B747-437B

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/B...ow/3598701.cms

d3vski

i hope not, Im booked to fly Jet in two weeks time.

I do feel sorry for the cabin crew but times are very hard and if these crew are new and still on probation, then Jet can legally get rid of them as i am sure they have some sort of clauses put into the contracts which enable them to do just that.

I remember when i was at AA in London, nothing was secure untill you had passed your probation period and my contract did make a mention that my employment could be terminated within my probation period if my job ceased to exist due to operational reasons. its like that with nearly all companies around the world.

The Raj thackeray led MNS is a typical Indian politcal party jumping on the bandwagon and theatning all sorts using thuggery and intimidation. I wouldnt be surprised to hear that a bandh is happening tomorrow in Maharashtra with some trains and busses set alight!

I would love to see how they would stop the flights taking off, are they going to invade the Airport. I dont think the rest of the Jet staff who have survived will do anything to risk their livelihoods by supporting action that will damage the airline further.

anaggie

next will come the hunger strike and so forth...yeah we have all heard this routine before..

GUWonder

The airline is in an unhealthy financial situation without some kind of cutbacks; and shutting down 9W would just make matters worse for more employees and the passengers in a situation where there domestic overcapacity such that fares are not high enough to support the actual cost structures. I suspect that the Indian rupees's relative weakness and the hike in costs related to the global financial situation can't be doing wonders for 9W's financial statements.

candadep

Both 9W and IT are bleeding. They are expected to lose more than 15000 million (INR) this fiscal. But I do feel for the probationers, it can't get worse than this can it? I mean your career hits a road block even befoe it can gather any speed.

-----csp

SuperFlyBoy

Actually - Jet has been bleeding us, on more than one occasion.

However, based on the FF program, I guess flying Jet is worth it somehow (lounge/food/a pittance of miles earned on mid-eco fares), but to pay upwards of Rs. 9k for a one-way in Y, BOM-DEL is really *too* much! Compare this to an all-in fare of Rs. 3,500/- on a LCC, where the difference in amenities other than food are minimal...

I was just looking at BOM-SIN availability for the next couple of days, and Jet is *not* doing too badly - their biz is almost full, every night!

I really do not think that they are bleeding - they may be making *less* than before, but this tactic of IT+9w is only an excuse to generate extra revenue, and *is* a cartel, despite statements to the contrary!

Edited to Add:
Basically it is supply and demand - they have the supply (at *higher* prices that pax do not want to pay) and thus demand is minimal...they have to cut prices to get people to fly, period.

B747-437B

I beg to differ. If the price point to stimulate demand is below your breakeven costs, you have to either trim supply so that it matches demand, or else be prepared to burn huge amounts of cash to simply retain market share.

The solution for the smaller carriers in times like this is to build flexibility into their fleets so that they can easily scale up or scale down depending on short to medium term requirements.

Plenty of airlines took this conservative approach and are still flying today. Others continued to pursue growth as fuel prices soared and most of them are no longer around today. The ones that are around are significantly poorer.

The Indian market was (and still remains) a bubble. It should never have grown as large and competitive as it has - the underlying demand simply doesn't support it. It is a common problem in developing markets - investors and managers often suffer from delusions of grandeur as to short-medium term market potential.

SuperFlyBoy

I agree - *if*, in fact, this was the case, which I do not think is the case with Jet at present.

The code-sharing agreement to be implemented is not acceptable to me as a free-market advocate, although it would benefit me individually, by allowing me to fly on IT with elite privileges (which I already have, but choose not to fly Kingfisher).

The problem is that Mallya has comped so many people to his top tier that if Jet honors those elites, we (as Jet elites) will be scrambling for benefits that are entitled to us on our metal...

B747-437B

Unfortunately, it only takes one bad decision from among the entire bunch of domestic carriers to drive market pricing power down. Consumers will always flock to the vendor that offers the most product for the least price. Whether or not this is sustainable is really not the consumer's concern, but in the long run it leads to unreasonable consumer expectations and an eventual bloody correction in the market.

The same phenomenon has been seen all over the world, usually coinciding with the immediate aftermath of deregulation or with an economic bubble. We are seeing a perfect storm here, with both factors coinciding in the Indian market. It is going to get very ugly very shortly, mark my words.

If the unions were screaming antitrust, I'd back them in a heartbeat. However, this is purely political points being scored on an issue they don't even understand. Even Praful Patel is being a bit wary about the whole "alliance" thing. I cannot see the EU or the US coming close to permitting a Jet-Kingfisher alliance/cartel to operate in their territories the way the two oligarchs have envisioned.

SuperFlyBoy

Well, I would think that paying what we pay (as exemplified) for Y is a bit too much, considering the Indian economy/buying power of the INR...

I would be interested in your insight/prediction.

Agreed.

Well, according to statements made by 9w/IT heads (per newspaper reports), *he* was the one that suggested they work together...interesting as to what is the actual truth of the matter!

Precisely - it's not acceptable.

B747-437B

Costs are not denominated in INR though. Aircraft leases, Jet A-1, training costs, expat salaries, etc... - which when taken together make up almost 2/3rds of the total cost base - are denominated in USD and are part of the global marketplace. The forex revenues from international operations were supposed to balance this, but those operations have become even more unprofitable due to rising fuel costs and reduced demand due to the general economic downturn. The business model is simply unsustainable.

He's not opposed to it, but he has to be wary of it. Let us also not forget that Vijay Mallya is an MP who sits on committees that have oversight of his own airline's operations as well as in the strategic decision making of his competitors.

The honeymoon is over for the Airlines of India. I'm just glad I'm not there right now while the sh*t is hitting the fan.

d3vski

one way to save money, Get rid of the expats getting paid in US dollars and on higher wages then indians.

"But there have been murmurs of protest against retrenchment of Indian pilots by Jet when it has several foreigners who may be earning double. Jet has about 780 Indian pilots and 260 expatriates. Officials said Jet was planning to remove about 200 Indian pilots, including those on the fuel-efficient ATR aircraft."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/B...ow/3600358.cms

d3vski

all staff have been re hired!

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/J...ow/3605522.cms

enthusiastic flier

Goyal's u-turn media interview here: http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv....aspx?id=41441

I don't know any more of this man than what I've seen of him in this interview, but if I was working at Jet Airways, I'd work my soul out for this guy. I thought gone are the days where businesses are run by people with heart.... I'm very glad to have been proven wrong. Hats off, Mr. Goyal ^^ I wouldn't hesitate one bit to pay a bit more to fly to my destination - this is an airline run with some (a lot of) heart.

GUWonder

It's great to hear such talk about trying to work through this even at the expense of retaining the employees, but how is he going to afford this? The cost structure and revenue structure have to meet somehow.