The aviation entrepreneur on starting a low-cost airline in a hostile environment, locking horns with the corrupt and fighting the forces against him, his wife's support in his audacious dream, and a movie on his life, the Akshay Kumar-starrer Sarfira
Captain Gorur R Iyengar Gopinath is best known for his audacious ploy of offering flight tickets for a rupee. The founder of Air Deccan reveals that the idea of starting a low-cost airline occurred to him when he took one in America and found a carpenter as his co-passenger. I wanted to break caste and class barriers in India, he explains. As he went about pursuing his dream, he claims he had to overcome several hurdles—from dealing with competitors who tried every trick to ensure he did not succeed to corrupt bureaucrats and politicians. Eventually, Air Deccan took to the skies in 2003, with Gopinath having to wait for three years to get a licence.