How have Indians benefited as a result of deregulation of your industry?
It is no more a luxury. You don't have to wait to get a seat on any domestic flight. You can decide and just take a flight as there are so many flights to most destinations within the country.
No economy can grow without proper air links. You are now the integral part of the economy.
Jet Airways has created the best model in India. It connects the smallest towns in India. Because of our frequency, services, standards, we are the first choice for anybody traveling in India and out of India.
We carried 12 million passengers during 2006-07. Next year this number will increase to 14 million. We are profitable year after year.
Our emphasis is on service. Nothing is more important than service. So we give a hot 3-course meal to passengers even on the short segment of Delhi to Mumbai. We serve hot meals during short Mumbai to Goa flights. We have 90 percent on-time performance.
Can you reflect on 1967 when you first started working and compare with where you have reached today?
I still have a long way to go and that will happen with God's blessings. I believe that one day the whole world will say that India has created the world's best airline. I haven't reached that stage yet.
Image: A scene from the inaugural Jet service from London to Ahmedabad, April 3, 2007. Photograph: Sam Panthaky/AFP/Getty Images
Also read: Aviation: time to fly high
Advertisement
