The decade that changed Indian Aviation

The header above was the slogan Jet Airways, India’s largest private airline used to celebrate their 10th anniversary in 2003. The slogan was more profound than the marketing intent, it symbolized the opening of Indian skies, better customer choices, better efficiencies and world class standards. The Indian traveler can with some planning pay around the same price for air travel as 2nd class AC train travel. Indian Airlines the government incumbent also has come a long way, from 100 percent market segment share they now have about 39.7%. They are much more efficient, polite and worry about taking off and landing on time. In 1989 on a flight from Tirupati to Hyderabad, we were parked on the runway for 45 minutes because the pilot and air-hostess had a scrap in the cockpit and brought their shouting match to the isles. Many believe that liberalization is all about bringing foreign funds and NRI investors. Indian Aviation is a classic case of competition between Indian companies that raised standards to international levels. Of course we have other parts that have not kept pace mainly airports. The airports today are so clogged that a 15-20 min wait is very common for permission to take off and land. The new government keeps talking and there has been no progress to date in any sound policy that motivates the private industry to participate. If the airports do not start modernizing immediately we will have airlines that burn more fuel per mile, increase our oil imports even more, dissatisfied customers, and finally productivity of passengers and airlines. Passengers that get down to working rather than spending time waiting for the plane to land or take off. Hopefully the next decade will be the one that changes India’s airports.

MSS for India’s top 4 airlines. Jet 48.4%, India Airlines 39.7%, Sahara 14.5% and Air Deccan 3.2%. We all await Kingfisher and Nusli Wadi to start as soon as possible.