Jet Airways to covert one-third of flights to economy service

Jet Airways (India) Ltd is converting one-third of its domestic flights into the all-economy service Jet Airways Konnect to cut costs, increase revenue in a lean season, and beat competition from low-fare rivals.
The move will give Jet Airways 20-25% extra seats, although the yield of every plane will reduce by 10-15% with the loss of the higher-priced business class seats, two company executives said.
It comes nearly two years after Jet Airways launched Konnect as a no-frills service in May 2009—when the economic slowdown was keeping passengers away from air travel— by converting some of its full service flights to the all-economy class.
Then last September, Jet, India’s largest airline by passengers carried, reconverted most Konnect flights for full-service operations as passengers started returning to air travel on the back of economic revival.
The latest reconversion is happening in the traditionally weak March quarter, when nearly half the air travellers are opting for low-fare carriers such as IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir.
The conversion of aircraft from a twin-class configuration—business and economy—into a single class, and vice versa, can be done overnight at minimal cost and without disrupting flight schedules, two Jet Airways executives said.
14/02/11 P.R. Sanjai/Live Mint

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Categories: Jet Airways Feb 2011