BAOA – Nurturing and Guiding the Growth of Business Aviation in India

By Rohit Kapur

Indian Business Aviation has come a long way from its modest beginnings. From relative stagnation prior to 2004, the industry saw a double-digit growth till almost 2013. The state of the economy and the challenging regulatory framework did bring the growth down relatively, but business aviation continued to be a very critical tool in the hands of the Indian industry leaders. Its inherent flexibility allowed the industry captains to continue their ambitious growth plans, undeterred, by challenges such as natural calamities, pandemics or simply the requirement of moving across borders or to poorly connected areas. Only because they had access to their private aircraft, they were able to move around freely, securely, and as per their own schedule.

In order to unlock the true potential, industry leaders recognised the need for a strong platform to nurture and guide the growth, as well as to voice the needs and concerns of the sector. The Business Aviation Association for India (BAAI) was formed in 2005 with these aims and received positive support from the aviation community. In 2010 another association - Indraprastha Aircraft Aviation Association (IAAA) - was formed with similar objectives. In order to project a unified voice, the governing boards of both associations decided to take the bold and unprecedented step of merging the two bodies. This was completed on March 31, 2011, and Business Aircraft Operators Association (BAOA) was born.

“I WAS VERY CLEAR THAT BAOA WOULD BE A TRULY DEMOCRATIC ORGANISATION WHERE EVERY VOICE OF THE INDUSTRY WOULD BE HEARD”

Sitting in the Conference Room of the Delhi Flying Club ten years ago, after a stormy session between the merging associations, and having just been elected as Founding President and been entrusted the challenging task of making BAOA an effective and strong organisation, without any resources, all I can say is that the only thought in my mind was how to meet the challenge. I was very clear about one thing; BAOA would be a truly democratic organisation, where every voice of the industry would be heard, and there would be no personality cults, as we find in so many other industry bodies. The bye laws were framed with great care to ensure that elections were held every two years, and the President would not be allowed to have more than two consecutive terms. The process of elections would be overseen by an independent process. Today, after having served as President of BAOA for three terms (non-consecutive), I can proudly say that we managed to achieve what we set out for. The contribution of the successive Presidents, the Managing Director and the Governing Board, in achieving this has been truly outstanding.

Over the years, BAOA has achieved many feathers in its cap. Its number of achievements has far exceeded the times that the desired results could not be achieved due to roadblocks, not due to lack of trying. The biggest achievement, to my mind, is that it has given the industry a sense of belonging and oneness, to unite under one umbrella and present a joint front. That is precious and irreplaceable.

Going forward, I would like to only pass on a word of advice to the present office bearers. Organisations need to evolve with time. Nothing is forever. We need to make BAOA more inclusive and ensure that all stake holders have a say in the decision making. There is a constant need to look inwards and ensure that the organisation is keeping up with the times, else it loses its relevance, I am confident that the present leadership of BAOA is alive to this and will continue to take this fine organisation from strength to strength!

As for me, I am happy and privileged to have been part of this great journey and continue to contribute in my own way.

Rohit Kapur is the former and Founding President of BAOA (2011-2015 and 2017-2019). Having served in leadership roles in several business aviation companies, he is presently based in Dubai and President of Jet HQ Asia, which is a leading global aircraft brokerage and transaction company.