Kingfisher Airlines' plans to join the global airline alliance, Oneworld, are still very much on. In an exclusive interview to Business Line , Oneworld's Chief Executive Officer, Mr Bruce Ashby, said that the airline's membership to Oneworld was currently on hold and that the alliance was supporting the airline in coming out of its financial problems. Excerpts:

What is the status of Kingfisher Airlines' application to join Oneworld?

Several months ago, we agreed to put Kingfisher's membership on hold while it worked through the challenges in the Indian environment, which are pretty severe these days.

There has been no change of status since then. Kingfisher is working on its plans and we are supporting it, hoping that it will come through well. But we have not announced any change in plans. We have not announced any new date.

Is this normal? Have other airlines come out of this kind of financial mess?

I would love to say that the airline business is stable and that this is a rare event. But the truth is that this happens more often than we would like. Airlines do go through severe dips in their fortunes for a period of time. Airlines are sensitive to a lot of things around them — from fuel prices to Government action.

It is not actually all that unusual for an airline to go through restructuring. We have had several airlines which have had significant restructuring. For example, Japan Airlines is now announcing profits after having a particularly bad time.

So, there is no timeline for Kingfisher Airlines to join the Oneworld Alliance?

I am reluctant to set timelines because the pressure is not internal to Kingfisher. It comes from many external factors — so a timeline, in a way, is a bit false here. We are just being patient and taking our time.

Is this an exclusive arrangement with Kingfisher or are you looking at other partners in India?

We are not looking at other partners in India.

>ashphadnis@thehindu.co.in

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