees through the pandemic, some of the bankruptcies that have taken place in Indian aviation, and we wanted to create homes for them where they are happy.”

Akasa, backed by some impressive aviation veterans, has hired around 50 employees for back office functions and is now recruiting pilots, flight attendants and airport staff, said Dube, who is also Akasa’s founder and managing director. “It’s flattering, overwhelming, but there’s also a hint of sadness because I don’t want so many people to be either unemployed or unhappy,” said Dube. “If we don’t treat our employees well, if we don’t take care of them, then it’s very hard for them to take care of customers, which we want them to do.”

“Startups have a particularly difficult road ahead,” said Robert Mann, the New York-based head of aviation consulting firm R.W. Mann & Co. The challenges before airline upstarts like Akasa include availability of sufficient capital and the need to stimulate flyer appetite with cheap fares upon launch, which generates good word of mouth leading to positive cash flow and eventual profit, he said.

“If you look at the next 20 years, Indian aviation is going to continue to grow by leaps and bounds,” Dube said. “India is geographically a very large country and aviation is under penetrated, there are many people today who still haven’t flown relative to most Western economies. All said and done, we are extremely bullish about the future. 100 per cent Akasa will be profitable.”