I recently came across an article by noted Indian journalist T.N. Ninan, titled “Do-gooder economics and the Lokpal“. It got me thinking; by most economic logic, national carrier Air India should have been wound up ages ago. The carrier has annual losses crossing $1.4 billion (Rs.7,000 Crore) and accumulated debt now approaching $10 billion. Now, the government wants to inject …

In this podcast Addison, Vinay and I discuss the events that caused oneworld to suspend Kingfisher Airline’s entry in to the alliance. As an update, the higher amount of deposit demanded by the IATA Clearing House (ICH) is $8 million i.e. a total of $11.5 million. Kingfisher is still paying in this money to ICH, but we understand that as …

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 …

With just one week to go, Kingfisher Airline’s entry in to oneworld has been put on “indefinite hold”. An official statement released a few minutes ago, says India’s Kingfisher Airlines and oneworld® today agreed to put the airline’s entry into the alliance on hold to give it time to strengthen its financial position. Quoting oneworld CEO Bruce Ashby “These are …

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 …

SouthEast Asian low cost carrier AirAsia taken added the 100th Airbus A320 narrowbody aircraft to its fleet. The aircraft, registration 9M-AQH has been painted with a special dragon livery in celebration of the current Chinese Year of the Dragon, which is also that of AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes, and coincidentally myself. A team of 20 painters used 600 litres of …

German carrier, airberlin will become a full member of the oneworld® alliance with effect from Tuesday 20 March 2012. Austrian airline NIKI, also a member of the airberlin group, will join oneworld at the same time as an affiliate member. airberlin received its green light to board oneworld after successfully completing a thorough review of its readiness conducted by British …

Three human shaped RC planes were flown around New York City by aero enthusiasts to create the illusion of people flying. It is truly worth spending the two and half minutes to watch. If you like the music, the track is “Unstoppable 2” by Tom Quick which you can get here.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported that full year 2011 passenger demand rose 5.9% compared to 2010, in line with long-term growth trends. In contrast, cargo markets contracted by 0.7% for the year. Growth in demand lagged behind capacity increases at 6.3% for passenger and 4.1% for cargo putting downward pressure on load factors and fares. The average passenger …

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 …