Simplyfly

The Indian airline industry has grown at a tremendous pace in the last few years, increase in passenger numbers, ready financing from banks, new airlines by entrepreneurs and aggressive sales campaign by Boeing and Airbus, have all contributed to this steep growth.

The huge influx of airlines has led to a reduction in airfares, sometimes even priced at Rs 0. Only a few years back, no one would have imagined an Indian comparing the fares of the railway and the airlines to choose which one is a better option for him. You would have been ridiculed if you have suggested that someday the fares of the airlines would be as much as that of the railways.

The unimaginable has come true in India. People who have never dreamt of boarding an aircraft are now flying, and flying regularly. The dates for their holidays and excursions are not decided by their itinerary but by the availability of cheap airfares. Much of this change in the Indian airline industry can be attributed to India’s first low cost airlines ‘Air Deccan’.

Capt. Gopinath with his airline has rewritten the foundation on which the Indian airlines operate. By connecting Tier-2 destinations with cheap fares, he has simply made the common man’s dream of flying come true. But, has this put a smile on the face of an Indian? I am not really sure it has. For instance, a friend of mine once flew Air Deccan, which was, by the way, his first air experience. He was lucky to get a free ticket which Deccan has issued and while I was waiting at the airport I expected him to come out real excited. To my surprise he comes out and starts abusing the airline.

Reason? It was two hours late and it charges for water. FOR GOD SAKE!!!!! Does he expect the airline to give a free ticket and free food too? This is not a one off case, if u look at it from a broader angle most of the ‘Air Deccan’ passengers complain for its delays. The question is: Have they become so unreasonable to realize that, if not for the airline they would have been on a train and reach their destination hours later? And if they do have enough money, they would be better off flying on the Kingfisher or the Jet leaving Deccan for a poor lad like me. All this criticism Deccan gets, it doesn’t deserve. It can’t help but get delayed because it has to run on a lot of routes, to nullify the losses due to its cheap fares.

Going by facts, it operates 350 flights a day with a fleet size of only 42. It has built itself on more routes and less fare model and this ultimately results in a delay sometimes. But this model of low fare operation seems to be in danger now. “Mallya Boards Deccan” the headline read on the day Mallya’s Kingfisher bought one fourth of Air Deccan, the news gave me the creeps. I started speculating higher fares for Deccan. For once, I was right. Not even half a month passed since the news that Mallya is already talking about hike in prices.

Vijay Mallya said and I quote: “Gone are the days when they (low-cost airlines) sold low-cost tickets to gain market share. Air Deccan has huge connectivity and I believe only Rs500 more would make it profitable.” "Air Deccan founder Captain G R Gopinath has defended his model, (but) I told him that you have to ensure that you reap the due benefits. I am of the sincere opinion that any other carrier would not indulge in discounting money." One thing is for sure, the ‘aam-admi’ won’t be able to find any more free tickets from Deccan, and may be not even something around Rs.300.

Why is Mallya doing this? Is it to save Deccan from losses or Kingfisher from it? I might be naive in deciding on it, but I surely feel its all for Kingfisher. Deccan’s low fare model has affected Kingfisher in the past, on which Mallya has commented a number of times. When Kingfisher’s tickets are priced five times higher than those of Deccan, not many Indians would prefer it above Deccan, but when they are two to three times higher, the number would surely increase.

That’s what Mallya wants, and with his money and power he is achieving it. My speculation might go wrong, and I hope it does, if not there wouldn’t be many ‘aam-admis’ complaining about Deccan because they wouldn’t be able to fly as regularly. For the sake of the ‘aam-admi’ of India I just hope Mallya is not powerful enough to change Gopinath’s low cost model, which I hope will succeed on the lines of Ryanair of Ireland and the common Indian, can keep flying. Simplyflying!