G R GOPINATH

His name - Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar Gopinath

He was born in a Hassan Iyengar family of the

remote village of Gorur, Karnataka.

Starting his studies in a village school, he

completed his further schooling at Sainik School,
Bijapur.

He currently lives in Bangalore

He started business with a single Helicopter

He had contested in 2009 lok sabha elections as

an
independent candidate but he lost it.

In 2009 Gopinath started Deccan 360 freight and

logistics operation.

Book : Simply Fly

HIS JOURNEY
He went on to graduate from India’s most respected
military establishments The National Defense Academy at
Pune and the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun. Soon
after completion of training, his first assignment was the
1971 Bangladesh War. Ever restless, he left the Army after 8
years of service to seek newer vistas. 

Afterworking for some eight years in the Indian army,

where he rose to the rank of captain, Gopinath went into
business for himself. 

He refocused his efforts on sustainable, eco-friendly crops

that eventually succeeded and also brought an award for
what he calls "innovations in ecological practices.
 He decided to set up a helicopter company because
he felt the ecology was right. India had lots of
unemployed pilots, the country was going through
economic reforms, and there was no helicopter
company that could provide services ranging from
aerial photography to geological surveys for mining. “

 With his entrepreneurial skills coupled with the

technical skills of his ex-army friends, he launched
‘Deccan Aviation’ – a dedicated, customer focused
heli-charter Company. Today, The Company is now
India’s largest and most reputed private air charter
company including Sri Lanka.   
QUALITIES
 Confidence

 Positive Attitude

 Rationality

 Persistence

 Social

 Hard working
AVIATION CAREER

 In 1995, the Indian government started the

reforms process by encouraging
entrepreneurship.
 In the next year he stated a private sector
commercial helicopter service, Deccan
Aviation.
 In 2003 he launched India's first low-cost
airline, Air Deccan which was later purchased
and merged into Kingfisher Airlines
HOW HE GOT AN IDEA OF
AIR DECCAN
 A dream inspired by just one
statement.

“I want every Indian to fly at least

once in his/ her lifetime.”
 One day while flying at low altitudes from Bangalore to
Goa, he noticed large clusters of TV antennas in the
countryside. Similar views greeted him while he flew to
Uttaranchal, Chattisgarh and Assam and that's when it hit
him

 India had become a country of a billion consumers. But

somehow aviation remained outside the purview of this
consumerism. Dominated by government-owned airlines
and two private players, air travel never entered the
minds of this large mass of people because costs were
prohibitive.

 So he decided to build an airline for the common man. 

 Today, Air Deccan is India's second
largest airline, with 40 aircraft that
fly to 60 destinations around the
country.

 In 2008 he handed over the running

of the Airline to Dr. Vijay Mallya , the
airline has now been merged with
Kingfisher and operates under the
brand name – Kingfisher Red.
FROM HELICOPTER TO COMMERCIAL AIRLINE

o These are two different businesses, and again

he had to start from scratch.

o He had to put together business idea and

plan, and then he had to raise funds for it.

o He did not waste his time in analyzing what

will happen or not happen.

o India is all opportunities on one hand, and on

the other, you need to continue to find
alternative ways of doing it.
o So they introduced call centers for
selling tickets and e-ticketing!
o Once his plan was ready, again he
started with one small aircraft.
o Venture capitalists saw it and they gave
him money
AWARDS & HONORS

 1996 - Rolex awards for Enterprise 

 2005 - Rajyotsava Award (Karnataka)

 2007 - Chevalier de la legion d’Honneur (France)

 Personality of the Decade Award (K.G.

Foundation)

 Sir M Visvesvaraya Memorial Award (Federation of

Karnataka Chambers of Commerce & Industry)
STRATEGIES ADAPTED BY AIR DECCAN

 Dynamic pricing
 Cost Reduction
 Quality
 Density
 Marketing & promotion
 Sales & Distribution
 Small Business man/middle class
PLAN FOR THE FUTURE

 “We will become number one” - and it's not out of

arrogance that he say this. His business model
lends itself to that; it's not as if Jet Airways is
inferior to us in any way.
 His vision will drive him to become the largest
airline in the country in one to two years. But he is
not focusing on that because it'll happen anyway.
 He is focused on improving operational efficiency,
reducing costs further without cutting corners and
earning a profit.
MANTRA / BELIEF

It is not enough to have a

dream; you need to be
possessed by it. Especially
when the idea is absurd for
the others
FOR BEING A SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENUR

 Attitude Makes the Difference

 Culture Makes a Company Great

 Mentors Help You Accomplish Things

You Weren’t Sure You Were Capable of

 There are no failures in life, only results

THANK YOU