The Hindu Business Line : `JetLite will be a value airline'

It has been a month since Mr Gary Kingshott took over as the Acting Chief Executive Officer of JetLite, the new name that Jet Airways has decided for Air Sahara, thereby completing the buyout of Air Sahara. In an interaction with Business Line, Mr Kingshott outlines the plans for the airlines.

Excerpts from the interview:

What have you achieved in the one month that you have been the Acting Chief Executive Officer of JetLite?

A core team that included me and some other senior officials arrived at JetLite on April 20 and spent about a week taking control of the business, which we have now achieved. Since taking charge we have been talking to the employees about our plans. The entire issue (of the buyout) unfortunately has not been well understood by the public and the employees. This is not about merger but about the acquisition of an operating airline by another. The strategy of the management is to operate two independent airlines — JetLite and Jet Airways, which would compete in different segments of the market.

While Jet is a full-service airline, I would not like to call JetLite a low-cost airline. I would prefer to call it a value-based airline. Our airline will have low prices but will offer value to the passenger. The airline will operate a one-class configuration aircraft and we intend offering in-flight services. Food will be served on the flight.

How will the air tickets be priced? Would Jet Airways and JetLite operate on the same routes?

The pricing will be based on consumer demand. Almost all airlines operate a revenue management system, which also helps determine at what level a particular seat on a flight should be priced.

There is a chance that the two airlines will operate on the same routes.

This is for a variety of reasons. Air Sahara, that is now JetLite, has separate slots and parking bays. These exist today and we will continue to renew our licences for them and also seek more. Besides, when we operate two airlines we bring two different value propositions to the market.

At present the main task before us is to integrate the schedules of Jet Airways and JetLite, which is being worked on. The idea is to compete against others and use two airlines to fight two different battles.

By when will you decide on the scheduling of JetLite?

At the moment we do not have the entire Air Sahara fleet in air. Seven of the 24 aircraft are undergoing scheduled maintenance work. We hope to get them back into service within the next two months and then the number of flights operated by us would increase. We will also be introducing a new livery for the airline that should be rolled out in the first week of June.

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