Belson Coutinho, co-founder and COO of Akasa Air and former senior executive at Jet Airways, explains early aviation experiments connecting social media directly with core operational systems.
“We build a connect with Twitter, working with the team in India where consumers can check in on Twitter. So you didn't have to go to an airline website. And the thought process that time was, at least the way I thought was, you got to be where the consumer is. And that, that time, consumer was on social media. So we had to, you know, expose our APIs, connect with the Twitter API, And a consumer can just tweet their PNR and check in on Twitter.”
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More from Belson Coutinho
Disclosure
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“The empowerment goes even to a level where every employee, no matter where you sit, where you work, if you believe there's even a one percent risk Of safety. You can stop a plane from taking off. No questions asked.”
Belson CoutinhoJun 11, 2026▶ 52:07S2Ep12: Decoding New Age Aviation in India with Akasa ft. Belson Coutinho
AssertionSupported
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“Just about three to four percent of Indians fly by air.”
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AssertionPartly supported
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“Since inception, Akasa has been doing about 90% plus in terms of load factors.”
Belson CoutinhoJun 11, 2026▶ 1:02:50S2Ep12: Decoding New Age Aviation in India with Akasa ft. Belson Coutinho
AssertionPartly supported
Coutinho: Akasa Air Launched Exclusively via Digital Channels and Press Without Billboards
“We didn't do big ad campaigns to launch the airline. Because we are a digital first airline. Right. And we launched this purely on digital platforms. So there was, there were no large ad campaigns that you would have seen on billboards and stuff like that. It …”
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AssertionSupported
Coutinho: Airline Team Launched First IATA E-Ticket Booking in April 2004
“I think in 2004 was our first online booking with the IATA defined e-tickets came into play. I remember in April of 2004 we just launched it late in the evening and we suddenly saw somebody book his first ticket”
Belson CoutinhoJun 11, 2026▶ 9:03S2Ep12: Decoding New Age Aviation in India with Akasa ft. Belson Coutinho
AssertionSupported
Indian Airport ID Checks Began to Prevent E-Ticket Printout Fraud
“When you have an online ticket, you had to print it. Anybody could make four copies of it. So we had to work with the security forces, the airport, put a system in place. You had to use your photo ID to enter. So those are the systems and processes we put in w…”
Belson CoutinhoJun 11, 2026▶ 14:21S2Ep12: Decoding New Age Aviation in India with Akasa ft. Belson Coutinho
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