Jet Airways (India) Ltd plans to use lighter, slimmer economy class seats on domestic routes to shed weight and increase the number of seats on flights.
The move will allow India’s biggest airline by passengers carried to reduce expenses on jet fuel and increase income by carrying more passengers per flight, but may also make travelling slightly uncomfortable.
“They don’t look very bulky, but are equally good,” said chief commercial official Sudheer Raghavan. “We are in the process of ordering them. We already have experience with them in our current wide-bodied B777s.”
Jet uses the same seats on international flights, served by Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 planes. The carrier has a 26.1% domestic passenger market share, down from 42.9% in 2005, and runs 500 daily flights using 116 aircraft.
The new seats will be installed “progressively” in the entire fleet, Raghavan said, without specifying a deadline.
Slim seats, apart from being thin, are arranged so that passengers’ legs fit under the seat in front. Airlines can thus place seats closer together, said Ernest S. Arvai, president of US-based aviation consulting firm Arvai Group Inc. “Seven and 10 rows would become eight and 11 rows, respectively. That would be roughly a 10% reduction in cost per available seat mile—a significant reduction,” he said.
But there is a downside— passenger comfort. “If you place a carry-on bag under the seat area meant for your legs, there isn’t the same amount of room, and thereby a less comfortable experience,” Arvai added. “Also, some slim line seats have scant padding, and after a couple of hours, despite their claims, they can become less comfortable than conventional seats—in my experience.”
Raghavan denied Jet was forced to make the move to beat competition from low-cost carriers. “What have low-cost airlines got to do with it? This is the price of oil that has driven us to do this,” he said. “We have to look at our costs. Some of the margins have been eaten up by fuel, we have a responsibility to address it.”
Jet fuel contribute 30-40% of the operating expenses of a local airline. A series of steps has helped Jet improve fuel efficiency by 8% in 2010 over 2009, and by 10% in 2009 over 2008.
For instance, it issues advisories for pilots on how much fuel to uplift before a flight, instead of leaving the decision on them. Reducing the weight of its B737 aircraft by 1 kg each will save the airline $5,000 a year, Raghavan said.
He said 37 airports in India do not face traffic congestion or inclement weather, but pilots used to carry extra fuel just in case the flights are held up. “We had to address that through fuel advisories on pilots on how to take less fuel on board, and so far they have no issues.”
The airline selects the path for international flights keeping fuel efficiency in mind. “We have introduced vertical and lateral optimization to select the most fuel-efficient track to follow, particularly for long-haul flights. In the past, we used to fix the tracks and fly those diligently; now we fly real-time optimization, so we pick the best track,” Raghavan said.
Jet has reduced the amount of water it carries on each flight. It has also removed ovens from aircraft that have only economy seats, and offers cold food, such as sandwiches and fruit juices, on these flights.
With the number of air passengers going down during the 2008-09 economic slowdown, Jet introduced a new brand called Konnect—removing business-class seats from most of its domestic aircraft and turning them into all-economy flights. Passengers could pay for food only if they ordered it, as on low-cost flights.
As the economy started to recover last year, the carrier re-introduced some business class seats on Konnect.
2. New ground handling policy may be deferred
New Delhi: Private airlines Jet Airways, SpiceJet, IndiGo and GoAir have have managed to get the new ground handling policy implementation deferred yet again.
The civil aviation ministry had threatened to withhold the airport entry passes of airlines’ staff in case they did not show sincerity in executing the new policy.
The airlines have given a specific time-line to the government for signing commercial agreements with airport operator-appointed ground handling companies.
“The ice has been broken. The airlines have assured us of entering into commercial agreement with ground-handling companies in the next 3-4 weeks. Some airlines including Jet and SpiceJet have given the commitment in writing,” a senior aviation ministry official told FE.
The official said that the new policy should be put in place in the next two months. This, however looks unlikely as private airlines have simultaneously appealed in the Supreme Court against the policy and are seeking a stay.
3. Jet Airways strongest amongst aviation stocks: Kapadia
Jet Airways strongest amongst aviation stocks, says Hemen Kapadia, chartpundit.com.
Kapadia told CNBC TV18, “Jet Airways has been moving for 4-5 trading sessions in a row but I am still not sure whether that justifies this 5% fall and we have seen some positive diversions on the weekly charts. So I take it as a temporary arbitration and I think it has enough legs and once it takes out Rs 479, I know they are pretty far off as of now they could be moving past 500 if the market sustains the way it has been.”
He further added, “Jet Airways doesn’t look bad and I think that will probably apply for the other aviation stocks but Jet does look to be stronger among the lots. SpiceJet has also had the similar 5 weeks side way movement from which it is trying to give a breakout in the form of a recovery.”
4. Jet Airways announces air miles partnership
Frequent flyers on Jet Airways flights to India can now enjoy more benefits from the Jet Privilege club after the Indian airline teamed up with Alitalia and Jet Boutique.
Under the new deal, members of the Jet Privilege club can earn air miles on flights with the Italian airline, while those belonging to Alitalia's MilleMiglia club can earn benefits when they fly with Jet Airways.
Alitalia runs more than 250,000 flights per year to destinations across the world and this new partnership takes the number of Jet Airways air miles sharing deals up to a total of 23.
Furthermore, members of the Jet Privilege club can also earn air miles when they buy merchandise from the Jet Boutique inflight store.
Products on offer include perfume, jewellery, travel accessories, spirits and other alcoholic drinks.
Sudheer Raghavan, chief commercial officer of Jet Airways, said: "Jet Privilege has always endeavoured to offer its members great value and the introduction of these new partners is another step in that direction."
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