Kingfisher puts premium tag on inaugural overseas link

Kingfisher puts premium tag on inaugural overseas link 27 Aug, 2008, 0025 hrs IST

BANGALORE: Kingfisher Airlines is positioning its inaugural international link between Bangalore and London as a premium service, as it takes on British Airways, its main rival on the route. The airline will launch daily flights between India’s tech hub and the British capital starting September 3, the second carrier to do so after the UK’s national airline. Kingfisher is pricing its round trip for economy-class travellers at Rs 43,520 compared to British Airways’ Rs 43,875. A round trip in the Kingfisher First Class will cost Rs 1,61,800 and an official of the Bangalore-based carrier said it was pricier than the average Rs 1.4 lakh charged by British Airways. However, travel industry sources put BA’s going rate for its business-class tickets at Rs 1,64,750, even though a fare cut by the carrier to counter competition from Kingfisher is seen as a possibility. At the time of going to press, it was not possible to obtain a comment from British Airways. Travel industry sources also said that nearly two-thirds of the British carrier’s passengers stop over in London en route to other destinations. Kingfisher is expected to announce in a few days alliances with international carriers so that its passengers to London can link up for onward travel. As Kingfisher spreads wings internationally, a non-stop flight from Bangalore to San Francisco on the US west coast is also on the cards. Kingfisher says first-class passengers on its Airbus A330-220 link between Bangalore and London can expect, among other things, an in-seat massager, five-course meals, a social area with a bar and even a spectacle-cleaning service! The flight from Bangalore will leave at 8.40 am and arrive at London Heathrow’s Terminal 4 at 2.50 pm, local time. The return flight will depart Heathrow at 10.05 pm and arrive in Bangalore the next day at 12.35 pm, local time. UB group chairman Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines bought out low-cost carrier Deccan last year to earn the right to fly abroad. Carriers with less than five years of domestic service cannot fly overseas and Deccan completes five years at the end of this month. Bangalore will be the hub for Kingfisher’s wide-bodied aircrafts and international operations.

Airline pilots brace for downsizing, career change part 2

Airline pilots brace for downsizing, career change
3 Jul, 2008, 0321 hrs IST, REUTERS

WHERE TO GO?

Clearly, it’s as gloomy a time as anyone who works at a major U.S. airline can remember.

Thousands of workers — from management down to baggage handlers — face imminent jobs cuts and a terrible job market. Many airline employees will have to switch careers.

But some employees, like pilots and flight attendants, are in a particularly tight spot because their careers are so closely connected to seniority at a single airline, which dictates pay, work rules, and routes they are assigned to fly.

A further complication is that seniority does not transfer between airlines. A United pilot who takes a job at American, for example, goes to the bottom of American’s seniority list.

If a furloughed pilot wants to keep flying for an airline, the options are limited, especially in the United States.

Some airlines have arrangements with regional partners to give preference to furloughed employees for open positions. Often, however, the pay is much less for a regional pilot, and those jobs also are scarce.

Regional carriers flying 70-seat aircraft, such as Republic Airways Holdings Inc, continue to see some growth.

Airline consultant Robert Mann noted hiring opportunities for pilots in the Middle East and Asia. Many of those jobs, however, are contract positions, meaning the job is not guaranteed once the contract ends.

Some pilots who are in the US National Guard also may consider flying for the military, Mann said.

“So, there are options for those who had the foresight to create options,” he said. “I think it’s a function of what foresight you’ve had to create a safety net.”

CASTING BLAME

Anger is simmering among pilots about the prospect for unemployment after they and other work groups made steep sacrifices to help save their companies in recent years.

Unlike the last downturn — triggered in large part by the September 11, 2001, attacks — this one could have been avoided, said United Capt. Jay Happner.

He’s not buying management arguments that no one could have predicted oil prices would rise to $140 a barrel. Airlines could have been better prepared, he said.

“We’re very angry that it’s come to this,” Happner said.

Happner, 54, who believes his job is safe for now, said simply ducking a round of layoffs does not preserve a pilot’s lifestyle.

For every large aircraft eliminated from the fleet, pilots who flew that plane lose status that they worked hard to achieve. Senior pilots find themselves flying smaller planes on less-desirable routes or large planes with a lower rank.

“It just cascades,” he said. “It ripples throughout the whole airline.”