Jet Airways Set To Return With A Mix Of Premium And Low-Cost Services

The airline plans to launch two-class configuration where business class flyers will be offered services, including free meals, and the economy class will be modelled similar to low-cost carriers

Jet Airways CEO Sanjiv Kapoor said that the airline will operate a proving-flight, one or more test flights with no passengers to assess safety, as early as this month, using a leased Boeing 737. Image: Getty

New Delhi: Jet Airways plans to spread its wings with a hybrid of premium and no-frills services.

According to a report by Bloomberg, the airline, which is undergoing a restructuring, would like to claw back market share while managing costs in the fiercely competitive Indian aviation market.

The company, which had gone bankrupt, now helmed by a new set of owners. The new owners, Dubai-based, Indian-origin businessman Murari Lal Jalan and Florian Fritsch, the chairman of London-based financial advisory and alternative asset manager Kalrock Capital Management Ltd, have pledged to make investments of as much as $120 million.

The new promoters have decided to launch two-class configuration where business class passengers will be offered services, including free meals.

Sanjiv Kapoor, the newly appointed chief executive officer (CEO) of Jet Airways, said the economy class will, however, be modelled similar to low-cost carriers where flyers pay for meals and other services, he said.

The CEO said, “It’s very difficult in the domestic Indian market to take on the cost of the food and everything else in economy class, where the customer in India chooses primarily on the basis of fares.”

Kapoor, an aviation veteran who took charge of the defunct airline this week, said, “Let’s just accept that and let’s not burden ourselves with extra cost.”

Jet, which collapsed under a pile of debt in 2019 and became the first airline to enter a reformed insolvency resolution process, was successfully revived under the Indian Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

According to the report, Kapoor himself is not new to navigating carriers through turbulent skies. He spearheaded SpiceJet as its chief operating officer in 2014, helming it through a time when the low-cost carrier was severely cash strapped. He was also the chief strategy and commercial officer for Tata Group-led airline, Vistara, the report said.

The CEO said that Jet will operate a so-called proving-flight, one or more test flights with no passengers to assess safety, as early as this month, using a leased Boeing 737. “This will immediately make the airline eligible for a flying permit. This permit allows the new owners to bring in investments, and enables the airline to negotiate landing and parking slots with airports. We are confident that we are very close to a proving flight,” Kapoor said.

“Proving flight is the last step. If you pass the last step there’s nothing preventing you from getting the AOP,” he added, referring to an air operator permit which is a license to start commercial operations.