Merger Talk denial by GoAir

GoAir denies merger talks with its largest rival in Indian aviation i.e. Spice jet. GoAir chief executive officer says that, they are not looking for any kind of merger with Spicejet. This all was told to reporters during a press conference on 25th March’09 in New Delhi. The merger has been denied by saying it as one of the rumors. The officer also said that Jet Airways and Kingfisher airlines too had a merger as a part of cost cutting by becoming code sharing partners, sharing crew and managing fuel so, there can be a consolidation with other airlines as a part of cost cutting.

The officer says that GoAir is planning to add on fleets, taking it to 20 by 2012 from current six. Though merger is good for airlines to come out of any kind of losses but still making decisions and implementing them is a task in itself. In the last the officer adds on that, an intelligent investor is always an opportunity but this all depends on conditions as well.

Pilot Drain is likely to be face by Indian carriers

West Asian Rivals are planning to hunt for pilots in India. Loss of about 100 pilots to Qatar Airways has been assumed, which is on an expansion no matter there is an economic downturn. Other West Asian carriers such as Emirates Airlines, Air Arabia and many more have been regularly hiring pilots in India, with a pay increase of about 30%. Jet Airways is likely to be affected the most, with at least 40 of its senior pilots who are going to leave, as told by two senior Jet executives.

The domestic airlines were negotiating with pilots for reducing their salaries by 25% because of economic crisis. Due to which the Indian carriers faced a loss of $2 billion last year and at this point of time a job offer is really something the pilots waiting for. A person close to the development and involved in the recruitment process said these West Asian carriers have approached pilots with state-run National Aviation Co. of India Ltd that runs Air India. “West Asian carriers are mainly eyeing Indian talent and pilots from Singapore Airlines,” he said.