Jet Airways will bring its low-cost airline Jet Konnect under the Jet brand. The company says this is to remove any confusion about the Jet brand, which it says stands for premium service.

Chairman Naresh Goyal told a press conference here this evening that the change will come into effect by the end of the year, after obtaining regulatory approval. “It is only a question of serving a meal and posting an additional crew member,” he said.

Accordingly, all Jet Airways aircraft will sport only the Jet brand and will have 12 seats in business class and 156 in the economy section.

“What changes is what the customer sees and he will see only one brand. Commitment to the network remains the same,” said Cramer Ball, Jet Airways’ CEO-designate.

The master brand will also reflect in the livery, staff uniforms, interiors, services, and frequent flyer programme across the Jet Airways group.

James Hogan, President and CEO, Etihad Airways, which has a 24 per cent stake in Jet, said that going forward, Jet’s India operations will be a stronger threat to other low-cost carriers.

Hogan said Jet had got its cost structure right. The problem was with the Indian company’s debt, which the two airlines are together working to reduce. In the first quarter, Jet said it had brought down its debt by 21 per cent.

Pares loss

Jet has pared its net loss for the first quarter ended June 30 to ₹258 crore as it managed to fly more passengers and improve its performance on all major operational parameters.

It had reported a loss of ₹348.5 crore in the corresponding year-ago quarter. Revenue went up by 12.8 per cent to ₹5,040 crore (₹4,469 crore).

In Q1, the total number of passengers who travelled with Jet Airways increased 4.3 per cent to 5.19 million, while passenger load factor increased to 80.2 per cent from 77.9 per cent. Also the airline’s results improved as none of its aircraft were grounded, unlike the same quarter of last year.

Jet, thanks to the partnership with Etihad, has renegotiated maintenance contracts, thereby resulting in savings of about ₹270 crore for the current year.

“We will be harmonising the general sales agents and are currently examining whether Etihad and Jet can represent each other in common markets to reduce costs of sales,” Goyal said.

Cost cutting

Hogan added: “We are now talking to Boeing, Airbus, GE and Rolls Royce as one entity.” One of the clauses that Etihad had included in a multi-billion dollar agreement that it signed with Boeing and Airbus recently was that the aircraft could be moved among equity partners.

The company had posted its highest-ever net loss of ₹2,154 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, because of higher operating expenditure and exceptional costs.

Jet Airways, which has not reported an annual profit since 2007, is betting on cost cuts and the launch of more international routes to return to profitability by 2017.

It will launch 12 new international flights by the end of the year to include cities such as Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok, with flights to Europe and China also on the anvil.

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