Chocks-on..The
Weeekend Platter ( 14 SEPT.,2013 ) ISSUE –
XIII
Oops !! The Alliance Conundrum
& Air India……
Will
it be…’ Star Alliance ‘ or ‘ One World ‘ or ‘ Sky Team ‘……
Air India
Spokes person… “We cannot wait
endlessly for induction into Star Alliance. The members are scheduled to meet
and vote at the end of this month. If we do not receive a positive response, we
will proceed with our talks with Qatar Airways for membership in OneWorld,”
The
‘ Star Alliance’ Dilemma…..
…’ “Star
Alliance’s market share(in India) is declining.”…. “The feeling was that Star is no more a natural choice for
passengers from India. Most of the traffic is flying Indian carriers or being
taken away by Gulf airlines,”
Qatar
Airways has approached Air India to join Oneworld alliance….
…Qatar Airways,
the first Gulf carrier to join an International Alliance, has offered full
support to Air India,to join One World Alliance. Star Alliance, with 28
airlines members is significantly larger than One World,with 12 member airlines…
Are
Air India’s talks with Adria Airways directed at support for Star Alliance…..
“.... Air India
continues to engage with major airlines for enhancing bilateral cooperation,
and also continues to maintain dialogue with Star Alliance in an effort to
expand its global reach and connectivity," said an Air India spokesman.
Some
Media Comments on Air India’s quest for an Alliance…
…..Star's 27
members voted unanimously to place Air India's membership "on-hold"
after the carrier failed to meet a July 31 deadline to fulfill all joining
requirements, despite granting AI ample timeline extensions over the course of
nearly 4 years to get its act together…..
…..Air India's
boot from Star was single-handedly one of the most embarassing high-profile
blunders in the carriers' history, as no surviving airline has ever been denied
membership from Star Alliance…..
…..As the Persian
Gulf Carriers expanded into the Americas, as well as secondary and tertiary
cities in India, Star Alliance network carriers from Europe and North America
felt the pressure in their Indian markets. So, it was necessary to develop
local ties with an Indian partner…..
…..In spite of
its re-branding initiative, which went live in 2007, Air India's alliance
integration process encountered massive delays and hold-ups. The largest pain
point was Air India's ongoing merger with Indian Airlines, which was poorly
executed on all fronts…..
……In May 2011,
Star Alliance CEO Jaan Albrecht issued a warning to Air India that its
invitation to join the alliance would be withdrawn if the integration process
was not completed by July 31 of that year……
…..it appeared
that what sealed AI's fate was an official voting process that had taken place
among Stars 27 members… it became apparent that a large contingency of existing
Star members simply did not want to include Air India included in the alliance…..
…..Air India
has to join an Alliance. Air India
cannot compete as an unaligned network carrier in the interim without
sustaining heavy losses….
( Culled from an article by Rohan Anand in UPgRD network )
Codeshare
with Latin American carriers…..
…..Air India,
is exploring options for a codeshare with LATAM airlines group, South America’s
largest airline group, for access into the huge South American market….
Happenings in the Indian Market……
Shri
Ajit Singh, Minister of Civil Aviation……on reducing VAT on ATF…..
….At a
Conference of Civil Aviation Ministers, the MoCA said……’ Lowering of VAT on ATF
by Chhattisgarh has led to “a six -fold increase in ATF uplift”….. “So my
request to you all will be that you should take up with your government to
reduce VAT on ATF to four per cent”…..
Shri
D Sudhakara Reddy, President, Air Passengers Association of India- on fare hike….
…. There has been a hike in the aviation turbine fuel a few days ago
and all the airlines have increased the fares by 25 per cent one after the
other, though fuel price had increased by only 6.9%….. “This is not the first time they have increased the fares in
tandem and it has become a practice with all these airlines……
Senior
Air India Official- on a Sovereign Guarantee for a bank loan……
“…. The current account deficit is at an all-time high. There is a resource
crunch in the finance ministry, due to which it has become difficult for the
government to infuse funds. There is a shortfall of around Rs 2500 crore in the
total sum of Rs 15,600 crore targeted for infusion in the airline in FY13 and
FY14,”……
Shri
K.N. Shrivastava, Aviation Secretary – on cancellation charges levied by
airlines….
..... We have
asked airlines to have a graded system for cancellation and rescheduling charges.
Airlines have agreed to consider it and said they will come up with a formula
soon,"
Passenger
friendly initiative by the Ministry….setting up an OMBUDSMAN…
…Shri KN
Shrivastava, in a major decision that will empower the customers announced…” Time
has come to implement the ombudsman system. We will have ombudsman set up in
Delhi and Mumbai to begin with. Then, depending on experience, we will have
them in major centres,"…..
Air
India helps Delhi Airport witness a surge in transit passengers (
Economic Times )
Spokesperson of
GMR airport, … "While Air India is the biggest contributor to our growth
as a hub, we can't discount others such as Jet Airways,"…..
(
A very retrograde development, by the fledgling and loss making Air India. Air India, instead of helping its position,
and strengthening its footprint in Mumbai, preferred to work for the economic
resurrection of Delhi, at the cost of uprooting and diluting its presence in
Mumbai. In a country like India, where foreign carriers are trying to establish
their positions in major Indian gateways, Air India on the contrary - Uprooted
itself from a long established base of Mumbai. Who did this benefit ? Not Air
India, for sure ! WHAT AN
IRONY ?? Air India has become a saviour for all & sundry….except for its
self…)
Vow
!! Great News….King Fisher may revive……
… the company
on Friday informed the Karnataka High Court that a scheme is being worked out
to revive the airline by finding investors…. “You may get good news. You have waited so
long, wait for some more time…”, remarked Justice S. Abdul Nazeer,
Happenings Around the World…..
S.E.
Asia Region becomes the capital of Low Cost Airlines….The region’s LCC fleet is poised to grow by about 20% in 2013, surpassing over 500 aircraft at year-end.
Now
Aeroflot to Launch a Low Cost Airline….
Aeroflot's goal
is to get a new carrier in the skies by 2014 to have a chance at competing with
European low-cost carriers that are now launching routes to Russia. It will
need to first convince Russian government to change current aviation
regulations- Samantha
Shakman
Emirates
to Launch Worlds Longest Flight……
Emirates in
partnership with Boeing is planning to launch Ultra Long Haul flight of 20
hours duration. The flight is dependent on Boeing’s promises to deliver the
so-called 777X, an improved version of its biggest twin-engine jet with new
wings and larger window….
Qatar
Airways wanted to Join Star Alliance, but Lufthansa was ‘ Hostile ‘…
Qatar Airways
CEO,Akbar Al Baker, said….” My first
code-share with a European carrier was with Lufthansa, but unfortunately their
strategy is to kill competition,” …. “It is to shun Gulf carriers, and I think
they have lost in this very lucrative alliance chess game.”
Vow ! Did you Know this ?....Longest Flights in the World..
SINGAPORE AIRLINES –
Newark to Singapore – 18 Hours , 50 Minutes ;TURKISH AIRLINES – Istanbul to Sydney - 18 hours , 20 Minutes ;
SINGAPORE AIRLINES – Los Angeles to Singapore - 18 Hours , 05 Minutes ;
DELTA AIRLINES - Johannesburg to Atlanta – 16 Hours , 55 Minutes ;
AIR CANADA – Vancouver to Sydney - 16 Hours , 35 Minutes ;
QANTAS - Sydney to Dallas – 15 Hours , 20 Minutes
Wishing You and Your families, Happy Ganpati & A Swell
Weekend !!!!
Our Credo….”Network
& Be Informed “
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