Kingfisher Airlines becomes member elect of oneworld with British Airways as mentor

Kingfisher Airlines has officially become a member elect of the oneworld® alliance after its Chairman Dr. Vijay Mallya signed a formal membership agreement with all 12 of existing partners and members elect of the alliance.

Ahead of Kingfisher is Russia’s leading domestic carrier S7 Airlines which is expected to join the alliance later this year.

Kingfisher Airlines will bring 56 Indian cities to the oneworld alliance and in return will gain access to oneworld’s global coverage of more than 800 destinations in almost 150 countries.

A key integration point with the alliance will be King Club, Kingfisher's frequent flier program (FFP). Access to an airline's FFP database is many times a key demand from existing alliance members, but it's also one of the prized information vaults for an airline with details of its most loyal customers. Long back, the then Swissair walked away from a Star Alliance membership rather than giving up its key FFP database. It will be interesting to see how much is Kingfisher forced to give up in return for membership of oneworld.

A key governmental hurdle i.e. permission from India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation was has been received by Kingfisher airlines. In fact industry sources indicate that "in-principle" approval was taken by the airline even before it signed an MOU for alliance membership back in February.

Membership of the alliance is key to generating additional traffic for the financial troubled Kingfisher, and it is pulling out all the stops to fast-track its membership and to join the alliance 18~24 months from now.

Kingfisher Airlines Chairman and Chief Executive Vijay Mallya said

“Joining oneworld will clearly strengthen our competitive position still further. Now that Kingfisher Airlines has now become a member-elect of oneworld, we have moved one crucial step closer towards becoming a full-fledged member and our team will certainly do all that is necessary to ensure we complete the implementation programme smoothly and on schedule”

Willie Walsh, Chief Executive of sponsor British Airways, added:

“We are very pleased to have gained regulatory approval so quickly from New Delhi to add Kingfisher Airlines to oneworld; and we intend to move ahead with its implementation just as speedily and smoothly. We very much look forward to welcoming India’s leading airline on board the world’s premier airline alliance.”

A top priority for Kingfisher is to synchronise of its IT, flight and distribution systems with those of other alliance members, a task that has repeated delayed the entry of national carrier Air India in to the Star Alliance.

A team of experts from alliance entry sponsor and mentor, British Airways and from the central oneworld team has just returned from visiting their Kingfisher Airlines counterparts in Mumbai and Delhi to set its joining programme in motion. The airline has passed its first alliance test -- oneworld’s safety audit.

Alliance members will deepen relations with six members -- American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Japan Airlines, and Royal Jordanian, sharing Kingfisher's new premium passenger lounge at the soon to be opened T3 at New Delhi's IGI airport.

British Airways and Kingfisher Airlines have also announced an code-sharing agreement with BA flight numbers being added to Kingfisher flights across the Indian sub-continent and Kingfisher flight numbers being added to British flights across Europe. Full details are expected to be announced by the end of June.

In addition to Dr. Mallya and Mr. Walsh, the ceremony today was attended by American Airlines Chairman and Chief Executive, and oneworld Governing Board Chairman, Gerard Arpe, Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Tony Tyler, Finnair Chief Executive Mika Vehviläinen, Iberia Chairman and CEO Antonio Vázquez, Japan Airlines President Masaru Onishi, LAN Airlines President Ignacio Cueto, Malév Hungarian Airlines Chief Executive Martin Gauss, Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce, Royal Jordanian Chief Executive Hussein Dabbas, member elect S7 Airlines Deputy Chief Executive Anton Erimen and oneworld Managing Partner John McCulloch.

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Jet Airways shifts to SkyTeam lounge at London Heathrow

Jet Airways has replaced its premium passengers lounge at London's Heathrow airport Terminal 4. Previously Jet was using the Etihad Airways lounge but has now shifted to the one year old SkyTeam lounge opposite gate 10.

The two-floor lounge includes features such as food and bar counters on both levels, a wine bar, wi-fi internet access, a meeting room, showers and full-body massage chairs.

Full details and images of the lounge can be seen here

However, let us not read anything further in to this arrangement. Jet Airways is still very interested in pursuing membership of the Star Alliance.

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What would I do if I were Civil Aviation Minister of India - interview on Sify.com

I was recently interviewed by Ramanand Sengupta on the Shiva statue affecting Delhi IGI airport's newest Code F runway 11-29.

We also covered subjects of security, safety, and what I would do if I was offered the job of Minister of Civil Aviation (what a delicious thought).

You can read the full interview here.

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Video: Rough landing by Korean Airlines Boeing 777-300ER at Tokyo Narita

Thanks to NYCAviation I found this video of a Korean Airlines Boeing 777-300ER doing a tippy-toe Bollywood gyrating landing at Tokyo's Narita airport.


Also do take the time to visit NYCAviation and see the video of a rather terse and snippy argument between an American Airlines flight and the ATC tower at New York JFK.

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Menzies Aviation erodes Lufthansa's passenger service quality at London Heathrow

In December last year I was a guest of Lufthansa and Fraport for a visit to the Frankfurt airport and Lufthansa world headquarters.

Having travelled from Bangalore till Frankfurt, I decided to visit my brother in London after the visit, and would return via Munich to Delhi.

Throughout the trip the on-board service was excellent in both business class (between India and Germany) as well as economy class (between Germany and London). I am spoilt, having flown a million miles on fellow Star Alliance carrier Singapore Airlines with its legendary cabin service standards, and even by these high standards, the Lufthansa cabin crew were good. They were polite, courteous and gracious, and at the same time very professional, and very efficient. Hat tip ladies.

The ground service at Bangalore and Munich airports were exemplary. Frankfurt airport left a little to be desired, but I would put it down to a severe over-crowding and terminal upgrades, more than anything else.

At London Heathrow, where Lufthansa has outsourced its entire ground handling including passenger check-in to Menzies Aviation, I had such a negative experience that all the pleasant memories of the trip were eroded to naught.

The Menzies Aviation personnel could not care less for a Lufthansa passenger, projecting a sullen and completely unhelpful attitude to the point of being rude, even in business class. They follow the rule book to the point of destroying customer experience, and the way they chase every penny of incremental revenue, like over-weight charges, one would think they are paid on commission.

Add to this a lack of adequate staff across all desks from ticketing, to commercial to check-in to boarding, leaves passengers frustrated, disgruntled and downright angry, long before they get on the flight, and also misutilises the few Lufthansa employees at the airport into performing jobs that are actually a Menzies responsibility.

I really felt for the Lufthansa cabin crew ex-Heathrow. They received the brunt of all the negative feelings built up thanks to the poor ground experience which are a result of an outsourced process.

I can fully understand an airline's need to reduce cost, but at what cost? Is Lufthansa saving money if it looses customer satisfaction and brand loyalty in return?

One can only hope someone of influence in Lufthansa reads this article and decides to do a savings vs. loss analysis on their decision to use Menzies Aviation.

I drew parallels with the on-going battle in India about unified outsourced ground handling. The ministry of civil aviation, supported by airport operators and ground handling companies, is trying to force domestic airlines in India to use ground handling companies instead of performing self-handling. Co-incidentally, Menzies has a significant presence in ground and cargo handling operations in India.

Domestic airlines are opposed to the demand of the ministry, since it is requiring inclusion of passenger facing duties like check-in, to be outsourced. The check-in process is a crucial builder or destroyer of the passenger experience. Airlines reward frequent flier brand loyalty with improved ground experiences be it checking-in at a separate or premium class desk or access to lounges, etc.

May be domestic airlines should consider making an example of how Menzies Aviation completely erodes the Lufthansa passenger experience at London along with the airline's brand perception, as a case-in-point to the ministry.

I for one will not fly Lufthansa to London Heathrow as long as Menzies Aviation handles any customer facing task for Lufthansa, nor will I recommend any Bangalore Aviation reader to do so.

Clarification: My travel from Frankfurt to London to Munich were paid for by me. Furthermore, my code of ethics requires me to inform Bangalore Aviation readers with an accurate opinion, especially if negative, even on a sponsored trip.

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Timesnow TV continues scaremongering coverage of Indigo runway incursion at Mumbai

Times Now TV channel, part of the Times Group media behemoth, has one of the worst reputation in the aviation industry for its scaremongering reporting and blowing the smallest of molehills into the largest of mountains.

A relatively minor incident has been blown completely out of proportion. This is the opening paragraph of the report on Times Now website

After the tragic air crash in Mangalore, the nation was close to yet another major air disaster, which was fortunately averted by an alert ATC. TIMES NOW on Thursday (May 27) accessed the exclusive details of this very close shave that occurred last night.

The video broadcast of the story shows how far the channel is willing to go in search of Target Rating Points (TRPs).

A dispassionate report of the incident.

An IndiGo Airbus A320-232, registration VT-INK performing flight 6E-415 from Mumbai to Bangalore (India), was cleared to taxi on inactive runway 14 to taxiway N1 (which is parallel to the then active runway 09/27), on to the holding point of runway 27.

At the same time a Jet Airways Boeing 737-700(WL) VT-JGX performing flight 9W-616 from Kolkata to Mumbai, was on final approach to runway 27 being cleared to land on the runway and about 1nm (2km) from touchdown at a height of 400 feet at around 21:04 (15:34Z).

The IndiGo Airbus missed the turn from Runway 14 on to taxiway N1 and approached the intersection of the two runways instead. The tower recognised the conflict and ordered the Jet Airways flight to go around.

The Jet Airways aircraft landed safely on their second approach, and the Indigo Airbus performed a normal take-off to reach Bangalore safely without further incident.

The airport operator Mumbai International Airport Ltd. (MIAL) admitted that the taxiway and signage lighting of taxiway N1 was faulty and was not functioning at the time. MIAL also claims to have informed the ATC about the fault.

It is unclear why no "Follow Me" vehicle was guiding the IndiGo airplane since two other departures prior to the IndiGo flight had been provided with a "Follow Me" vehicle to taxi to the holding point of runway 27.

IndiGo President Aditya Ghosh said, that their crew overshot the taxiway N1 because there were no lights. As soon as they recognized they had overshot the taxiway the crew coordinated with the ATC and stopped well short of the live runway 09/27.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation have ordered an investigation but the hot potato of responsibility to the fault is already being passed around between the airport operator MIAL, the ATC run by the Airports Authority of India, and the airline, IndiGo. MIAL claims it was the ATC's responsibility to inform the airline of the faulty lights and advise them to use a "Follow-me" vehicle. It is possible the commander of the IndiGo flight may have declined the vehicle.


One fails to appreciate what Times Now TV aims to achieve with its scaremongering reporting. This sensationalist reporting habit seems to have even entered the newspaper domain with the normally sober Hindustan Times. The inaccuracies in their report leaves us shaking our heads and wondering why the HT reporters do not take some cues on the excellent aviation sector reporting by their colleagues at group newspaper The Mint.

If anything, this brand of reporting has scared all aviation stake-holders in to clamming-up and trying to suppress even basic simple facts which they fear will be taken out of context and blown out of proportion.

Getting even the simplest of information like aircraft registration numbers has become a chore and suppresses the efforts of more responsible reporters.

Only one airline seems to escape the Times Group airline bashing crusade -- Kingfisher Airlines. One can probably attribute it to the good relations Kingfisher boss, Dr. Mallya is known to have with the Jain brothers, owners of Times Group.

Aircraft photos copyright Devesh Agarwal. May not be used without explicit permission.

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Singapore Airlines introduces upgraded Boeing 777-200 on its Bangalore service

Seat Map.
Singapore Airlines (SQ) has introduced a new cabin product on board its daily Boeing 777-200 service between Singapore and Bangalore which is probably the best cabin product ex-Bangalore by any airline in business class.

Previously SQ used to fly a three class Boeing 777-200 in a dense 12-42-234 seat configuration.

That product was not particularly liked by frequent business class fliers due to limited incline of the seats which are more meant for day trip regional routes.

The new configuration is more spacious with a two class 38-228 seat capacity. It eliminates the First Class cabin, and is very similar to the new cabin product of the new A330s inducted by Singapore Airlines for its medium distance overnight routes. See images here.

Significant improvements have been made in Raffles (Business) Class which now features a 2-2-2 configuration with inclined lie-flat seats featuring 60 inch pitch and 24.5 inch width. This will allow for a crucial two to two and a half hours of sleep on the three and a half hour overnight red-eye Bangalore to Singapore sector.

Economy class too has been revamped. The Givenchy colour scheme seats, blankets and pillows are implemented to provide commonality with the airline's Airbus A380, Boeing 777-300ER (B77W) and A330-300 fleet. Seating remains nine abreast in a 3-3-3 format with seat pitch of 32 inches again common to the other three aircraft, but seat width remains a slim 17.5 inches compared to 19 inches in the Singapore A380, B77W, and A333 aircraft. The 19 x 32 width and pitch appears to be fast becoming the choice of economy class seating not just with Singapore Airlines but also with airlines like Qatar Airways and others.

A new Audio Video On Demand (AVOD) system gives passengers choices from 80 movies, 105 TV shows, 180 music CDs and 50 video games, however the cabin will not feature iPod and iPhone support like its A330 cousin.

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Air India Mangalore accident highlights need for an independent accidents investigator

Ever since the unfortunate crash of Air India Express' Boeing 737-800 VT-AXV at Mangalore Bajpe, I have been inundated by requests across the world to comment and even speculate about the crash and possible causes.

Over the last few days we see all kinds of high energy stories in the media, be it speculating on reasons for the crash, or making a mountain out of a molehill. In a headlong rush for TRPs TV channels made a huge issue about the “miraculous escape” due to the runway incursion by IndiGo airlines at Mumbai.

By their measure, I have "miraculously escaped" at least eight times during my last 20 years of flying. May be I am on my ninth and last life, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

As a responsible aviation analyst, I have always advocated shunning speculation on reasons for air accidents. It does great dis-service to the families of the victims, the memories of the lost, and to efforts of those who remain.

Accidents are almost never a case of one single reason or major failure, but rather a chain of several minor reasons or failures. Only a proper investigation will lead to the true cause. The two black boxes have been recovered. Preliminary analysis of the Cockpit Voice Recorder and Digital Flight Data Recorder are only two weeks away. Let us wait for the full truth.

While we are waiting, let us bow our heads in memory of those who perished one year ago on the night of May 31, 2009, in the crash of Air France AF-447. A crash where the two black boxes have still not yet been recovered, and cause still undetermined, despite the hundreds of millions of dollars and countless hours already spent, and efforts that are still underway.

I am confident in Indian aviation and firmly believe it is the safest means of transport. This is the first fatal crash of Air India since the 1985 Kanishka bombing.

However, there seems to be this paranoia about secrecy at various Ministries responsible for transportation be it Civil Aviation, Railways, or Shipping. If we recall major transportation accidents over the last one year. Very little information has been publicly disclosed as to the reasons for the accidents and virtually no information is available on the much more important corrective action required and taken. Just as we have forgotten AF-447 these other accidents no longer feature in our memory.

It is time India has an independent investigating body like the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) or the UK Air Accidents Investigations Board (AAIB) or the Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board (TSB) or the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB). These agencies are completely independent of the regulators like the US Federal Aviation Administration or UK Civil Aviation Authority, policy makers and service providers. These boards investigate accidents and publicly disclose causal information along with suggested corrective action.

In India I do not know who the regulator and inspector is for rail and shipping, but at least for the air we have the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, however air accident investigations are also under the DGCA.

The DGCA is a fine organisation, and I can personally attest to the upstanding nature and integrity of Dr. Zaidi. However, a separation between investigation and regulation is a must. If the investigation reveals, requires and justifies it; an investigator has to be able to criticise a regulator (DGCA) or even a policy maker (Ministry) and require changes.

Something the current system just does not provide for or do.

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