Is SkyTeam Air India’s Rebound After Being Dumped?
After a three-and-a-half year serious, but not committed, relationship Air India was left at the alter by Star Alliance on the 1st of August 2011. Now as Air India tries to hold its chin up and assure everyone that they are OK, SkyTeam has reportedly stepped into try and swoop the airline off its feet.
Earlier this week SkyTeam’s Managing Director, Michael Wisbrun, and other key figures from the global airline alliance, met with Nasim Zaidi, India’s Civil Aviation Secretary, to discuss bringing Air India into SkyTeam.
Air India is eager to join an airline alliance to expand its horizons and increase its revenue by an estimated 10%-to-15%. The airlines claims to be ready to join SkyTeam should the fit be mutually beneficial, citing its preparation for joining Star Alliance has left the airline ready to with either SkyTeam or OneWorld, Star Alliance’s two rival alliances.
As much as Air India has its eye on entering into another global airline alliance, the airline appears to be flirting with both SkyTeam and OneWorld while quietly letting it be known they are hoping to restart its conversations with Star Alliance.
Air India has to make a decision, can they commit to SkyTeam, if SkyTeam decides they’re a good match or is SkyTeam merely a rebound in an attempt to win back Star Alliance?
I guess right now we need to watch and see, maybe Air India isn’t even sure what Air India wants right now.
Happy Flying!
What happened to the old layout? The other one was much more well spaced, attractive, and easier to read. Please talk to the people in charge about fixing it.
Air India is not ready for any alliance. The requirements for entry into an alliance are similar and Air India is not ready. I very much doubt that Air India will dump its long time close relationship with Lufthansa so easily.
Air India needs a major restructuring before it can join any alliance. For the short term it is best to code share with Lufthansa and get the traffic feed through that channel
While AI is not ready for an alliance, AI wants to be in an alliance ‘desperately’. Its brand equity has taken a beating in India, and the other carriers are fast occupying all the space available on the top of marketshare tables. Indigo, Jet Airways, Kingfisher etc. The hope they have is to be selling seats to unsuspecting pax on a GDS platform outside the country and get revenues for that! Though I can say, it’ll work once, twice, but not every time 😉