Edition 36
Since the time the Tata group has announced plans for Air India, fellow Star Alliance carriers as well as non Star Alliance partners have made a regular beeline to India. This is partly to guard the market against what will be a resurgent Air India in the years to come and in parts to get some business from Air India, be it on the codeshare or interline front or the engineering side.
Most CXOs of foreign airlines end up making a press statement (or two) about how India is their focus market, how the flights are doing well and stating that they have grand plans for India. The sheer size of India, growing economic clout, tourists – both Inbound and Outbound, VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) traffic, and business traffic which has been growing steadily, are all factors which make the market lucrative.
At equal frequency, if not more – there are reports of how passengers experienced borderline racism, or felt mistreated onboard one of the European carriers. A lot of times people notice a change in service levels and attitude on the India leg as compared to the North American leg. Personally, I have felt and experienced this on multiple European carriers and there is a stark difference in the attitude of the crew – which is what I call borderline racism. There are few things left unsaid, yet understood, especially by passengers who have travelled across multiple airlines.
Here lies the slip between the words of the CXOs and the actions of the crew of the same airline and there lies the large opportunity for any airline in India to take away this traffic, provided there is a large network, good loyalty program, excellent hard product, meals that are tastier than competition and a service that sticks to the basics. Until the Indian carrier or carriers take away this traffic, the middle eastern carriers have been enjoying the traffic.
What would really happen when there is a stronger Air India and assuming there is a stronger Air India not just on the network front but also the service and hardware front? Will the service aspects of European carriers improve? Will it be a price war? Either way, the passenger seems to benefit the most. Will it impact the European carriers? It may but the market is too large and has the ability to accommodate everyone!
You can now order Network Thoughts baggage tags and/or book marks!
Follow NetworkThoughts onX (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Telegram and YouTube.