Edition 38
Early this week, the aviation community was filled with news about the equipment change by American Airlines from B777 to B787-9 to New Delhi from New York, after weeks of discussions in the US about American Airlines starting a 787 base at New York. The first destination for the new plane at the new base? New Delhi, India! Interesting debates ensued, is it the configuration, is it the expectation of Russian airspace not being available for long, the profitability or what? But one detail not to be missed was that this was for October 2024, the winter schedule.
Lufthansa – which is more famous for strikes these days than operations, often makes changes two seasons in advance and publishes it, with minor changes closer to the season start date. Closer home, Singapore Airlines is no different – looking at the plan from the long term perspective and having it in the system well in advance.
Cut to India – Air India had announced that it would launch four new international destinations within six months, which is yet to materialise barring Phuket. There were also reports of all the A350s landing in India by the end of March. Both look unrealistic with half the march behind us. Akasa Air has had its share of announcements and claims and so has been the case with others. It’s not just the airlines, the regulatory bodies and airports have shown similar traits in the past.
It is time we get our act together. We have seen far too many instances lately on how airlines announce a lot, but a lot of it does not fructify. Compare that to the geographies which are leading in aviation where the announcements are minimal but the actual work speaks for itself. From established players like Air India to newbies like Akasa Air and yet to be born Jettwings, need to get the act together.
It is a case where the world is talking about India and its aviation market and we are still stuck in making announcements and not moving much beyond that. The usual answer these days for any argument is “supply chain issues” and this argument has come up so many times that it is time to normalise the situation and plan around it rather than give that as a reason! It’s time we talk about ourselves with examples of how we are growing, promise made, promise kept and much more.
You can now order Network Thoughts baggage tags and/or book marks!
Follow NetworkThoughts on Twitter, Facebook, Telegram and YouTube.
For advertising opportunities, get in touch via the Contact us page