Low Cost Airlines
I wrote a few days ago, about the host of low cost airlines that are entering the Indian market.
http://www.ideamani.com/2005/06/praful-patel.html
This is exciting news for sure - However, when I started looking at some of the prices being offered (Rs. 1, Rs. 99 tickets), I started having some concerns ...
About safety ...
I do hope that the Ministry of Civil Aviation is putting some strond regulations around aircraft maintenance and safety. It would be tragic if this price undercutting were to lead airlines to cut corners in maintenance budgets - This could have disastrous consequences ... One crash is all it would take to destroy the low cost airline segment.
However, it is not necessarily true that low cost airlines are more unsafe - Its only a question of prioritization of resources - Instead of having a bunch of airhostesses and meal service, I would prefer that these airlines hire more mechanics !
http://www.ideamani.com/2005/06/praful-patel.html
This is exciting news for sure - However, when I started looking at some of the prices being offered (Rs. 1, Rs. 99 tickets), I started having some concerns ...
About safety ...
I do hope that the Ministry of Civil Aviation is putting some strond regulations around aircraft maintenance and safety. It would be tragic if this price undercutting were to lead airlines to cut corners in maintenance budgets - This could have disastrous consequences ... One crash is all it would take to destroy the low cost airline segment.
However, it is not necessarily true that low cost airlines are more unsafe - Its only a question of prioritization of resources - Instead of having a bunch of airhostesses and meal service, I would prefer that these airlines hire more mechanics !
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