Jet Airways

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not to be confused with Jetway, Airway (aviation), or Jat Airways.
Jet Airways

IATA
9W
ICAO
JAI
Callsign
JET AIRWAYS
Founded 1 April 1992
Commenced
operations
5 May 1993
Hubs (Primary Hub)Chhatrapati Shivaji International
Airport(Mumbai)
Secondary hubs
Brussels Airport
Chennai International Airport
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International
Airport(Kolkata)
Kempegowda International Airport
Indira Gandhi International Airport (Delhi)
Focus cities Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International
Airport(Ahmedabad)
Cochin International Airport(Kochi)
Rajiv Gandhi International
Airport (Hyderabad)
Lucknow International Airport (Lucknow)
Frequent-flyer
program
JetPrivilege
Airport lounge Jet Lounge
Subsidiaries Jet Lite
Jet Konnect
Fleet size 100(Excluding Subsidiaries)
Destinations 69
[1]

Company slogan The Joy of Flying
Parent company Tailwinds Limited
Headquarters Mumbai, India
[2]

Key people Naresh Goyal, Founder &Chairman
Ravisshankar Gopalakrishnan, actingCEO
[3]

Capt. Hameed Ali, COO
[4]

Revenue 172.84 billion(US$2.8 billion) (2012)
[5]

Profit -14.20 billion (US$230 million) (2012)
Employees 13,945 (2012)
Website www.jetairways.com
www.jetkonnect.com


Airbus A330-202 VT-JWL in Hong Kong
Jet Airways is the second of India's two major airlines based in Mumbai, both, in terms of market
share
[6]
and passengers carried, after Air India.
[7]
It operates over 1000 flights daily to 76 destinations
worldwide. Its main hub is Mumbai, with secondary hubs at Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru.
[8]
It has an
international hub at Brussels Airport, Belgium.
Contents
[hide]
1 History
o 1.1 1992-2009: Inception and growth
o 1.2 2010-Present: Rise to India's largest airline
2 Corporate affairs and Identity
o 2.1 Subsidiaries
3 Destinations
o 3.1 Codeshare agreements
4 Fleet
o 4.1 Livery
5 Services
o 5.1 Cabin
o 5.2 In-flight entertainment
o 5.3 Airport lounges
6 Awards and achievements
7 Incidents and accidents
8 Controversies
o 8.1 Issues with US authorities
o 8.2 British contractor controversy
9 See also
10 References
11 External links
History[edit]
1992-2009: Inception and growth[edit]


SM Centre, the former head office
Jet Airways was incorporated as an air taxi operator on 1 April 1992. It started commercial operations on 5
May 1993 with a fleet of four leased Boeing 737-300 aircraft. In January 1994 a change in the law enabled
Jet Airways to apply for scheduled airline status, which was granted on 4 January 1995.Naresh Goyal
who already owned Jetair (Private) Limited, which provided sales and marketing for foreign airlines in India
set up Jet Airways as a full-service scheduled airline to compete against state-owned Indian Airlines.
Indian Airlines had enjoyed a monopoly in the domestic market between 1953, when all major Indian air
transport providers were nationalised under the Air Corporations Act (1953), and January 1994, when the
Air Corporations Act was repealed, following which Jet Airways received scheduled airline status.
Jet began international operations from Chennai to Colombo in March 2004. The company is listed on
the Bombay Stock Exchange, but 80% of its stock is controlled by Naresh Goyal (through his ownership of
Jets parent company, Tailwinds). It has 13,177 employees (as at 31 March 2011).
[9]
In January 2006 Jet
Airways announced that it would buy Air Sahara for US$500 million in an all-cash deal, making it the
biggest takeover in Indian aviation history. It would have resulted in the country's largest airline but the deal
fell through in June 2006. On 12 April 2007 Jet Airways agreed to buy out Air Sahara for INR14.5 billion
(US$340 million). Air Sahara was renamed JetLite, and was marketed between a low-cost carrier and a full
service airline. In August 2008 Jet Airways announced its plans to completely integrate JetLite into Jet
Airways.
[10]
In October 2008, Jet Airways laid off 1,900 of its employees, resulting in the largest lay-off in
the history of Indian aviation.
[11]

However the employees were later asked to return to work; Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said that the
management reviewed its decision after he analysed the decision with them.
[12][13]
Jet Airways and their
rival Kingfisher Airlines announced an alliance which primarily includes an agreement on code-sharing on
both domestic and international flights, joint fuel management to reduce expenses, common ground
handling, joint utilisation of crew and sharing of similar frequent flier programmes.
[14]
On 8 May 2009 Jet
Airways launched its low-cost brand, Jet Konnect. The decision to launch a new brand instead of
expanding the JetLite network was taken after considering the regulatory delays involved in transferring
aircraft from Jet Airways to JetLite, as the two have different operator codes. The brand was launched on
sectors that had 50% or less load factor with the aim of increasing it to 70% and above. Jet officials said
that the brand would cease to exist once the demand for the regular Jet Airways increases.
2010-Present: Rise to India's largest airline[edit]


A Jet Airways ATR 72-500
According to a PTI report, for the third quarter of 2010, Jet Airways (Jet+JetLite) had a market share of
22.6%
[15]
in terms of passengers carried, thus making it a market leader in India, followed by Kingfisher
Airlines with 19.9%. In July 2012, Jet Airways officially sought government approval to joinStar
Alliance.
[16]
In June 2011, Jet Airways banned carrying fish, crab, meat, poultry products and liquid items as
check-in baggage.
[17]
Jet is the first domestic airline to impose such a ban. Jet claimed that passengers
complained of their baggage getting soiled by seepage from bags containing meat products. Early in
2013, Etihad Airways, one of the flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates based out of Abu Dhabi planned
to buy a stake in Jet Airways. On 24 April 2013, Jet announced that they were ready to sell a 24% stake to
Etihad at US$379 million.
[18]
Earlier, in September 2012, the government of India announced that foreign
airlines can take up a stake of up to 49% in Indian airlines, thereby making this deal possible. Etihad, which
had already purchased stakes in 4 other loss making airlines, said, they were "concentrating on future
potential rather than past performance", and were ready to take up the stake in Jet.
[19]
Initially, Jet
announced that they were likely to sign the stake sale deal with Etihad between 22 January and 3
February,
[20]
which they later confirmed to as 25 January.
[21]
However, the date passed by and the deal was
further postponed.
[22]

Meanwhile, Jet Airways concentrated well on revenues, costs and network side, which resulted in the
airline making profits for the first time since the rupee depreciation. Nikos Kardassis, the Chief Executive
Officer of Jet Airways said "The combined impact of higher yields and lower costs (ex-fuel) have resulted in
significantly lowering the breakeven seat factor levels in the business."
[23]
The airline announced a sale on
its website, which offered 2 million seats for travel within India, till 31 December 2013. This sale was
announced a little over one month after rival low-cost carrier SpiceJet announced a sale, which was
expected to have triggered a fare-war.
[24]
High airfares throughout 2012 due to grounding of Kingfisher
Airlines caused passengers to opt out of air travel, leading to negative growth in traffic for the first time
since 2009. Jet Airways planned to attract more passengers by subsequently lowering the fares, which was
followed by SpiceJet again. With two airlines offering cheaper travel, India's flag carrier started losing
passengers and it too offered cheaper tickets. This was followed by IndiGo and GoAir, resulting in a full-
fledged fare war.
[25]

Jet had introduced four different slabs of discounts depending upon the distance to destination. Under the
offer, the fare up to 750 kilometres was priced at 2250 (US$36), while for 750-1000 kilometres it was
2850 (US$46). For air travel over a distance ranging from 1000 to 1400 kilometres, tickets were sold for
3300 (US$53) and for travel beyond 1400 kilometres, tickets were sold for a maximum of
3800 (US$61).
[26]
Based on a calculation by The Economic Times, on average, Jet Airways was selling
6400 tickets per day, or 14 tickets per flight at these discounted rates. According to the news agency,
several Indian travel sites started experiencing sever issues following a sudden increase in bookings.
MakeMyTrip chief operating officer Keyur Joshi said that this move would help airlines increase aircraft
occupancy from 75% to 85%.
[27]
However, soon after the sale, the airline's market value started going
down.
[28]
This drop in market value was considered to have happened because of the indefinitely
postponed Etihad deal. The stock had fallen by 18% in a period of one week. Economic Times reported
that "The froth that developed around Jet stock was largely deal driven and has now fizzled away."
[29]



Jet Airways Boeing 777-300ER at San Francisco International Airport.
Corporate affairs and Identity[edit]
Jet Airways's head office is located in the Siroya Centre in Andheri, Mumbai.
[30]
Jet Airways's head office
was previously located in the S.M. Centre, a rented, unmarked six storey building in Andheri.
[31][32]
In 2008
Robyn Meredith of Forbes stated that the complex was "as shabby as (Jet Airways) CEO Naresh Goyal's
home is posh" and that the complex was "In need of a fresh coat of paint". The complex was 15 minutes
driving time fromChhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
[32]
In 2013, it was announced that Etihad
Airways would buy a 24% stake in the airline through preferential allotment of shares.
[33]

Subsidiaries[edit]
J etLite
JetLite was a wholly owned subsidiary of Jet Airways. It was established as Sahara Airlines on 20
September 1991 and began operations on 3 December 1993 with two Boeing 737-200 aircraft. Initially
services were primarily concentrated in the northern sectors of India, keeping Delhi as its base, and then
operations were extended to cover all the country. Sahara Airlines was rebranded as Air Sahara on 2
October 2000. On 12 April 2007 Jet Airways took over Air Sahara and on 16 April 2007 Air Sahara was
renamed as JetLite. JetLite operated a fleet of mixed ownedleased Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft
and Bombardier CRJ-200ER. JetLite ceased operations on 25 March 2012 after merger with Jet
Konnect.
[34]
The Bombardier jets were phased out but the Boeings remained in service and operated for
JetKonnect. JetLite offered a buy on board service called JetCaf,
[35]
offering food for purchase.
J etKonnect
JetKonnect, formerly Jet Airways Konnect, is the low-cost brand of Jet Airways. It was launched on 8 May
2009.
[36]
It operates a fleet of Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft. The rationale for launching Jet Konnect
was to close down loss-making routes and divert the planes to more profitable routes with
higher passenger load factors. Jet already ran a low-cost airline named JetLite. According to Jet Airways,
the decision to launch a low-cost brand instead of expanding the existing JetLite was taken to avoid the
regulatory delays associated with moving excess aircraft and assets from Jet Airways to JetLite, which
have separate operating codes. Jet Konnect offers a no frills flight where meals and other refreshments
have to be purchased on board. To identify if the flight is a full service or Konnect the flight numbers for
Konnect are in the series 9W 2000-2999.
[37]
Jet Airways merged the JetLite brand into Jet Konnect on 25
March 2012.
[34]
Jet Airways offers eight business class seats in Konnect to cash in on Kingfisher Airlines'
woes.
[38]
In December 2012, Jet Airways placed an order for 5 ATR 72-600 aircraft to "enhance regional
connectivity." The first aircraft was delivered the same month, leased from GECAS and was operated for
JetKonnect.
[39]

Destinations[edit]
Main article: Jet Airways destinations
Jet Airways serves 52 domestic destinations and 21 international destinations, a total of 73
[40]
in 19
countries across Asia, Europe and North America. Short-haul destinations are served usingBoeing 737
Next Generation. ATR 72-500s are used only on domestic regional routes, while long-haul routes are
served using its Airbus A330-200 and Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. London, England was the airline's first
long-haul destination and was launched in 2005. Since 2007 Jet Airways has had a scissors hub
at Brussels Airport in Belgium for onward trans-atlantic connections toCanada and the United States.
The recession forced Jet Airways to discontinue the following routes: AhmedabadLondon, Birmingham-
Brussels AmritsarLondon, BangaloreBrussels, MumbaiShanghaiSan Francisco andBrussels-New
York.
[41]
It also had to put an indefinite delay on its expansion plans. Jet Airways was forced to lease out
seven of its ten Boeing 777-300ERs to survive the financial crunch. Due to the recession all flights to North
America were operated on an Airbus A330-200 replacing the Boeing 777-300ERs. It also had to sell a
brand-new, yet-to-be-delivered Boeing 777-300ER in 2009 and had to defer all new aircraft deliveries by at
least two years. The airline planned to restore the Mumbai-Shanghai route by the end of 2011 but never
went through with it.
[42]
As the economic crisis in the eurozone countries worsened, Jet also closed the
Delhi-Milan route.
[43]
Jet Airways is planning to relaunch service to New York's JFK International
Airport via Abu Dhabi starting May 1, 2014.
[44]



Jet Airways Airbus A340-300 at London Heathrow Airport in 2005 with the 1993-2007 livery
Also, Jet Airways will introduce the Mumbai Paris route using the Airbus A330 aircraft from Mid May 2014 -
a mid-day departure from Mumbai to reach evening in Paris CDG and Leaving CDG Paris in night arriving
next morning in Mumbai similar to Air India's schedule on Delhi-Paris route.
Codeshare agreements[edit]
Jet Airways has codeshare agreements with the following airlines (as of June 2013):
[45]

Air Canada
Air France
[46]

All Nippon Airways
Alitalia
American Airlines
Brussels Airlines
Etihad Airways
Garuda Indonesia
[47]

Kenya Airways
KLM
[48]

Malaysia Airlines
South African Airways
[49]

Qantas
United Airlines
Jet Airways also has a codesharing agreement with Thalys European rail service.
[50]

Effective February 1, 2014, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration lowered Indias aviation safety rating
to a Category 2. As a result of the FAA action, all U.S.-based airlines are required to suspend all codeshare
cooperation with any India-based airlines. This FAA decision is country specific for India, not airline
specific.
[51]

[52]

Fleet[edit]


Jet Airways Boeing 777-300ER with the present livery


Jet Airways Boeing 737-800
As of February 2014, the Jet Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft with an average age of 5.4
years:
[53][54][55][56][57][58]

Jet Airways Fleet
Aircraft
In
Service
Orders
Passengers
Notes
F J Y Total
Airbus A330-200 10
0 30 196 226

Airbus A330-300 4 1
[59]
0 34 259 293

ATR 72-500 15
0 0 62 62

0 0 68 68
ATR 72-600 2 2 0 0 68 68 Operated for JetKonnect
[39]

Boeing 737-700 11 0 8 126 134 5 operated for Jet Konnect
Boeing 737-800 56 14 0 16 138 154 6 operated for JetKonnect
0 8 162 170
Boeing 737-900 6 0 28 138 166 2 operated for JetKonnect
Boeing 737 MAX 8 50
[60]
Entering service in 2017
Boeing 777-300ER 10
8 30 274 312
3 Wet Leased to Turkish Airlines
8 30 312 350
Boeing 787-9 10 TBA Deliveries starting 2015
[61]

Total 114 77

Livery[edit]
19932007[edit]
Jet Airways' original livery was Navy Blue, Light Grey and Chrome Yellow. The top and bottom of the
aircraft were painted in light grey and had the flying sun logo in the navy blue background.
2007present[edit]
Jet Airways' current livery was introduced in 2007.
[62]
The design retained the dark blue and gold-accented
colour scheme of Jet Airways' previous corporate identity, along with the airline's "flying sun" logo.
[62]
The
new livery, created with Landor Associates, added yellow and gold ribbons. A new yellow uniform was
simultaneously introduced, created by Italian designer Roberto Capucci.
[62]
Jet Airways introduced its new
identity in conjunction with a global brand re-launch which included new aircraft and seating.
[62]
Jet Airways
unveiled India's first Disney branded Boeing737 on 9 July 2012.
[63]

Services[edit]
Cabin[edit]
International long haul[edit]


First Class on board the Boeing 777-300ER
With the arrival of its new Airbus A330-200 and Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, Jet Airways has introduced a
new cabin with upgraded seats in all classes. The Airbus A330-200 aircraft have two classes: Premire and
Economy. The Boeing 777-300ER aircraft has three classes of service: First, Premire (Business), and
Economy. Being a Full Service Airline, meals are served on all classes of travel.
First Class
First class is available on all Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. All seats convert to a fully flat bed, similar to
Singapore Airlines first class seat but much smaller. It was the second airline in the world to have private
suites. All seats in First have a 23-inch widescreen LCD monitor with audio-video on-demand systems
(AVOD), BOSE noise cancelling headphones, in seat power supply, and USB ports etc. Jet Airways is the
first Indian airline to offer fully enclosed suites on its aircraft; each suite has a closable door, making for a
private compartment.
Premire


Premire on board the Boeing 777-300ER
Premire (Business Class) on the Airbus A330-200 and Boeing 777-300ER international fleet has a fully
flat bed with AVOD entertainment. Seats are configured in a herringbone pattern (1-2-1 on the Boeing 777-
300ER, and 1-1-1 on the Airbus A330-200), with each seat offering direct access to the aisle. Premire
seats on the A330-200s leased from ILFC are configured differently in a 2-2-2 non-herringbone pattern.
Each Premire Seat has a 15.4-inch flat screen LCD TV with AVOD. USB ports and in-seat laptop power
are provided. All seats are standard recliner business-class seats with a few newer aircraft with electronic
recline and massager.
Economy Class
Economy class on Jet's A330-200/777-300ER aircraft has 32-inch seat pitch. Seats on the A330-200/777-
300ER have a "hammock-style" net footrest. The cabin is configured in 2-4-2 abreast on the Airbus A330-
200, and was recently changed to 3-4-3 on the Boeing 777-300ER from 3-3-3 to increase revenue. Each
Economy seat on the A330-200/777-300ER has a personal 10.6-inch touch screen LCD TV with AVOD.
All three classes feature Mood lighting on the Airbus A330-200 and Boeing 777-300ER, with light schemes
corresponding to the time of day and flight position.


JetScreen IFE in Economy class on board a Boeing 737-800
International short haul & Domestic[edit]
Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft are configured in Premire and Economy Classes. The ATR 72-
500 have Economy class configuration only. The Premire features 40-inch extra-wide seats with a
personal Widescreen LCD attached to each seat. The Premire cabin is configured in a 2-2 abreast
pattern. Jet Airways Economy class on its Boeing 737 Next Generation features 30-inch seat pitch with
personal Widescreen LCD behind each seat. Jet Airways was the World's first airline to introduce in-flight
entertainment systems on the Boeing 737 aircraft. The Economy class cabin is configured in a 3-3 abreast
pattern on the Boeing 737 Next Generation and 2-2 abreast pattern on the ATR 72-500.
[citation needed]

In-flight entertainment[edit]
Jet Airways' Panasonic eFX IFE system on board the Boeing 737-700/800 and Panasonic eX2 IFE system
on board the Airbus A330-200/Boeing 777-300ER, called "JetScreen", offers audio video on-demand
programming (passengers can start, stop, rewind, and fast-forward as desired). It has over 100 movies, 80
TV programmes, 11 audio channels and a CD library of 125 titles. The system operates via
individual touchscreen monitors at each seat, and is available in all classes.
[64]
In late 2012, Jet introduced
a feature on their Airbus A330-300, called eXport. eXport allows passengers to plug-in their
personal Apple devices such as iPods, iPads and iPhones through an eXport socket located immediately
below the video screen. This would allow passengers to access their own media during the flight.
[65]

Airport lounges[edit]
Jet Airways Lounges are offered to First and Premire Class passengers, along with JetPrivilege Platinum
& Gold card members. The international lounge at Brussels has showers, business centre, entertainment
facilities and children's play areas.
[66]
Lounges access is offered at the following locations:
[67]

[show]
Jet Airways' lounges
Awards and achievements[edit]
Best First- Service in the World award at Business Travellers 20th annual Best in Business Travel
awards
Best Business Class & Best Economy Class at the Business Traveller Awards
Best Programme of the Year by Freddie Awards 2007 & 2006
Best Elite Level for the second year in a row, at the 21st Annual presentation ceremony of the Freddie
Awards 2008
Best Overall in Entertainment at the Avion Awards 2010
India's Popular Domestic Airline at the SATTE 2006 Awards
Indias Airline at the World Travel Awards, 2006
Best Technical Despatch Reliability by Beaver 2002
Best Cargo Airline of North Asia by Cargo Airline of the Year Awards
Best Domestic Airline award for the 1st consecutive year and the 5th time in the past two years at the
18th TTG (Travel Trade Gazette) Travel Awards 2007
Indias Most Respected Company in the Travel and Food Sector by Businessworld 2003
Best Long Haul Carrier ex-Brussels award at the Tm Travel Awards 2009.
Best Eastbound Airline from India and Best domestic Airline in India awards at the Abacus Tafi Awards
2009.
Business Travellers Best Indian Airline Award in London.
According to.
[68]

Incidents and accidents[edit]
On 1 July 2007, Jet Airways Flight 3307, an ATR 72-212A (registered VT-JCE) which was flying on
the Bhopal-Indore route was involved in an accident which was caused by a storm. There were no
fatalities amongst the 45 passengers and 4 crew onboard; however, the aircraft suffered damages
beyond repair.
[69]

Controversies[edit]
Issues with US authorities[edit]
It took Jet Airways more than two years to get the necessary clearances from US authorities to fly to
the United States. The US State Department gave the go-ahead on 15 November 2006. Jet was
initially expected to begin service to Newark via Brussels in June 2005 but a problem arose in March
2005, when the airline submitted an application to the US Department of Transportation. Nancy
Heckerman, CEO of US company Jet Airways Inc. based in Bethesda, Maryland, opposed the
application in letters to the Transportation Department alleging trademark infringement. Though
the litigation is still unresolved, the Department of Transportation concluded it was not a reason to
prevent Jet from flying to the U.S.
[70]

Jet Airways was originally set up as a subsidiary of Tailwinds, an Isle of Man-based holding company
designed as a tax shelter, whose sole shareholder was Naresh Goyal, the airline's non-resident
Indian (NRI) founder and chairman.
[71]
Initially, both Gulf Air and Kuwait Airways had acquired minority
stakes in the airline. However, the Government of India subsequently decreed that foreign airlines
would not be allowed to own any shares in any Indian airline (though other foreign entities and
individuals could still acquire or own minority stakes in Indian carriers.
[72][dead link]

As a result of this ruling, Gulf Air and Kuwait Airways sold their stakes to Naresh Goyal, who then
became the airline's sole shareholder. Jet Airways floated a minority stake of around 20% on
theBombay Stock Exchange in 2005 to enable it to reduce the debt that had been accumulated since
its inception as well as to fund its fleet expansion programme, including the acquisition of a fleet of
new Airbus A330 and Boeing 777 long-haul wide-bodied jets to operate new long-range services,
primarily to Europe and North America. This resulted in a reduction of Tailwind's stake in the airline to
just below 80%.
[73]
According to the company's articles of association, the bulk of Naresh Goyal's
shares in Tailwinds are held on behalf of several other individuals who all seem to be resident citizens
of India. While Indian government officials have been satisfied that these arrangements do not
compromise Jet Airways' status as an Indian-owned airline that is effectively controlled by Indian
citizens, they were viewed as "problematic" by the American authorities.
[70]

British contractor controversy[edit]
Another controversy arose when Asmin Tariq, a British contractor of Pakistani descent, who was
working for the airline as a security agent at Heathrow Airport (and was subsequently made a member
of staff when the airline decided to bring its London-based security operation in-house), became
implicated in the foiled terror plot of 10 August 2006 to blow up over several weeks up to ten
transatlantic airliners belonging to three different US airlines in mid-air on their way from London to
New York, Newark and Los Angeles.
[74]
Asmin Tariq had been arrested along with the other 20+
suspects and is now
[when?]
in British police custody. In addition, he has been suspended from duty by
Jet Airways. When asked how such a person could have been employed by the airline in a position
demanding extreme confidence and trust, Jet Airways defended its conduct by saying that the person
was a UK passport holder who had passed the stringent security requirements of BAA, Heathrow's
owner and operator. They also said that under UK employment legislation, the company was obliged
to offer any permanent appointments to former contractors once the contract that formed the basis of
their original employment had been terminated.