[ksakotai]

Another tidbit...

Many many years ago when I was a young sales exec in BLR with one of the top IT companies I went to visit Col Gopinath of Deccan with a Revenue Optimization software for his airline. He sent me to his COO (forget his name) who was the former Deputy COO of Ryan Air.

The guy told me they took cost cutting to a new high (or low&#128512 when there was serious debate internally whether to charge passengers to use the loo. Don't know if it a tongue in cheek comment, but I foresee such a scenario. And RJ venture is apparantly modelled after Ryan Air !!

[ZenMaster]

Don't really understand why someone like RJ would want to do anything with the airline industry especially after seeing what a pandemic has done to it.
Even when things are fine, the slightest mismanagement or lapse in focus in the maintenance & operation can cause an airline to tumble.

The sucess of Indigo and Spicejet(though I believe Indigo is better) is not the norm but the exception in Indian Aviation.

It would have made better sense for him to build something up that focuses on Ground mobility like what Ola is doing now.

Even Space exploration looks like a less riskier investment compared to aviation. At least they'll have a lot of valuable patents as a result of all the R&D even if they fail to lift off the ground that the big boys in Space business would want.

[Sran]

Make Flying Great Again. I miss the glamour days of Kingfisher. Beautiful airhostesses and superb lounge with good food, drinks and amenities. So many points on my kingfisher card and easily redeemable for even better experience.

I hate flying in Airbus fleet of indigo and vistara. Even buses have better seats than those.

But it will be a LCA so at the very least he can do is not charge the stupid convenience fee/booking fee on the site. It is a headache to book flights on yatra, mmt or likes of those. Stop having dynamic fares on ever busy sectors like Pat-Del and for God sake at the very least provide bottled water, wet tissue. Stop making airhostesses pantry sellers like on trains. No cup noodles or cheap salad sandwich. Please bring some sanity to flying. It is now even worse than pune-belgaum volvo services 15 years back.

[airbus]

Are we going to get tickets again in super cheap rates? Previously I got Air Deccan's ₹1 + PSF ticket couple of times



Below explanation on Southwest Airlines was provided by an investment guru. It talks about why every single customer is important. Low cost airlines may not keep customer service as their top priority and maybe one of the reasons why many failed.

[quattroa4]

Is RJ making a Calendar also ? I am not at all interested in weather his Airline works or not , but there should be a calendar ( Like Kingfisher ) which should continue even whatever happens with the Airline.
I think if RJ wants a piece of glamour and glitz , he should directly go towards the calendar business rather then taking the long route of Airline .

[SnS_12]

Many airlines globally have had to borrow huge sums of money to stay afloat and cope with high daily cash burn rates. The industry collectively amassed more than $180 billion worth of debt in 2020, a figure equivalent to more than half of total annual revenues that year. Further, debt levels are still rising.

Repaying these loans for airlines is made even harder by worsening credit ratings and higher financing costs. Unlike the 2008 global financial crisis, which was purely economic and weakened spending power, COVID-19 has changed consumer behaviour and the airline sector. Business travel will take longer to recover, and experts feel leisure travel is what will hopefully revive the sector.

Whatever happens with this venture it will be a interesting learning exercise one way or the other.

[CarNerd]

After Kailasa, we now have Akasa The Govt should ask Rakesh Jhunjhunwala to surrender his Passport before they give approval

[quattroa4]

Originally Posted by CarNerd

After Kailasa, we now have Akasa The Govt should ask Rakesh Jhunjhunwala to surrender his Passport before they give approval

LOL, I hope they will have a direct flight to Kailasa with their passport .

[DigitalOne]

Akasa gets an NOC from Aviation Ministry, to start flying from next summer

Source: TOI

With Air India privatisation, introduction of Akasa, and impending restart of Jet (under new owners), major infrastructure upgrades - new airports in Mumbai, NCR, Goa and other cities, new terminal in Bangalore etc - this sure is an exciting phase for Indian aviation

[BoneCollector]

Akasa Air orders 72 Boeing 737 Max airplanes for their foray into the Indian skies.

Boeing

[RM Motorsports]

India’s New Low Cost Airline Akasa Air Unveils First Pictures Of Aircraft. From July, these white planes with orange and purple wings can be seen parked at the airports.

As per reports, Akasa Air is planning to start commercial operations in July 2022. By the end of March 2023, it plans to operate 18 planes on domestic routes in the metro, tier 1 and tier 2 cities.

[RM Motorsports]

AKASA AIR takes delivery of the first BOEING 737 MAX.

[RM Motorsports]

Akasa Air's VT-YAA finally lands Delhi Airport today morning.

[NPV]

A friend of mine had his first experience (or should we say "run-in") with Akasa

He booked tickets for his family online on the Akasa website as the price was lowest. Once done with seat selection etc, he enters debit card payment details and the spinner on the screen is just spinning away. He thinks the site is slow, but after a few minutes he is sure something is really wrong. Meanwhile, he receives confirmation from his bank for the payment made and even receives an email from Akasa that they received payment, but no details of the booking - PNR, passenger details, E-ticket missing!

He calls customer service and they start by asking for PNR which he doesn't have. After getting the details of his card and the name of passengers, he is told that the ticket is cancelled! He had to go over the entire sequence of events and after listening to his ordeal, he is assured that they will resolve it in a few hours. Next day he receives an email with a PNR number and a message saying E-ticket is attached..and the attachment is missing. Another follow up with customer service and he finally gets the E-ticket. He says he was expecting them to say they will initiate a refund and he can re-book the tickets

[KL42]

Got my Mother in Law booked for the return leg of Akasa's inaugural BLR-COK flight on 13 Aug 2022. Though I made my initial booking via MMT, the web check-in was done from their website without too much of a hassle. Rather I would say it was a smooth, easy process done fairly quickly.

Just hope Akasa gives a tough fight as without competition, Indigo will just steam roll other players.