MARS AIRLINE SURVEY Aviation Sector Needs Policy Rethink
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HINDUSTAN TIMES, MUMBAI THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2011 | special | 17 India’s best user’s choice airlines HT- MARS AIRLINE SURVEY India on board TOUCH DOWN The second edition of the Hindustan Times-MaRS Airline Survey ranks airlines and airports according to customers’ satisfaction Image: IMAGESBAZAAR.COM, Imaging: SAKET MISRA Abhijit Patnaik and Tushar Srivastava ■ [email protected] TOP AIRLINES TOP AIRPORTS Aviation sector he aviation industry in India has come a long way. OVERALL RANKS 100 years to be precise. ScoreRank ScoreRank From humble beginnings, needs policy rethink when Henri Piquet, a 2011 2009 2011 2009 Bengaluru 815 1 Tfrench pilot, covered a dis- Jet 806 786 1 2 Delhi T3 748 2 expert credited with pursuing major policy tance of 6 miles, carrying reforms flagged during the NDA gov- 6,500 mails on a biplane in 1911, to a flashy Kingfisher 798 794 2 1 Delhi T1 739 3 comment ernment, but not much has been wit- Vijay Mallya “personally” selecting air Indigo 785 761 3 4 Chennai 733 4 nessed in the last seven years. Airport hostesses and welcoming fliers, the indus- Hyderabad 723 5 modernisation has seen few achieve- try's evolution has been interesting to Kingfisher Red 784 746 4 6 ments. Not a single metro airport has watch. Jet lite 782 745 5 7 Ahmedabad 722 6 been modernised by the Airports And with an ever-expanding indus- Mumbai 719 7 Authority of India. The deadline for try, flyers expect certain standards.The Spice Jet 782 773 6 3 Chennai and Kolkata airports contin- 2011 HT-MaRS Airline Survey ranks Go air 775 752 7 5 Indore 705 8 ues to be extended. Even the quality domestic airlines and airports on var- Indian 766 736 8 8 Jaipur 703 9 RAJIV PRATAP RUDY milestone is far inferior to what we see ious parameters to see which one pro- Lucknow 700 10 at the Delhi and Mumbai airports(done vides customers with the highest level Industry Average 788 765 he Indian aviation sector in the past by private entities). Of the 36 non-metro of satisfaction. For decade has faced highs and lows, airports selected for modernisation, airlines, the param- Tfinally levelling off to a stage where only half have been completed. DISCLAIMER eters varied from DISCLAIMER :The survey data is a copyright of Mars Pvt. Ltd and HT Media Limited. Any use of this survey data would lead to infringe- major initiatives are needed to take the We have Dubai, Bangkok, Singapore cabin crew and ment of their copyright and may result in legal action against the Infringer. next leap. etc emerging as transit hubs. Whatever The HT-MaRS Airline check-in process, to While India is perceived to be the little position Mumbai had as India’s Survey was carried out in 10 inflight meals and is looking for immediate access to the it shows that the Indian traveller, though the current fiscal year, more than the biggest and fastest growing market, hub is gradually dwindling. Our airline cities in August-September in-cabin experience. cheapest fares,” said Director-General price conscious, values comfort and Rs 2,900 crore they lost in all of 2010- where less than 1% of the one-billion- tax structure needs to be looked at so 2011, before Kingfisher For airports, they of Civil Aviation, E K Bharat Bhushan. service equally. 11. IndiGo is the only airline to have plus people take to flights, the recent as to help airlines offer cheap tickets announced that it is going include ease of They have not only made air travel more Overall, the industry average for cus- made profits this year. price war between domestic airlines through Mumbai and other hubs. Why to close down its low-cost access and depar- affordable—frequency and coverage tomer satisfaction is higher than the A combination of low fares and high has raised the issue of their sustain- should an international passenger carrier, Kingfisher Red, ture, food and bev- have improved as well. Be it Jodhpur, 2009 Airline survey. “More people are costs are to blame. Some airlines, like ability. The perception that India has choose Delhi or Mumbai if he has to within the next four months. erages, terminal Nanded or Kandla, cheap flights are travelling and people are travelling Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher, desperately backtracked on reforms, leaving little pay an extra 10 per cent as tax? Kingfisher Airlines has, as comfort and ameni- available everywhere. People who have more. This may have resulted in pas- need capital to pay off debt. space for a level-playing-field for com- Unfortunately, the policy today is such of Tuesday, cancelled 34 ties, among others. never considered flying are stepping sengers expecting less than what they The potential for growth is huge. peting airlines, needs to be corrected. that we give more incentives to Indian flights across many sectors The hot race into airports now. did before and exhibiting higher satis- India would require 1,320 new airplanes Air India, despite suffering enormous passengers flying abroad than for in the country. between full service In India, LCCs and full-service car- faction levels. Airlines are offering bet- worth $150 billion in the next two losses, continues to sell tickets below tourism travel within the country. carriers continues, riers have the same high standard of ter services too. After all, competition decades, according to aircraft maker the operating cost. The government has Having said that the prospects are with Jet Airways customer service—the difference is only does have its compensation,” said Raghu Boeing Co. allowed this situation to continue by there for the aviation industry in India, pipping the 2009 chart-topper a meal on board. However, with the top Roy, CEO, Monitoring and Research With an equal balance of problems and bailing them out — but private carri- which can still be denominated to be Kingfisher Airlines for the lead spot. slots going to two full-service airlines, Systems Private Limited, our knowl- potential, the aviation sector is definite- ers are now facing the heat as a result. in it’s nascent state. The industry has As in the 2009 survey, the race for edge partner for the survey. ly up for an interesting and perhaps Last quarter witnessed all but one air- seen sweeping reforms- the first was the top two positions was close. The The airline industry finds itself stuck bumpy ride. Don’t forget to fasten your line suffering huge losses. A delegation during Mr. Madhav Rao Scindia’s biggest loser was Spicejet, falling from OVERALL, THE INDUSTRY in a paradox of high growth and heavy seatbelt. of all the private airlines in the country tenure in 1990, the second during Mr. the 3rd to the 6th rank. Indigo Airlines, AVERAGE FOR CUSTOMER losses. The aviation market is growing recently met the aviation minister and Vajpayee’s tenure in 2003. Several pol- at number 3, is the highest ranked low at an annual rate of 15%. Domestic pas- senior officials in the PMO, explaining icy initiatives have to be put in place ON THE WEB cost carrier (LCC), or budget airline as SATISFACTION THIS YEAR IS senger traffic in India touched 53.6 mil- their position and it seems Air India before we can finally see the third leg ■ For additional coverage on this year’s they are known. HIGHER THAN THE 2009 lion in 2010-2011. However, private air- survey, log on to despite bleeding, refuses to relent. of reforms in the aviation sector. Budget airlines are important in the AIRLINE SURVEY lines in India have lost an estimated Civil Aviation should remain a pri- Rajesh Pratap Rudy is former Indian context. “Our typical consumer R3,500 crore in the first six months of www.hindustantimes.com/topairlines ority sectors. The government can be Union Minister for Civil Aviation. EVOLUTION OF AVIATION 1911 1912 1924 1927 1929 1931 1932 1933-34 1937 The first commercial civil Indian State Air Services Construction of Civil A separate Department of JRD Tata Lt.Col. Shelmerdine was JRD Tata founded Tata A number of Indian air- The Indian IN INDIA aviation flight in India took in collaboration with UK- Airports in India began at Civil Aviation was estab- was award- appointed first Director Airline, the first Indian air- lines including Indian Aircraft Act A flight back into place when Henri Piquet based Imperial Airways Dum Dum in Calcutta, lished to look after all civil ed the first General of Civil Aviation line. At the time of inde- Trans Continental was formu- time takes us carried 6500 mails on a introduced the London- Bamrauli in Allahbadi and aviation matters. The Aero pilot license (DGCA) to look after civil pendence, nine air trans- Airways, Madras Air Taxi lated to through the major Humber biplane, between Karachi-Delhi flight, the in Gilbert Hill, Bombay. Club of India was also by the Federation aviation regulatory issues. port companies carried Services, Indian National govern the milestones in the Allahabad and Naini, a first international flight to- established this year. Aeronautique International both air cargo and pas- Airways etc., commenced aviation 100-year long histo- distance of 6 miles. and-from India. on behalf of the Aero Club sengers. operations. industry. ry of civil aviation of India and Burma. HINDUSTAN TIMES, MUMBAI 18 | special | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2011 India’s best user’s choice airlines HT- MARS AIRLINE SURVEY Airlines touch down in smaller towns TAKE OFF The airline industry in India is poised for high growth. The next decade will see flyers from tier-II and III cities leading the way Abhijit Patnaik Bombardier, an aircraft manufacturer, has ■ [email protected] estimated that 40% of domestic demand in India will be from smaller towns by 2015.