Scramble!

As things stand, Kingfisher has an arrangement with Indian to share passengers in case of flight disruptions. 8216;8216;We would always welcome any proposal of increasing co-operation between us and Indian,8217;8217; said Mallya, when asked about the possibility. Given Indian8217;s parentage, such a move would take time, but reports indicate the airline has woken up to the challenge.

Analyst say Kingfisher and Indian are going to be the worst affected by the post-deal Jet and Mallya is willing to do anything to offset problems for his nine-month-old airline. Jet will now account for nearly 85 per cent of the flights in the lucrative Delhi-Mumbai route that accounts for nearly 50 per cent of total domestic traffic. Jet8217;s new price-setting power will cause problems for other airlines.

ALLIANCES GALORE?

Mallya had also recently mooted the idea of airlines 8212; including IndiGo, GoAir and Air Deccan 8212; having an interlining alliance and using a common platform to reduce operating cost by sharing infrastructure. Incidentally, all these airlines have Airbus fleets.

8216;8216;We four airlines met and discussed the possibility of forming some sort of alliance. But it is not called as any forum or union or something8230;It is a kind of code-sharing that how we can utilise the manpower, the infrastructure and cut the cost,8217;8217; he said recently.

However, airlines like Air Deccan are not very enthusiastic about this alliance. 8216;8216;Mallya wanted to form a Low-Cost Association to take on the Jet-Air Sahara combine. I, however, am not in favour of forming a clique which I believe is not in the interest of the country. Therefore, I have decided not to be a part of this proposed alliance,8217;8217; Air Deccan8217;s managing director Capt G R Gopinath said.

Gopinath, as of now, is throwing his weight behind Jet and is in talks with the airline to explore an operational tie-up 8212; an interline arrangement and sharing of infrastructure. 8216;8216;We are still in discussions with Jet for the alliance which will be in the areas of functionality and marketing. For example, we could bundle Air Deccan tickets with Jet Airways and feed our passengers to Jet8217;s international flights and vice versa,8217;8217; he said.

Even though Gopinath claims that the alliance is aimed at providing a seamless marketing and travel interface to passengers, analysts beg to differ. 8216;8216;Gopinath understands that in the new scenario competing with Jet on the metro routes is difficult. He is trying to take advantage of his own strength in the non-metro routes where Jet is not that strong. This arrangement will help him to maintain his share,8217;8217; says Edelweiss Capital8217;s aviation analyst Nikhil Garg.

And what about the others? When contacted, GoAir8217;s Jeh Wadia says, 8216;8216;The meeting was just meant to understand as to how we could channelise our voices and avoid bickering between us. We are not planning to create a LCC versus Jet confrontation. We just want to take up issues which will improve the Indian aviation sector, like fair allocation of aviation infrastructure in the country.8217;8217;

Meanwhile, the only airline which has kept out of this alliance talk is the Delhi-based Spicejet. The airline8217;s CEO Siddhant Sharma says it is not part of any low-cost airlines8217; association.

8216;8216;I believe that this acquisition is good for the aviation sector as it will lead to route optimisation and rationalisation. All I can say is that this acquisition has put Air Sahara8217;s passenger pie up for grabs and we are taking efforts to take benefit from this.8217;8217;

And then there are some that feel this consolidation has come too early for a developing aviation market. Either way, suddenly India8217;s airlines will have to grow up rather quickly.