As the investor behind the growth of numerous low-cost carriers over the past few decades, The Financial Times this year dubbed Indigo Partners founder Bill Franke the “[Warren] Buffett of the airline business.” While Indigo’s portfolio of carriers generally is not primarily focused on corporate travel, they are becoming an increasing force in shaping the airline industry.
One of those carriers, Chile-based JetSmart, attracted the attention of American Airlines this year. In July, the two carriers announced a letter of intent to tie American’s network to JetSmart’s short-haul network covering 33 destinations in South America, largely out of Santiago and Buenos Aires, and for American to take a minority stake in JetSmart to spur further growth.
U.S. LCC Frontier Airlines, also owned by Indigo Airlines, this year finally was able to conduct an initial public offering, following an earlier effort that was thwarted by the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In Europe, Indigo’s Wizz Air has big ambitions as well. While it failed in a reported bid to take over fellow LCC EasyJet, which would have created a combined airline comparable in size to Ryanair, the move underscored its big growth plans in the region.
While Franke keeps his investment performance—and the identity of his investors—close to the vest, his rapid growth strategy for his carriers is hard to ignore. In November, Indigo Partners raised industry eyebrows with a massive order of 255 Airbus A321 aircraft at the Dubai Airshow, 91 of which will go to Frontier, 75 of which will go to Wizz Air, 21 of which will go to JetSmart and 39 of which will go to low-cost Mexican carrier Volaris. That order “reaffirms our portfolio airlines’ commitment to consistent growth through the next decade,” Franke said in