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During the period April to June 2008, Jet Airways continued its international route network expansion, became India’s first airline to obtain approval to operate a type rating training school, hosted an aviation safety programme and picked up a slew of awards.
Four more international destinations
Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Shanghai and San Francisco were added to Jet Airways’ international route network, bringing the number of cities served outside of India to 18. The addition of Mumbai-Hong Kong services on 14 April and the launch of services from Mumbai to San Francisco via Shanghai exactly two months later are both strategically-important developments. The growing importance of trade and commerce between India and China and the strong presence of both the Chinese and Indian communities in San Francisco area promises substantial business and leisure traffic between these cities.
Steps up cooperation with other carriers
Jet Airways and Japan’s ANA announced a code-sharing partnership which took off with Jet Airways placing its 9W flight code on ANA’s daily business jet flights between Mumbai and Tokyo’s Narita. Under the arrangement, the two airlines will coordinate flight schedules and luggage handling, enabling more convenient passenger transfers to connecting flights.
Jet Airways and ANA have also agreed on a reciprocal frequent flyer partnership, which will allow members of Jet Airways’ JetPrivilege programme to accrue and redeem miles on ANA-operated flights, and ANA’s Mileage Club members to enjoy the same benefits when travelling on Jet Airways. A similar reciprocal partnership has been forged with Cathay Pacific and its frequent flyer programme, Asia Miles.
Jet Airways to conduct type rating training in-house
India’s first flight operations type rating training school for pilots has commenced operations in Mumbai. Jet Airways has obtained approval from India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to conduct the endorsement courses and related examinations in-house under DGCA supervision. This will expedite pilot training and enable Jet Airways to induct pilots in smaller batches at regular intervals, and thereby optimise the usage of simulators and training facilities.
Type rating training is attended by qualified professional pilots and endorses them for the type of airplane the airline requires them to fly. The Jet Airways Training School will conduct endorsement training for Boeing B737, B777 and Airbus A330 aircraft, as well as refresher and recurrent training for the same aircraft types.
Promoting air safety
Jet Airways and the International Society of Air Safety Investigators jointly hosted an aviation safety programme from 15-18 April in Mumbai. Commenting on Jet Airways’ involvement in the event, the airline’s CEO, Mr. Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, said, “Jet Airways, as one of the world’s fastest growing airlines, is committed to consistently meeting and exceeding the most stringent national and international safety requirements. Driven by a firm belief in its duty to provide passengers with excellence in safety and service, the airline has always striven, and will continue to strive, to adopt industry-best safety practices.”
E-commerce initiatives
Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok are among the cities that now enjoy Jet Airways’ web check-in facility, allowing passengers to check in and print boarding passes via the internet. Jet Airways’ passengers must report at the check-in area for document verification and to check-in baggage not later than 75 minutes prior to the departure of their respective flights.
The airline has become the first Indian carrier to implement bar-coded boarding passes that can be automatically scanned during the boarding process, enabling multiple flights to be handled at a single gate. Having successfully introduced BCBP in Singapore, the airline plans to introduce the same at Hyderabad and Brussels in the near future.
Slew of awards for Jet Airways
In April, Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal was presented with the prestigious “Man of the Year” award by the Belgian Aviation Press Club, an influential group of Belgian aviation journalists. In presenting the award, Club Chairwoman Cathy Buyck congratulated Mr Goyal on Jet Airways’ successful start at Brussels Airport. “By constructing an international hub at our national airport, he has helped to put it once again on the map internationally,” she said.
Also in April, Jet Airways’ JetPrivilege frequent flyer programme, emerged with top honours in no less than seven categories at the 20th Annual Freddie Awards, held in Phoenix, USA. The highly coveted awards included Program of the Year, Best Customer Service and Best Elite Level.
In May, Jet Airways picked up the “Best Cargo Airline of Central Asia” award at the prestigious Cargo Airline of the Year Awards in London. The winners of these awards are determined by a poll of readers of Air Cargo News, the world’s best-read air cargo newspaper.
On 17 June 2008 Jet Airways was rated second out of 71 airlines for excellence and quality of its service and in-flight experience in the ‘Airline of the Year Category’ at the second Annual Which? awards ceremony, based on ratings provided by over 30,000 mainly UK based readers.
Last but not least, the airline was honoured at the annual Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) awards for the growth of its passenger and cargo carriage through Changi Airport. Jet Airways received awards for being one of the top five airlines by annual growth in passenger carriage cargo carriage, respectively. The awards were contested by 78 airlines.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
