The Supreme Court today declined to stay the Bombay High Court order that directed Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines to co-operate with the fair trade regulator CCI.
A bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia said that they are hearing a petition by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) regarding its powers to initiate an investigation against a company on the complaints of a rival.
Kingfisher Airlines had moved the Supreme Court against a probe into its two-year-old strategic alliance with Jet Airways.
The CCI began the probe last year to examine if the alliance was a case of cartelisation.
Kingfisher, however, approached the Supreme Court arguing that the alliance was formed before the Competition Act came into force, and therefore, it couldn't be probed under it.
Justice Kapadia said that the court would lay guidelines for such an investigation and it would hear Kingfisher's plea after that.
Meanwhile, Additional Solicitor General Parag Tripathi appearing for CCI informed the court that Kingfisher was not co-operating in the investigation.
The matter would be heard after four weeks.
Source: Economic Times
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
AI, Jet suffered loss of Rs 127 crore due to strikes: Patel
Air India and Jet Airways suffered a loss of Rs 127 crore due to the three strikes by their employees since last year, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel informed the Lok Sabha on Thursday. Ailing national carrier, Air India has suffered a loss of Rs 77 crore in the strikes by executive pilots last year and by employees this May, Patel said in a written reply.
In order to prevent any strike, Air India Board has constituted a Human Resource Sub-committee to consider various issues and grievances of its employees.
In September last, Air India's executive pilots had stopped the work by reporting sick en-mass after the airline management proposed a cut in their flying allowance. The five-day strike started on September 26.
Again, in May this year, employees associated with two of the unions, All India Aircraft Engineer's Association (AIAEA) and Air Corporation Employee's Union (ACEU), went on flash strike in protest of alleged gag order by the airline management restricting union office-bearers not to go to media and other issues.
Also, in September last year, Jet Airways pilots simulated strike by reporting sick for five days.
To a separate question, Patel said that prior to merger of erstwhile Indian Airlines and Air India, both the airlines suffered a loss of Rs 240.29 crore and Rs 447.43 crore respectively.
But after the merger, Air India suffered a loss of Rs 2226.16 crore and Rs 5548 crore in 2007-08 and 2008-09 respectively.
"The national carrier is supposed to post a loss of Rs 5,400 crore in last fiscal (2009-10)," Patel said, adding losses were incurred due to prevalent economic recession, higher fuel prices, low yields and load factors.
The government has proposed to infuse Rs 2,000 crore, in five equal instalments, to help the ailing national carrier.
"An amount of Rs 800 crore has been released in February and March and provision Rs 1,200 crore made in the current financial year. The amount would be released after considering the company's achievement of their turnaround plan," Patel said.
Source: Hindustan Times
In order to prevent any strike, Air India Board has constituted a Human Resource Sub-committee to consider various issues and grievances of its employees.
In September last, Air India's executive pilots had stopped the work by reporting sick en-mass after the airline management proposed a cut in their flying allowance. The five-day strike started on September 26.
Again, in May this year, employees associated with two of the unions, All India Aircraft Engineer's Association (AIAEA) and Air Corporation Employee's Union (ACEU), went on flash strike in protest of alleged gag order by the airline management restricting union office-bearers not to go to media and other issues.
Also, in September last year, Jet Airways pilots simulated strike by reporting sick for five days.
To a separate question, Patel said that prior to merger of erstwhile Indian Airlines and Air India, both the airlines suffered a loss of Rs 240.29 crore and Rs 447.43 crore respectively.
But after the merger, Air India suffered a loss of Rs 2226.16 crore and Rs 5548 crore in 2007-08 and 2008-09 respectively.
"The national carrier is supposed to post a loss of Rs 5,400 crore in last fiscal (2009-10)," Patel said, adding losses were incurred due to prevalent economic recession, higher fuel prices, low yields and load factors.
The government has proposed to infuse Rs 2,000 crore, in five equal instalments, to help the ailing national carrier.
"An amount of Rs 800 crore has been released in February and March and provision Rs 1,200 crore made in the current financial year. The amount would be released after considering the company's achievement of their turnaround plan," Patel said.
Source: Hindustan Times
Friday, July 16, 2010
Domestic skies get 22% more traffic in Jan-June
After the two-year long global economic downturn, the domestic airline has shown marked signs of growth with domestic air traffic growing 21.86 per cent during first two quarters (January to June) this year where carriers ferried over 2.57 crore passengers against 2.11 crore during the same period last year, government data showed on Thursday.
Domestic airlines carried about 1.35 crore passengers during the second quarter (April- June 2010), up from 1.18 crore during the first quarter (January-March 2010) this year.
In terms of percentage share of the carriers in the second quarter this year, Jet-JetLite bagged 26.2 per cent, Kingfisher 21.1 per cent, Air India (domestic) 17.6 per cent, IndiGo 15.9 per cent, Spice-Jet 13 per cent, Paramount 0.3 per cent and Go Air 5.8 per cent.
Jet Airways and its subsidiary JetLite together garnered the largest chunk of passengers flying 35.28 lakh, followed by Kingfisher at 28.42 lakh and Air India (domestic) 23.69 lakh, according to statistics made available by the civil aviation ministry.
No-frill carriers IndiGo carried 21.48 lakh passengers while SpiceJet ferried 17.57 lakh fliers, GoAir flew 7.88 lakh passengers and Paramount 45,000-primarily due to lack of aircraft in its fleet.
But the maximum number of complaints lodged by passengers was against Jet Airways and JetLite, which topped the list in this regard with the maximum number of complaints at 9.2 and four per 10,000 passengers in June. The lowest number of complaints was received by Air India at one for per 10,000 passengers.
In all, eight domestic airlines together received 1,617 complaints from passengers against their services in June with an industry average of 3.7 complaints per 10,000 passengers.
In June, the total domestic passengers carried by the scheduled Indian airlines were 45.04 lakh, the figures showed. Of this, the Jet-JetLite combine alone flew about 12 lakh people.
No-frill airlines carried the highest number of passengers.
IndiGo and SpiceJet had 90.7 per cent and 88.5 per cent of its total seats occupied in its flights, respectively.
These were followed by Paramount with 86.8 per cent, Kingfisher 85.1 per cent, GoAir 84 per cent and JetLite 83.6 per cent, Jet 80.5 per cent and Air India 72.3 per cent.
The lowest on-time performance (OTP) for departures of airlines operating from India include Iran Air, Kenya Airways and Aeroflot, while the OTP for arrivals, include airlines like Kenya Airways, Asiana and United Airways.
Five airlines having highest OTP (departures) are United Airways, Silk Air, Air Astana, Austrian and Mihin Lanka. Similarly, highest OTP (arrivals) include airlines like Turkmenistan, Silk Air, Singapore Airlines, Air Astana and Austrian Airlines.
There are 70 foreign carriers operating to and from India.
According to the civil aviation ministry, OTP data was available for only 41 carriers while preparing this report.
The overall OTP of these 41 carriers for the month of June 2010 was 73.3 per cent in departures and 74.1 per cent in arrivals.
Source: India Today
Domestic airlines carried about 1.35 crore passengers during the second quarter (April- June 2010), up from 1.18 crore during the first quarter (January-March 2010) this year.
In terms of percentage share of the carriers in the second quarter this year, Jet-JetLite bagged 26.2 per cent, Kingfisher 21.1 per cent, Air India (domestic) 17.6 per cent, IndiGo 15.9 per cent, Spice-Jet 13 per cent, Paramount 0.3 per cent and Go Air 5.8 per cent.
Jet Airways and its subsidiary JetLite together garnered the largest chunk of passengers flying 35.28 lakh, followed by Kingfisher at 28.42 lakh and Air India (domestic) 23.69 lakh, according to statistics made available by the civil aviation ministry.
No-frill carriers IndiGo carried 21.48 lakh passengers while SpiceJet ferried 17.57 lakh fliers, GoAir flew 7.88 lakh passengers and Paramount 45,000-primarily due to lack of aircraft in its fleet.
But the maximum number of complaints lodged by passengers was against Jet Airways and JetLite, which topped the list in this regard with the maximum number of complaints at 9.2 and four per 10,000 passengers in June. The lowest number of complaints was received by Air India at one for per 10,000 passengers.
In all, eight domestic airlines together received 1,617 complaints from passengers against their services in June with an industry average of 3.7 complaints per 10,000 passengers.
In June, the total domestic passengers carried by the scheduled Indian airlines were 45.04 lakh, the figures showed. Of this, the Jet-JetLite combine alone flew about 12 lakh people.
No-frill airlines carried the highest number of passengers.
IndiGo and SpiceJet had 90.7 per cent and 88.5 per cent of its total seats occupied in its flights, respectively.
These were followed by Paramount with 86.8 per cent, Kingfisher 85.1 per cent, GoAir 84 per cent and JetLite 83.6 per cent, Jet 80.5 per cent and Air India 72.3 per cent.
The lowest on-time performance (OTP) for departures of airlines operating from India include Iran Air, Kenya Airways and Aeroflot, while the OTP for arrivals, include airlines like Kenya Airways, Asiana and United Airways.
Five airlines having highest OTP (departures) are United Airways, Silk Air, Air Astana, Austrian and Mihin Lanka. Similarly, highest OTP (arrivals) include airlines like Turkmenistan, Silk Air, Singapore Airlines, Air Astana and Austrian Airlines.
There are 70 foreign carriers operating to and from India.
According to the civil aviation ministry, OTP data was available for only 41 carriers while preparing this report.
The overall OTP of these 41 carriers for the month of June 2010 was 73.3 per cent in departures and 74.1 per cent in arrivals.
Source: India Today
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Delhi T3 out of bounds for LCCs till March
Domestic passengers flying out of the Delhi airport in a low-cost carrier may have to wait till next March before they could use the new Terminal 3 (T3).
On the other hand, Air India and Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and their low-cost subsidiaries will be shifting to the new terminal next month. International operations will shift to the new terminal from this month end.
“The Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) has conveyed to us that we will be shifted to the new terminal by March next year,” said a senior executive at a low-cost airline. SpiceJet, IndiGo, GoAir and Paramount Airways are the low-cost carriers (LCCs).
LCCs said apart from higher charges, which they had to fork out, there was also fear they might lose their on-time performance records. “All of us (LCCs) do not want to shift to the new terminal because of various reasons, one of them being the high cost of services. Also, shifting to a swanky terminal may impact our on-time performance because of the extra check-in procedure time at the new terminal,” said a senior GoAir Executive on condition of anonymity.
A senior SpiceJet executive said charges for using the new terminal were much more than the existing ones and they would be forced to use aerobridges and pay more for the new airport service systems.
The full-service carriers and their low-cost subsidiaries will start operating from the new terminal from August 27 and the LCCs will continue to operate from Terminal 1D. GoAir, which operates from Terminal 1A, will also shift to terminal 1D.
However, sources at full-service airlines said there were issues with the terminal. “There was no proving flight, airline offices are not ready and above all, the lounges are also not ready,” said a senior executive at a full-service carrier.
The executive also said that it was very unlikely that T3 would be able to start operations on the new date.
Sources in DIAL agreed that many full-service airlines had opposed the steep cost of most of the services, which would be provided. “I can’t say how much increase in operating an aircraft it will mean, but it is substantial. You have to pay for better facilities. So, negotiations are on.”
On July 14, the earlier date of starting international operations, only seven arrivals and departures, led by AI 102 from Washington, will take place. The next day, the world’s biggest passenger aircraft, the Airbus 380, will arrive at the airport for a trial flight, a first for India.
Source: Business Standard
On the other hand, Air India and Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and their low-cost subsidiaries will be shifting to the new terminal next month. International operations will shift to the new terminal from this month end.
“The Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) has conveyed to us that we will be shifted to the new terminal by March next year,” said a senior executive at a low-cost airline. SpiceJet, IndiGo, GoAir and Paramount Airways are the low-cost carriers (LCCs).
LCCs said apart from higher charges, which they had to fork out, there was also fear they might lose their on-time performance records. “All of us (LCCs) do not want to shift to the new terminal because of various reasons, one of them being the high cost of services. Also, shifting to a swanky terminal may impact our on-time performance because of the extra check-in procedure time at the new terminal,” said a senior GoAir Executive on condition of anonymity.
A senior SpiceJet executive said charges for using the new terminal were much more than the existing ones and they would be forced to use aerobridges and pay more for the new airport service systems.
The full-service carriers and their low-cost subsidiaries will start operating from the new terminal from August 27 and the LCCs will continue to operate from Terminal 1D. GoAir, which operates from Terminal 1A, will also shift to terminal 1D.
However, sources at full-service airlines said there were issues with the terminal. “There was no proving flight, airline offices are not ready and above all, the lounges are also not ready,” said a senior executive at a full-service carrier.
The executive also said that it was very unlikely that T3 would be able to start operations on the new date.
Sources in DIAL agreed that many full-service airlines had opposed the steep cost of most of the services, which would be provided. “I can’t say how much increase in operating an aircraft it will mean, but it is substantial. You have to pay for better facilities. So, negotiations are on.”
On July 14, the earlier date of starting international operations, only seven arrivals and departures, led by AI 102 from Washington, will take place. The next day, the world’s biggest passenger aircraft, the Airbus 380, will arrive at the airport for a trial flight, a first for India.
Source: Business Standard
Friday, July 2, 2010
SpiceJet CEO Aggarwal quits
Less than a month after Sun TV founder Kalanithi Maran acquired a 37.7% stake in SpiceJet, the budget carrier saw its first top level change. Airline CEO Sanjay Aggarwal, who took over after Wilbur Ross pumped in about Rs 345 crore two years back, has quit from the position. Widely seen as a Ross man,
Aggarwal's exit was seen as imminent when Maran and his aviation firm Kal Airways agreed to buy stakes from promoter Bhupendra Kansagra and the US investor and made an open offer for a further 20% stake. The move will give the new owner a free hand to revamp the management.
Sources said Kishore Gupta, who has been on the airline's board for a decade, may be made the interim CEO till Maran finalises the new management team. Among the big moves expected now are a possible change in the airline's name as well as shifting of the LCC's headquarters from Gurgaon to Chennai.
Aggarwal, who was SpiceJet's COO and chief strategy officer, was appointed the CEO in October, 2008 — three months after Ross pumped in Rs 345 crore in the desperate-for-cash-LCC. SpiceJet, which till Maran's entry has had a rather fluid ownership pattern, has witnessed top level changes in the past too. Aggarwal had taken over the position from Siddhanta Sharma who then moved over to InterGlobe that runs, among other businesses, leading LCC IndiGo.
SpiceJet has a fleet of 20 aircraft and will get five more single aisles this year. With a market share of 12%, the LCC is planning to launch international flights from this month.
Source: Times of India
Aggarwal's exit was seen as imminent when Maran and his aviation firm Kal Airways agreed to buy stakes from promoter Bhupendra Kansagra and the US investor and made an open offer for a further 20% stake. The move will give the new owner a free hand to revamp the management.
Sources said Kishore Gupta, who has been on the airline's board for a decade, may be made the interim CEO till Maran finalises the new management team. Among the big moves expected now are a possible change in the airline's name as well as shifting of the LCC's headquarters from Gurgaon to Chennai.
Aggarwal, who was SpiceJet's COO and chief strategy officer, was appointed the CEO in October, 2008 — three months after Ross pumped in Rs 345 crore in the desperate-for-cash-LCC. SpiceJet, which till Maran's entry has had a rather fluid ownership pattern, has witnessed top level changes in the past too. Aggarwal had taken over the position from Siddhanta Sharma who then moved over to InterGlobe that runs, among other businesses, leading LCC IndiGo.
SpiceJet has a fleet of 20 aircraft and will get five more single aisles this year. With a market share of 12%, the LCC is planning to launch international flights from this month.
Source: Times of India
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