News sull' aviazione indiana

[malpensante]

Jet, Kingfisher seal wide-ranging alliance

Tuesday October 14, 2008
Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines, India's two largest private carriers, yesterday announced the formation of an "alliance" that will include codesharing on both domestic and international flights and a wide-ranging pooling of resources.
Each airline is losing money as they contend with rising costs and overcapacity in the Indian market and see cooperation as a way to lower costs and increase efficiency. "Such alliances are taking place all over the globe," Jet Chairman Naresh Goyal told reporters at a news conference in Mumbai. "This is the first such alliance in India. It is not a cartel but essentially meant to save costs as airlines are losing money." Added Kingfisher Chairman Vijay Mallya, "This alliance will result in major cost saving, improve efficiencies through network synergies and cross-selling. If the airlines save money, they will pass it on to consumers." The carriers insisted they are not planning to merge.
The two, which collectively control nearly 60% of the domestic Indian market, have agreed to cross-sell tickets, share crews on similar aircraft types and combine ground handling and fuel management operations. Passengers will be able to earn and use frequent-flier miles across both carriers.
India's airlines are estimated to have lost more than $1 billion in the 12 months ended March 31. Jet Airways CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer told ATWOnline last month that Jet expects to follow a $100 million loss in its last fiscal year with another loss for the year ending March 31, 2009.
Kingfisher Vice Chairman G.R. Gopinath told the Indo-Asian News Service yesterday that the alliance was "inevitable as it is a matter of survival in these times when airlines the world over are going through their worst phase due to a combination of factors, triggered by soaring fuel prices and followed by global economic slowdown and falling occupancy. . .In the prevailing situation, such an alliance makes sense and is in line with what has been happening with other international airlines. Indian carriers can no longer remain immune to the impact of global crisis in the aviation industry."
The Federation of Indian Airlines, of which both Jet and Kingfisher are members, in recent days asked for a $1 billion bailout from the government to help carriers manage the financial crisis. FIA predicts collective losses of more than $2 billion for India's airlines this year.

by Aaron Karp
ATWOnline

 

[malpensante]

Kingfisher, Jet: Alliance 'in the larger public interest'

Wednesday October 15, 2008
Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways are emphasizing that their newly formed "alliance" is not a merger or a precursor to one but was necessary to "enable a stabilization of the Indian aviation industry in the larger public interest."
Cooperation between the former archrivals likely will be extensive. "While maintaining their separate legal entities and brand entities, both Jet and Kingfisher will examine co-branding opportunities and have formed a core committee of senior management personnel from both companies who will drive the various identified initiatives forward," the airlines said in a joint statement. They insisted that "there will not be any mutual equity investments."
Statements this week from Jet Chairman Naresh Goyal and Kingfisher Chairman Vijay Mallya elicited a sense of deja vu for observers of India's troubled airline industry. The chairmen said they hope to reduce losses by increasing synergies instead of aggressively competing as they have for the past four years.
They issued similar statements last year after acquiring smaller carriers. Jet bought Air Sahara and Kingfisher took over LCC Deccan, but both acquisitions have failed to deliver the synergies and reduced costs promised and each airline's share price has taken a beating over the past year. Whether the new alliance produces different results will become clearer in coming months.
Mallya argued this week that the "fundamentals for air transport in India remain sound," but noted that growth has slowed considerably in the last six months owing to "high fuel prices, back-breaking taxation, excessive airport charges and overcapacity."
The two carriers operate a combined 189 aircraft on 927 domestic and 82 international flights daily and plan to interline to cut down on overlapping routes, a move they hope will help address what Goyal characterized as "irrational pricing" in the Indian market.
The alliance, subject to Directorate General of Civil Aviation approval, may allow each airline to deploy aircraft more rationally. Kingfisher's initial foray into international operations on the Bangalore-London Heathrow route has suffered so far from very poor loads. It is scheduled to take delivery of two A340-500s later this year and deploying them profitably in the current economic environment could be problematic. The tie-up with Jet, which already operates to Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and the US, may help in that regard.

by Cuckoo Paul and Aaron Karp
ATWOnline

 

[sahara76]

Ma, secondo te, questa alleanza non è potenzialmente un po' rischiosa per l'immagine (nel senso ampio del termine) di IT? Questa compagnia ha puntato molto sull'elevata qualità dei servizi (5 stelle Skytarx), molto meno Jet.

 

[malpensante]

Probabilmente i conti vanno molto male e non c' è altra scelta.

 

[TW 843]

Probabilmente i conti vanno molto male e non c' è altra scelta.

In Jet di sicuro...


DATE:15/10/08
SOURCE:Air Transport Intelligence
India's Jet cuts staff and stops expanding
By Nicholas Ionides

India's Jet Airways has confirmed that some 800 flight attendants as well as an unspecified number of employees in other areas of the business are being laid off as it has "suspended" its planned expansion programme.

CEO Wolfgang Prock-Shauer says in a statement that "around 800 flight attendantshave been released", adding that "we are in the process of releasing personnel in other categories too".

Prock-Shauer says employees being let go are those who were hired for Jet's aggressive expansion, specifically "probationers and unconfirmed personnel".

He does not say how many employees in other areas of the business will be laid off, adding only that the cuts will also affect probationary and unconfirmed pilots and management personnel.

Jet, India's largest privately owned airline, has expanded rapidly in recent years, acquiring the former Air Sahara to grow domestic operations and adding dozens of new aircraft for a huge expansion of its fledgling international operations.

Prock-Shauer says the carrier's expansion "has now been suspended", adding that Jet will operate 15% fewer flights in its winter schedule than originally planned.

"This is inevitable in view of the declining traffic volumes. Jet Airways expects these difficult market conditions to continue for some time," he says.

"The aviation industry in India, a $6 billion turnover industry, is expected to lose $2 billion in 2008-9. The economic viability of the industry has been severely affected by the record-high fuel prices and most recently due to the crisis of the financial markets globally and the downturn in traffic.

"Jet Airways had planned for a continuous growth in the domestic aviation market and the implementation of the first phase of its international expansion programme. However, the domestic market has declined by double-digit figures in recent months. Apart from this, Jet Airways' long-haul expansion had to be pruned down due to international developments."

Prock-Shauer adds: "Jet has been watching the situation for some time in the hope that it may turn around, but has now reached a stage at which some hard decisions are inevitable."

http://www.flightglobal.com/article...ndias-jet-cuts-staff-and-stops-expanding.html

 

[malpensante]

Una storia che purtroppo si ripete spesso. L' aviazione indiana è rimasta fortemente regolamentata fino a pochi anni fa. Nel momento della liberalizzazione troppi si sono buttati a capofitto, cercando di crescere più velocemente dei concorrenti per accaparrarsi la maggior quota di mercato. E' quasi inevitabile l' overshooting, la sovrastima dei tassi di crescita. L' aviazione indiana ha ancora molta strada davanti a sè, ma sarà percorsa più lentamente del previsto.

Secondo me Jet e Kingfisher dovrebbero proprio fondersi per eliminare radicalmente la sovracapacità, un po' come in Italia dovrebbe succedere con AZ e AP.

 

[sahara76]

Secondo me Jet e Kingfisher dovrebbero proprio fondersi per eliminare radicalmente la sovracapacità, un po' come in Italia dovrebbe succedere con AZ e AP.

Probabilmente hai ragione. Le potenzialità del mercato Indiano sono enormi ma in evoluzione molto lenta. Per eliminare le sovracapacità però bisognerebbe anche ridurre la flotta e Jet sembra la "vittima" predestinata visto che ha diversi aerei in leasing...

 

[Seaking]

Tenete anche presente che Kingfisher è da tempo nelle brame di SkyTeam... con questa fusione diventa anche più appetibile!

 

[dreamliner]

October 15, 2008
Jet Airways, India's top private airline, said on Wednesday it had retrenched 800 flight attendants and suspended its expansion, and will cut flights and lay off more staff due to a slowdown in demand.

Jet Airways said in a statement it would reduce probationary and temporary workers in other areas, including management and pilots, as it planned to cut flights by about 15 percent over winter.

"The economic viability of the industry has been severely affected by the record high fuel prices and most recently due to the crisis of the financial markets globally and the downturn in traffic," Jet said, adding the job cuts were not the result of a planned cost-saving alliance with Kingfisher Airlines.

"Jet Airways expects these difficult market conditions to continue."

The Indian aviation industry, which has combined revenue of USD$6 billion, is expected to lose USD$2 billion in the year to March 2009, Jet said.

Shares in the company closed down 7.6 percent at 267.45 rupees in a Mumbai market that fell 5.9 percent.

In September, Jet had said it and its budget arm JetLite offered 526 flights daily with a fleet of 109 aircraft.

On Monday Jet Airways and number two private carrier Kingfisher Airlines, which between them have about 60 percent of the domestic market, agreed on an alliance to cut costs through code-sharing, sharing of ticketing, ground services, joint fuel management, crew training and utilization.

(Reuters)

 

[dreamliner]

La fusione porta al lincenziamento di 800 persone nella Jet. Non una cosa da poco

 

[malpensante]

Non è una fusione, ma solo un' alleanza.

 

[malpensante]

Jet Airways to lay off 1,900 employees

Thursday October 16, 2008
Jet Airways, India's largest airline by market share, announced yesterday that it will lay off 1,900 employees across all levels.
The news, which sent ripples through the domestic airline industry, came two days after Jet sealed a surprising partnership with former rival Kingfisher Airlines.
The first set of employees asked to leave--nearly 800 flight attendants hired as part of Jet's expansion program--protested outside its Mumbai headquarters and have sought government intervention. But Jet Chairman Naresh Goyal said the economic climate that precipitated the Kingfisher alliance also prompted the job cuts, although the two decisions were unrelated. "The economic viability of the industry has been severely impacted by record fuel prices and most recently due to the financial crisis globally and the downturn in traffic," Jet said.
The airline aims to cut flights by close to 15% during its winter schedule and the new layoffs follow its decision last month to cut 800 employees from the rolls of low-cost subsidiary JetLite.
The company employs about 12,000, and trade unions and opposition political leaders condemned yesterday's announcement and asked for the employees to be taken back. The conservative BJP party called for a reversal, while the Centre of Indian Trade Unions said the government should ground Jet until the employees return. Speaking at the India Aviation 2008 show in Hyderabad, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel confirmed his ministry could not interfere in airline hiring policy.

by Cuckoo Paul
ATWOnline

 

[Boeing747]

Fino a 15.000 esuberi per Air India

Air India annuncia 15.000 esuberi

Air India, la maggiore compagnia aerea indiana, a controllo statale, ha annunciato oggi che, a causa della crisi finanziaria che sta investendo anche il settore aereo, sta pensando di lasciare senza lavoro e stipendio per 3-5 anni fino a 15.000 suoi dipendenti. Lo ha annunciato il Managing Director Raghu Menon.

repubblica.it

 

[malpensante]

Aviation blues in India

Published: October 17 2008 09:32 | Last updated: October 17 2008 20:00

Memo to bankers, builders and other employees facing the chop: weep. Jet Airways, India’s biggest private airline, on Friday reversed an earlier decision to sack 1,900 staff when chairman Naresh Goyal said he could not bear to “see tears in their eyes”.
Investors will take a less sentimental approach. Jet Airways’ share price is one quarter of what it was at the end of last year, underperforming the (horrid) broader Indian market. That seems fair when you consider turbulence in the global aviation industry, which is expected to lose $5bn this year on the back of high oil prices and slowing demand. Then add in the peculiarly Indian aspects. Punitive taxes make fuel 70-80 per cent higher than in Singapore or Dubai, according to Sydney-based Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. It accounts for half or more of the cost base against less than one-third elsewhere in Asia. In an effort to compensate for these swollen bills, Indian airlines jacked up fares. Unfortunately, Indians who had switched trains for aircraft simply reverted to land transport. Domestic passenger numbers crumpled.

Given the scale of all airlines’ problems, firing cabin crew does not add up to a whole lot; it is the pilots and middle managers who command the big pay-cheques. As elsewhere, Indian airlines need to shed fleet. Aircraft there are now flying with perhaps 30 per cent of seats empty. In recent weeks, grounded aircraft have removed around a 10th of capacity. More must be taken out – and quickly. India’s biggest private carriers are estimated to be losing $2m a day apiece, and Capa reckons the industry will lose $2bn at the operating level over the year to end-March. This week’s alliance between Jet Airways and Kingfisher offers some cost savings and hopes of further sector consolidation. If not, Mr Goyal, the big softie, will be addressing even weepier investors.

Financial Times