Jet, Kingfisher running out of peer support in mid air

Mumbai/ Bangalore: Jet Airways' Naresh Goyal and Kingfisher Airlines' Vijay Mallya may think they have the entire aviation industry on their side in seeking a government bailout, but their peers seem to think otherwise.
Many feel the government has no reason to oblige them since the mess they are in today is of their own making rather than of the government.
A senior executive of a leading budget carrier even went to the extent of saying the two carriers should be allowed to perish if they are commercially unviable. "These guys (Jet and Kingfisher) are not managing their yields and costs properly. They paid huge prices for airlines (Air Sahara and Air Deccan) they took over and today they (the airlines that have been taken over) have no value. Why should the government be held responsible for all this? The government should let them die. Such a shakeout will be good for the industry," he said, requesting not to be named.
An executive with state-owned Air India, who did not want to be named, was just as unsympathetic. "These people are reaping the fruits of the seeds they have sown. First, they added capacity and resorted to unrealistic fares and now when things have gone out of hand, they are crying," he said.
According to the executives, the losses of Jet and Kingfisher were mounting mainly because they were selling tickets way below operational cost. And this, they said, was fuelling unhealthy competition in the market, which was making the entire airline industry sick.
08/08/09 Ramiya Bhas & Praveena Sharma/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Jet Airways Aug 2009, Kingfisher Aug 2009