Immature Indian Airlines!

As though depressing news wasn't enough, it was sad to hear of the DGCA canceling the licenses of Kingfisher Airlines.

But then the likes of Jet Airways and IndiGo are somehow surviving. The best are the foreign carriers which are thriving flying in and out of Indian skies and laughing all the way to the bank.

The Wall Street Journal had a story on the oddest air routes in the world. And one tiny carrier, with just 11 aircraft, from the nation of Armenia, nestled in the Caucasus highlands, Armavia is flying the Sardars from the pinds of Amritsar to Birmingham, via  Zvartnots International Airport at Yerevan.

My folks recently traveled to Beijing from Delhi, to meet my sister. they flew on Air China. Air China too picking up Punjabis and giving them free transit hotel rooms in Beijing and flying them onward to Trrannto (Toronto) and other places in Cannadda (Canada). Other Chinese carriers are also swamping Indian airports - China Southern, China Eastern besides Air China which is adding a 2x daily frequency to Kunming from Kolkata, yes, that's right Kolkata of all places!

Jet Airways recently pulled out of New York's JFK Airport, while it continues to fly in to Newark. The void left behind Jet Airways is being filled in by Virgin Atlantic, which starts flights to New York from Delhi on October 25, 2012.

The best is Emirates, which has been called as India's "national airline" by the Economic Times flies Indian passengers from mini-metros like Ahmedabad and Hyderabad to far flung places like Rio di Janeiro, Sao Paolo and Buenos Aires, besides the whole of Africa and Europe.

I feel Indian carriers suffer from a classic problem - a short sighted management which fails to see opportunities coupled with a stupid and stifling bureaucracy-politician nexus.

The managements of airlines have no long term vision - they just seem to be content with living the day rather building a future. They simply fail to see the opportunities within  that the Armavias and Emirates and Air Chinas are capitalising on. Indian carriers are mentally ill prepared for a long gestation period before they can actually cream the long-haul market. The worst offender on this count is Jet Airways which hastily pulled out of the India - Shanghai - San Francisco and India - Johannesburg sectors, routes where South African Airways and Chinese carriers are flourishing.

The government should be working on building multiple Indian carriers of quality and repute to feed in passengers from the West into hub airports and fly them to the East - India is strategically located to do that. But do they have the vision?

But has anyone given a thought to the tragic ordeal of Kingfisher employees? Certainly not the Mallyas who are cooling their heels abroad as Mallya Jr tweeted about the club life at 5AM in London. How tragic and immature!

Up In The Air .... Part 5

It was good while it lasted!

This part of Up In The Air is a requiem dedicated to the Kingfisher experience!

In March 2011, I traveled on a Kingfisher Airlines A320 from Mumbai to Trivadrum, enroute to Thirunelveli. 

It was a Kingfisher Red flight, or a diluted Kingfisher experience sans frills. But the aircraft they used was a Kingfisher First one, implying that it had business class seats. I noticed that and smartly web-checked in myself in the forward section!!!

The seats were comfortable and reclinable.

The British couple ahead of us were tourists travelling to Kerala. Since they had a British Airways codeshare tickets, they were served breakfast. That pissed off the rest of the passengers. Apartheid, Kingfisher style!

The red Kingfisher nacelles looked impressive as we began our descent into Trivandrum!

There was a big of a haze that day, but normally the approach to Trivandrum is breathtaking!

"A window of hope!" - that would be an apt caption for this photograph!

That's what makes Kerala God's Own Country - the greenery here is breathtaking!

The next day when I departed from Trivandrum, it was a very bright day! The sky was brilliantly blue. But take-offs are usually not that great for photography.

And back over Versova, Mumbai lining up for approach on Runway 14-32!

Hope Kingfisher Lives!

The crisis which had been brewing in Indian aviation for some time now, has come to what seems to be a climax.

Kingfisher Airlines has reported record accumulated losses and has had to curtail flights to minimise operational losses. Kingfisher did not start off this way. The airline was a breath of fresh air in Indian aviation.

The day Kingfisher was launched, I happened to be at CSI Airport's Terminal 2B in May 2005. The Air-India hanger next to the terminal was the venue for the launch party. The new Airbus A320, with its Kingfisher emblazoned red tail, was looking smart.

Then, a few months later, in August 2005, Neeti was the first, in our family, to travel on the new airline on the Delhi-Bangalore-Delhi sector. She kept raving about the service and the IFE, in-flight entertainment, a first in Indian aviation. She was not wrong.

I took my first Kingfisher flight on the Bombay-Delhi-Bombay sector in October 2005 and I too was blown over. The aircraft were new Airbus A320s, clean, spic and span and smelt fresh. The decor was warm, very much unlike Air-India or Jet Airways.

Despite the titillation onboard, suggestively skirted flight attendants, the launch of the airline was an epochal event in Indian aviation. Service was good, food was great, the IFE was a first - no I am not referring the red-skirted two-legged kind of IFE, but the in-flight entertainment programmes. They pioneered the concept of web check ins and seat selection. I dumped Air-India Flying Returns frequent flier membership and took to joining King Club with gusto.

In all, Kingfisher was a breath of fresh air. They forced Jet Airways, which by then had become quite a haughty brand, with staff having an arrogant and "holier than thou attitude", to change.

The credit for this went to Mr. Vijay Mallya, who claimed we, the passengers on board, were like guests in his home. I truly did feel so, felt like a king on board.

But Mr. Mallya wanted to grow, grow fast and target profitable international routes. To get to fly abroad, he acquired Air Deccan (which was about to complete the required 5 years before international operations could commence).

The airline announced orders for a number of widebodies - A330s, A340s, A350s and A380s. It was widely believed that Mr. Mallya wanted to fly the A340s non-stop between the world's greatest Silicon Valleys - Bangalore and San Francisco. That made a lot of sense.

By the global credit crisis struck. The already loss-making Air Deccan lived on as the low cost variant of the airline. That certainly come naturally to Mr. Mallya and Kingfisher, which by then was known for its flamboyance.

Payments for the widebodies became due. The airline took deliveries of the A330s, five in all, and launched them on select international routes - London and Hong Kong only, while the other international destinations were served by the A320 family.

While the A340s were ready at the Airbus facilities at Toulouse and had already been painted in Kingfisher colours, Kingfisher was forced to cancel the order, and these aircraft went to Arik Air of Nigeria. The dreams of Kingfisher flying non-stop to San Francisco went straight into the trash can.

An aviation blog Bangaloreaviation.com says: "Clearly, Arik saw a good thing in the tremendous effort put in by Dr. Mallya and the team at Kingfisher, in designing the interior of their A340-500, and plans to use the same aircraft configuration, for long-haul services to London, New York and Houston."

After the Air Deccan acquisition and the credit crisis, Kingfisher service deteriorated prompting me to shift loyalties to Jet Airways. But when I recently traveled on Kingfisher on the Bombay-Hyderabad sector, I was shocked to discover that they don't serve butter anymore with breakfast. That spoke of the impending disaster.

But today, the airline which dreamt of new horizons and forced arrogant incumbents, like Jet Airways, to change is on the verge of a saddening closure.

It is even more painful to see Twitterati joking about the impending collapse. Truly speaking, had Mr. Mallya succeeded, he would have been feted as an avatar of the legendary JRD Tata. But the sad fact of this world is that success is a bastard, and no one loves people who failed.

It has to be emphasised that the role the government has played has left a lot to be desired. They need to recognise that a healthy vibrant aviation sector is essential for a growing economy, but they chose to overtax the sector and pad up the costs artificially, which has been counterproductive. Look the support the Gulf airlines get, or even what the African carriers get. The Indian government has done zilch in comparison.

In such a scenario, a one-time bailout, for all airlines, would the best atonement, for allowing airlines to fail would be counterproductive for India, which should one of the top five economies in the next 20 years.

And as an aviation enthusiast, it would be sad to see Kingfisher Airlines die.

Headwinds or Tailwinds?

This was quite a week for aviation.
ANA took delivery of its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner at Boeing's facilities in Everett, Washington on September 25, 2011 following which the aircraft flew to Narita, Japan to commence scheduled operations shortly.
It is believed that initially, Boeing had planned for the maiden flight by the end of August 2007 following a roll-out ceremony on July 8, 2007, which matches the aircraft's designation, 787, in US-style month-day-year format (7/8/07). That never happened, as there were many many issues - shortage of aerospace-grade fasteners, incomplete software, labour strikes and supply chain issues.

But all's well that ends well. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is here, definitely. It was nice to see the the Boeing 787 Dreamliner being brought into the launch function by enthusiastic Boeing employees, much like a bride being led to to the altar!

Photos on aviation spotting websites like Airliners.net and other news reports suggest that the 787 production line is now well oiled. A few Air-India Boeing 787 Dreamliners - to be designated as VT-ANA, VT-ANB, VT-ANC and VT-ANG are nearly ready and should be delivered soon. It is a different question whether Air-India would have the financial wherewithal to take their delivery. It would be tragic if the Dreamliner does not fly on Indian skies.
Then came a bombshell. This news did in a sense prove that life does come full circle. On September 28, 2011, it was announced that Kingfisher Airlines would exit its low cost business, Kingfisher Red, and instead would reposition itself as a full service carrier. When Kingfisher Airlines started operations in 2005, it was premium full service carrier, that, as many felt, relied on titillation - stewardesses chosen personally by the Chairman (that's cheesy enough), stewardesses clad in bright red short skirts - that was enough to set testosterones racing. But what started off well, leave aside the gimmickry for a moment - great food, great service on board, soon took a tumble. Air Deccan was acquired and the airline adopted a hybrid full service and low cost model, and then got caught up in economic headwinds and fuel turbulence! Things got bad - finances crippled in light of massive orders with Airbus and fuel costs, refuelling became an issue, punctuality reduced and menus shrunk (and became pathetic). I recently travelled on the full service version of Kingfisher Airlines on a morning flight. I was flabbergasted when the breakfast tray had no butter. Things had gotten so bad! But, this new announcement on recasting the business model proves that managers in India Inc. have become as tentative as those in the West.

A very seasoned senior corporate executive I have known for years now recently quoted Dominic Barton of McKinsey on Twitter - "The most striking difference between East and West is the time frame leaders consider when making decisions. Asians typically think in terms of 10 to 15 years. In US & Europe, nearsightedness is a norm."
That was true for a long time, but now, as the Kingfisher Airlines example proves, we too have started following short-termism. Perhaps, existence for the airline was the paramount consideration for cutting costs atrociously or now moving whole-hog into the full service domain. But is it not true that somewhere, the management neither had the patience or the conviction to stick to one model. Will they stick on, will they sell out? My bet is Virgin Atlantic and Sir Richard Branson which had lobbied with the Government of India for permitting investment in Indian carriers has a good chance - the head honchos are equally flamboyant, the business models would be similar. Let us wait and watch!
One airline, once known as Bloody Awful unveiled a new campaign this week that promised a return to the quality and efficiency that once existed in the aviation business. I am talking about British Airways.


The campaign is slick, impressive and to me, appears honest. But do European airlines stand a decent chance of competing with premium carriers from the Gulf or Asia is a fair question to ask.
Back home Jet Airways introduced a Boeing 737-800 with a new decor - Sky Interiors, with cove lighting and a curved cabin architecture that looks contemporary, gives a sense of openness and space. New flights connecting Bombay and Manila have been announced. I have heard the next announcement would be that of reopening the India-Shanghai-San Francisco sector. Truly they have benefited the most from the decimation of competition notably Air-India and Kingfisher Airlines. Today, this is the only full service Indian carrier that has some kind of brand loyalty to speak of.
But how long is Jet Airways to command that respect is another question. They are withdrawing certain privileges to Jet Privilege members effective October 1, 2011.
Their cabin crew, undoubtedly the better of the lot need a serious dress makeover - their yellow coats look like those of courtiers in the court of the Chinese Emperor, the pants and aprons looks funny. I have also observed a big differential in the basic courtesy extended to Business and Economy class passenger. Some Jet staff treat economy passengers like cattle. It seems they have taken Shashi Tharoor too seriously. That is not good indeed.

The carrier that impressed the most recently was Indigo. I travelled on the Bombay-Hyderabad and Hyderabad-Bhubaneshwar sectors recently. Being a low cost airline, I did not expect much from them. But from the moment I stepped into their A320, I was impressed. The cabin crew seemed to be genuinely welcoming, the cabin spic and span and smelt very fresh. To my surprise I was offered free beverages and snacks on all sectors. I needed cotton for my ears (always get blocked ears while landing), but since they did not have cotton, I was given endless supplies of water. The stewardess then noticed that I had a cold, she got me a big glass of warm water. I was impressed. I never felt like a king at Jet Airways, where I have been a frequent flier for the last 6-7 years, but I sure did at Indigo!

Another airline which impressed me recently was the no-frills Go Air. While the cabin crew had an atrocious artificial accent and looked like over painted mannequins, the flight was on the runway 5 minutes prior to departure time and landed ahead of schedule!
I also came across an interesting comment on Airliners.net - a comment posted on a picture of Air-India's yet-to-be-delivered Boeing 787 Dreamliner VT-ANC which said "Asians have all the money! India buys airliners like we buy candy. Indigo for example orders Airbuses like they grow on trees. Air India is deeply in debt though and is borrowing money from India govt to fund all these fancy new jets like 777 and 787."
That is true, especially when sees Emirates or Qatar Airways expand. Benchmarks in the airline industry will be set by Asian carriers going forward, for this is where the business is, this is where the volume is.

Are these trends in aviation headwinds or tailwinds?