FACE TO FACE – Gerry Oh, Jet Airways Regional Vice President – South East Asia
Contributors are not employed, compensated or governed by TD, opinions and statements are from the contributor directly
1. How does Jet see the current environment for the aviation industry panning out?
It is common knowledge that the aviation industry worldwide has been greatly affected by soaring crude oil prices, however Jet Airways is a very established airline and we have gone through many ups and downs in our 15 years of experience. Within this situation, the industry consensus is that Asia Pacific will be better placed than other regional markets to work through this situation. Despite the current volatility, Asia Pacific is on-track to become the world’s largest aviation market in the next three years and players such as Jet Airways are enacting strategies to harness this regional growth.
2. Jet has shelved its international expansion plans for now. What measures are being taken to curb costs and run a tight ship?
Jet Airway’s long-term global expansion strategy remains intact and our expansion plans are on track. Following a period of unprecedented rapid growth for the airline, we have reached a natural plateau for the time being and we are now focused on consolidating the recent expansions in our international network. It is interesting to note that international operations accounted for 42% of operating revenue for the fourth quarter of FY2007/08, up from 23.7% in the corresponding quarter the previous year.
Jet Airways is looking to minimise wastage, reduce expenditure and improve efficiencies through improved aircraft utilisation and rostering, among others. Additionally, we are pursuing revenue growth through a better traffic mix and corporate travel. These measures are aimed at helping us through a difficult period.
3. Jet Lite is also cutting back on routes – what’s the future for JetLite?
Jet lite is an important arm of Jet Airways network in India. We are now in the progress of consolidating and integrating the two networks and fleets to increase our domestic network efficiencies in India.
Comments are closed.