Late yesterday, embittered Kingfisher Airlines released its quarterly results for Q# of FY 2012. The struggling carrier saw its net loss deepen to Rs. 444 Crore from Rs. 254 Crore in the same period last year. Revenues fell 5% to Rs. 1,547 Crore, while expenditures grew 4.8% to Rs. 1778.06 Crore. EBITDAR was Rs. 125 Crore, down from Rs. 284 …

Given our recent shift in focus towards an analytical bent on Indian aviation (most of the guilt lies on my shoulders), there has been a dearth of some of the lighter content here at Bangalore Aviation. I think it also gets lost sometimes, just how much the both of us love flying and love this industry. Aviation is a mystical, …

Earlier this week, reports surfaced that India’s national carrier Air India was asking for roughly $1 billion in compensation from US original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Boeing for the roughly 3 year delay of the Boeing 787-8. With Air India’s initial delivery having been pushed back almost 2.75 years by the natural program delays and further delay of the delivery of …

Over the past few years here in the US, there has been a severe backlash surrounding the usage of full body scanners and the resultant pat-down searches; for passengers who opt out of the body scan. Supporters of the body scans claim that they are necessary to weed out terrorists who might have dangerous materials such as plastic explosives that …

US low cost carrier Southwest Airlines has released some of the details of the planned initial utilization of their new fleet of Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Southwest’s first two 737-800s (out of 73 that were ordered), will enter service on April 11, 2012. These aircraft will come equipped with the new Boeing Sky Interior that features larger windows, mood lighting, and …

Vinay Bhaskara and Devesh Agarwal When Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia X announced last week that it would be ending service to Mumbai, Delhi, London, and Paris earlier this month, industry analysts seized on the occurrence as a repudiation of the long haul, low-cost business model. AirAsia X, an offshoot of Southeast Asian behemoth AirAsia, operated 377 seat Airbus A330-300s to …

According to numerous reports at various travel sites, US carrier American Airlines will be ending flights between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), and Tokyo’s Narita International Airport, while simultaneously resuming flights between JFK and Tokyo’s other airport, commonly known as Haneda. Indeed, inventory on AA.com reflects these changes, as do other booking engines. Flights to Haneda will …

As we come to the close of January 2012, we feel that it is time to look back at the successful month enjoyed by both original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)from an aircraft orders perspective. Airbus Net Orders: 102 A320neo: 100 (Norwegian- 100)A330-200F: 2 (Etihad Airways-2) Airbus also firmed up orders from Latin American carriers Volaris and Avianca/TACA for 44 (30 neo, …

Late last week, San Francisco based Virgin America announced their latest destination, Philadelphia, which will be served from Los Angeles and San Francisco. Flights will begin in April with two daily flights from LA and one from San Francisco, and will increase to 3 and two daily flights respectively. Schedules for the new routes are as follow: (via airlineroute) Los …

Over the weekend, it broke that Middle Eastern behemoth Turkish Airlines was in negotiations to acquire a controlling stake in Poland’s national carrier, LOT Polish Airlines. Hamdi Topcu, Turkish chairman, said: “We are starting negotiations to buy LOT. It should be a win-win situation for both sides.” LOT operates a fleet of 56 aircraft to 92 destinations around the globe, …

After falling to an unprecedented pretax loss of $226 in the third quarter of 2011, Dallas based Southwest Airlines once again returned to net profitability, earning $152 million, or 20 cents per diluted share. Revenue grew 32% to $4.1 billion, while operating expenses grew 37% (with fuel and related expenses jumping 59) (All figures vs. Q4 2011. Southwest’s performance beat …

When new Indian civil aviation Minister Ajit Singh announced that the national government would soon begin the process of allowing 49% foreign direct investment (FDI) by international carriers into India’s airlines Tuesday, India’s flailing airline industry breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Following a 75 minute meeting with finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, Singh stated, “the question was to allow foreign …

On Tuesday, Southwest Airlines announced a series of changes to its interior, including the addition of 6 seats to their 737-700 aircraft and a reduction in seat pitch offset by a decrease in recline. The new cabin also features, “recyclable carpet, a brighter color-scheme, and a more durable, eco-friendly, and comfortable low-profile seat that weighs less than the current seat.” …

Seattle based Alaska Airlines has announced new service via Horizon Air for the summer of 2012. All flights mentioned below will operate on Horizon’s Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 equipment. They are adding “daily nonstop service from San Diego to Monterey and Santa Rosa, and twice-daily service to Fresno. Two daily flights between San Jose and Reno are also being added …

In contrast to the positive note I ended my US airline review for 2011 on, the Indian industry most certainly had a bad year in 2011. The shine is certainly off the fast growing Indian market, and the cautious optimism noted at the end of 2010 has turned back into fear. Airlines and airports have continued to invest in their …

Over the past week, a serious fight has erupted between India’s aviation regulator the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the airlines, with a number of serious charges being espoused by the DGCA. In a bluntly worded financial audit that Bangalore Aviation (as well as most of the internet) has acquired, the DGCA lists out several “safety” violations that India’s …

The air cargo industry is quite obviously different from the passenger airline industry. Beyond both offering services that mostly focus on transportation via air the two industries share little else. Let’s get into it. For passenger airlines, the exchange of services (and in some cases, goods) is pretty much entirely contained within the airport or the aircraft. Passenger airlines offer …

Recently, Cranky Flier author Brett Snyder has begun publishing a series of guest posts as he and his wife are expecting their first child this week. I wrote a guest post for him on Kingfisher Airlines, and you can see the results below. Link to the post Could there ever be an airline as bad as Air India, who Cranky …

When I tell people about my company, Cranky Concierge, I always explain that we specialize in air travel assistance. Want to guess what the usual reaction to that is? “What do I need that for?” Building a business that’s not something people even realize they might need can be a challenge, so I’m grateful to Vinay and Devesh for letting …

2011 has been a banner year for aviation technology, with such momentous events as the delivery of the first Boeing 787, and static assembly beginning on the Airbus A350. However, no new technology has been as influential as the Geared Turbo Fan (GTF) offered by Pratt & Whitney on its new PurePower PW1000G series of engines to be used on …