When Wing Commander Rajiv Kothiyal resigned in 2002 as one of the most qualified test pilots in the Indian Air Force and quickly found a flying job in a start-up airline, Deccan Airways, he felt he had won a jackpot.
Deccan Airways is all set to introduce its New Delhi-Jabalpur service from December 15.
After excluding the shares they have pledged, the promoters hold a meagre 3.55 per cent in the crisis-ridden airline.
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GoAir reluctant to respond to overtures.
Low cost carrier Air Deccan will add Pune and Srinagar to its network on December 6, taking the total number of its destinations to 46 and making it the largest network provider in the country.
Russian defence aerospace major Sukhoi is close to bagging its first civilian Indian client with its regional 60- to 90-seater jet Sukhoi Superjet 100.
An overriding ambition to rule the domestic skies prevented Jet Airways from becoming a strong and formidable player in the international market. The Sahara buy added to the complexity of its operations and a dilution of what the airline stood for, says Anjuli Bhargava.
For Jet's revival, Mr Jalan should be on the scene long enough for everyone to get to know him, appreciate his skills, and not vanish into thin air within a matter of months or even weeks, observes Anjuli Bhargava.
For the second time in a year, Air Deccan overtook state-owned Indian (formerly Indian Airlines) in 2006, making it country's second-largest domestic carrier.
Aviation stocks - Jet Airways, Deccan Aviation, SpiceJet and Jagson Airlines - closed at their 52-week highs on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Tuesday in falling market. All the four stocks gained between 5 per cent and 20 per cent on Tuesday.
Low cost carriers have 55 per cent of the market, up from 45 per cent in Q1 last year, and 30 per cent two years back. Does it mean India really is an LCC market? The performance of the airlines also seem to suggest that. While budget carrier Spicejet announced a small profit for Q1, all the big boys in the industry seem to be in trouble.
The Rs 2,058 crore (Rs 20.58 billion) deal between Jet Airways and Etihad Airways will benefit passengers, as increased competition will bring down air fares, aviation sector experts said.
Even low cost carriers IndiGo, Paramount Airways are now in talks to join the Jet Airways-Kingfisher Airlines alliance to cut costs. After Kingfisher took over Air Deccan, fares have gone up steadily. Other low cost carriers have also hiked fares.
Bangalore's new airport will be ready on March 7 to receive the first commercial test flights. It plans to start commercial operations on March 28 or 30, soon after Hyderabad's new airport does so on 16 March.
According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's recent announcements, most airlines except Deccan, SpiceJet and Jetlite had claimed that they had adequate CAT III-compliant pilots. While Jet claimed it had more than 50 CAT III-compliant pilots, the airline could make no landing under CAT III conditions today.
SpiceJet, IndiGo, Jet Airways, Alliance Air, and Turbo Aviation are among the operators that have bagged the routes in the third round.
In the 42 months since Air Deccan became a credible and stable challenger to the erstwhile ruling triumvirate of Jet Airways, Indian Airlines and Sahara, the new entrants have garnered about 44 per cent of share of the market.
According to the figures for January, budget carriers alone -- such as SpiceJet, GoAir, IndiGo, apart from Deccan -- have 34 per cent share of the market. A year ago, the figure was only 20.8 per cent.
All major airlines in the country are likely to hike the fuel surcharge by Rs 100 with effect from September 5, raising the total surcharge to Rs 750.
Some pilots are already in touch with Gopinath while others are betting on Kingfisher's revival.
Faced with falling market share, full service airlines are slashing ticket costs to compete with low-cost carriers.
Kingfisher's departure from the Low Cost Carrier (LCC) segment shows that running an LCC is no cakewalk, requiring a whole new management philosophy.
Barely a fortnight after it launched international operations and integrated low-cost carrier Simplify Deccan with it, Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines plans to lay off at least 300 employees, official orders for which are to be conveyed on Monday.
After rationalising flights and routes, major domestic airlines like Kingfisher, Jet Airways and SpiceJet are introducing sharp cutbacks in staff and salaries to cope with slower passenger growth and rising aviation turbine fuel costs. Manpower typically accounts for 10-15 per cent of an airline's total costs.
The Mumbai airport has decided not to allow additional flights this summer, thanks to infrastructure bottlenecks. This is likely to spoil the expansion plans of all carriers, including private players like Kingfisher, Simplifly Deccan and Jet Airways. However, airlines have been allowed to re-apply for additional flights as & when they get delivery of new aircraft during the summer. Kingfisher had to shelve 11 additional flights out of Mumbai while Deccan has rescheduled too.
Six years after running down the low-cost model, Jet and Kingfisher are betting on the same business model for survival.
Kingfisher will be permitted to fly abroad this year, following its acquisition of Air Deccan. Since Air Deccan will be eligible for the international arena this August, Kingfisher too will enjoy this right.
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