INDIAN AIRLINES

In 1953, a new dream took shape - to air link the vast South Asian subcontinent by a single, modern, and efficient airline. The Airline was Indian Airlines. Today, Indian Airlines, together with its fully owned subsidiary Alliance Air, is one of the largest regional airline systems in Asia with a fleet of 62 aircraft, 4 wide bodied Airbus A300s, 41 Fly-by-wire Airbus A320s, 11 Boeing 737s, 2 Dornier D-228 aircraft and 4 ATR-42.

Indian Airline's has been setting the standards for civil aviation in India since its inception in 1953. It has many firsts to its credit, including introduction of the wide-bodied A300 aircraft on the domestic network, the fly-by-wire A320, Domestic Shuttle Service and Walk-in Flights. Its unique orange and white logo emblazoned on the tails of all its aircraft is perhaps the most widely recognised Indian brand symbol that has over the years become synonymous with service, efficiency and reliability.

The airlines network spans from Kuwait in the west to Singapore in the East and covers 75 destinations - 59 within India and 16 abroad. The Indian Airlines international network covers Kuwait, Oman, UAE, Qatar and Bahrain in West Asia, Thailand, Singapore, Yangon and Malaysia in South East Asia and Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Maldives in the South Asian Sub-Continent.

The airline's aircraft maintenance facilities are of the highest international standards. Indian Airlines has developed state-of-the art facilities for all aspects of maintenance, including engine overhaul. These facilities are used not only by Indian Airlines but also by other airlines from time to time. Our training facilities for Pilots are integrated at Hyderabad where Commanders and Captains are trained in all types of aircraft in the Indian Airlines fleet. State-of-the-art full flight simulators are available for A300, A320 and B737. Several international airlines also avail of these training facilities. Indian Airlines' continuous technology upgradation, also extends to other areas such as Reservations, Passenger Handling Systems and Customer Service.

Indian Airlines is presently fully owned by the Government of India and has a total staff strength of around 19600 employees. Its annual turn-over, together with that of its subsidiary Alliance Air, is well over Rs.4000 crores (around US$ 1 billion). Indian Airlines flight operations centre around its four main hubs- the main metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. Together with its subsidiary Alliance Air, Indian Airlines carries a total of over 7.5 million passengers annually.

JET AIRWAYS

''We don't fly aircraft, we fly people' is the motto of this private owned airline. They have chosen the yellow rose as their motif as it symbolizes friendship, warmth and caring. Jet Airways was set up with the objective of providing high quality and reliable air travel in India. Since a very high percentage of the Indian domestic air traffic comprised of business travelers, their focus from the very beginning was to emerge as the "Businessman's Preferred Airline". This led to a product and service design that aimed at world class norms in professional service and efficiency, beginning with the choice of aircraft itself.

Their operations commenced with a fleet of four Modern Generation Boeing 737-300 aircraft. These aircraft were the first to fly the Indian skies. For training and conversion of their pilots and engineers, they utilized the training facilities of Ansett (Australia). For world class norms in service, they were aided by Speedwing (a British Airways subsidiary) to conduct a programme on Customer Service Excellence for staff across functions at all levels. To ensure accurate and efficient reservation systems, they tied up with and are co-hosted with SABRE - one of the world's best reservations systems.

Jet Airways' current fleet consists of 33 B737 new and next generation aircraft and 8 modern turbo-prop ATR72-500 aircraft. CFM 56 engines power all the Boeing aircraft while the ATR aircraft are powered by Pratt and Whitney 127 engines. The average age of the fleet is 3 years making Jet Airways the operator of the youngest aircraft fleet in Asia.

Jet Airways operates over 250 flights daily to 42 destinations across the country. Jet Airways is one of the few airlines in the world to receive the ISO 9001 certification for its in-flight services. We pride ourselves on having an unbeatable record of on-time flights and providing world-class frequent flyer benefits to our customers, through our alliances with British Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Northwest Airlines.

It is the first airline in India to receive the World Travel Market Global Award, the world's premier global travel event in London. It has also won the H&FS Domestic Airline of the Year Award four times, with the latest award in 2001. And Citibank Diners Club has chosen it as India's best domestic airline for our excellence in service.

At Jet Airways, there is equal emphasis on both commercial success and social responsibility. From 1997, we have raised a considerable amount of money for 'Save the Children India', an NGO working for underprivileged children. We also extended our hand to significantly help in the relief operations at Bhuj. The 'Flight of Fantasy' organized every year gives underprivileged children a chance to experience the joy of flying. Jet Airways recently sponsored a painting competition for children from Mobile Crèches, organised by CRY.

AIR SAHARA

Air Sahara began operations in December 1993 following the Indian government's decision to open the skies to the private sector. It operated with a fleet of only two Boeing 737-200s. Today, its fleet includes 12 new generation B737 and a fleet of 7 Canadair Regional Jets (CRJ200). The fleet also includes four highly advanced Helicopters (Dauphin and Ecureuil) which provide efficient charter services.

Offering 119 flights with 11800 seats on a daily basis, Air Sahara flies to various destinations in India, which include important cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai and others. The airline has recently added Colombo, Srinagar, Coimbatore, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Gorakhpur, Allahabad, Bhubaneswar, Ranchi and Kochi to its route network. Air Sahara also operates flights to Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Varanasi, Patna and Goa. Interline agreements with almost 87 international airlines and 21 General Sales Agents spread all over the world makes it easy for a passenger to book a seat and obtain a ticket from any part of the world.

The people at Sahara believe in delivering the best to all their customers. It is this belief that is reflected in all their services. They are among the first to offer the Tele check-in facility to all their passengers. To ensure smooth baggage handling, exclusive valet service is provided at all Sahara Airlines airport counters. Their In-flight services are built around total customer care and customer satisfaction. Increased leg space to ensure greater legroom on both Sahara Royal and Sahara Special classes provide total seating comfort on-board. Sahara Royal passengers can also avail the pleasures of their In-flight Reading Library. Sahara Special passengers are also provided with a personalized reading kit, which includes at least three major dailies.

Many services such as In-flight entertainment and Wings 'n' Wheels coach service were launched and today offer tremendous value adds to our esteemed passengers. Exclusive business lounges are being operated at departure halls at airports in a number of cities, providing for business and refreshment services. Recognising the fact that customer satisfaction is the ultimate aim of the airline, Air Sahara launched its branded customer services programme 'Always More For You'.

Air Sahara has taken the lead in introducing novel initiatives such as Steal-a-seat flexi fare options, Sixer/Super Sixer and Square Drive/Super Four. The Sixer initiative recently won the 'The Pacific Asia Travel Association' (PATA) award for the year 2003, at Bali, Indonesia. Air Sahara's frequent flyer programme called Cosmos has also become a great hit with the passengers as it offers faster accruals; lower redemption bars and requires no minimum balance for redemption. Very simply put, it is India's fastest way to fly free.

In its short history of nine years Air Sahara has been recognised for its world class service and hospitality a number of times. It has won eight awards, which they consider an acknowledgement of their relentless effort to provide the best to their passengers.