Aero-Dhaba

 

 

Dear Patrons,

Welcome to the Aero Dhaba, a unique culinary experience developed for travelers (and accompanying friends and family).

You may have heard of 'Dhabas' on highways all across India. Aero- dhabas is the first chain of dhabas established at the Airport premises. Had regulation permitted, we would have liked to be right besides the runway. However, such liberties sadly not permitted even in our democratic country, you can find us right outside the terminal.

Note that I say, it is a chain- We are so confident of the success of our concept that we have simultaneously opened shop at Nagpur (our flagship restaurant), Kanpur (very popular) and Ahmadabad. We also have a special branch at Mumbai, mainly for export of frozen meat (processed at world's largest slum based Enterprise Dharavi (another unique concept) to Europe. This is self loaded live mostly in cargo holds and arrives frozen ready.   

Menu Card:  

Note to our customers:

-         Due to the nature of our butchery, all our meat is 'Zatka'; No Halal meat available. We regret this inconvenience, but it is more than made up for in the freshness of meat we serve

-         We are very proud of our culinary creations. The name of the dish is accompanied by a short history/background on how each dish is created and garnished.

 

A.    Nagpuri ghost ka keema

This is an extremely popular dish, available almost on a daily basis at our Nagpur branch. Wild boars, specially trained by our experienced ATC staff, cross the runway just as the aircrafts are landing. These 'Jehadi' wild boars, as our staff likes to classify them, normally aim for the front landing gears to sacrifice themselves. As soon as the aircraft passes over safely (god is great, we have never had any crash), our staff scoots to the runway with special equipment to scrap the meat off the runway. (You may recall this equipment was donated to us to scrap the tire rubber marks off the runway).  We challenge our patrons to find such a unique dish, even in famous game meat restaurants of Africa. Our German guests love it.   

Self garnished with smell of freshly burned rubber from imported Dunlop aircraft tyres, you will love it.

B.     Raan-e-Kanpuri

Our take on Raan-e-Sikandari, the famous dish you may have seen on some other menus. Now sample, a version you are unlikely to forget soon- Prepared from jungle fresh cuts of wild Neel Gai that roam our premises, it is unlikely to disappoint you. Note that the entire Raan is served as a single large portion for a family meal, because the Airport is served only by smaller ATR make of aircrafts that maim the animal, without causing any damage to the main edible portion.

C.     Kebab-Kukkura ke (KKK in short)

An extremely popular dish amongst our visiting patrons from Korea, China and Vietnam, this is a seasonal creation from street dog meat. We must clarify that unlike on the roads of major Indian cities; our dog meat is processed in extremely hygienic runways, swept clear of 'FOD' every 6-8 hours.  

D.    Rodent –do-pahiya ( aero dhaba's take on chicken-do-pyaza)

Not to be mistaken with the do-pahiya as in the 2-wheeler, this refers to the double bogie of the rear landing gear. So called because assorted field rodents that are used for this dish, have a special preference for the rear landing gear when making the extreme sacrifice. This delectable dish finds particular favor in Eastern UP and Bihar.

 

E.     Assorted Fowl from our Aviary

What can be said about this- it is the finest in culinary history of Indian Aviation with a long tradition. Every Airport offers a fine variety and selection in every possible season. Even visiting migratory fowl are not spared. Notably, this is offered to the customers taste in 2 different preparations- A- la- flambé or just plane-hit.  The a-la flambé preparation is obviously garnished with A1 Aviation turbine fuel as the bird in question passes through the engine. Please note that this an extremely difficult dish to prepare, with considerable skill required for the flambé version. Aviation fuel is highly inflammable and roasting the tender bird meat is a delicate art that requires constant practice.

Note to our customers: Since the dish is obviously garnished with ATF, we cannot guarantee the price. Price is subject to change without notice. Please check with your waiter before ordering it.

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Author's note: Grotesque as this article may read, it is intended this way as a protest against lack of basic Aviation safety at our Airports that is shameful. Aside from being ' the killing fields' for so many animals, that in itself is cruel and worthy of being taken up as a cause.

 

Invictus

 

 

Anyone can start a revolution. It takes greatness to stop one.  

"…..I'm thinking about how you spend 30 years in a tiny cell, but come out ready to forgive the people who put you there…."

-           From the movie Invictus

Oct 02, 1992: The only cinema hall at Mbabane, the pretty hill capital of Swaziland, a country of less than 1 million people, played Richard Attenborough's GANDHI the whole day, all 4 shows.  It didn't quite made sense to a teenager, why Gandhi should be an important subject in a nation 8500 miles away from India. A vast ocean separated the 2 continents of Africa and India, and my passport read – 'not valid for entry into South Africa', but there was an unexplained link between the destinies of these nations.

Later that evening, my father had invited all his office mates for an evening together at a local Pizza restaurant. It was bitterly cold outside, so diners were all huddled together around a large rectangular table that hosted our entire group. There were other diners on the single corner tables. The evening discussions were centered on the ongoing Barcelona Olympics and the medal tally. Invariably, the discussions moved to how South Africa- allowed back into the games for the first time since the Apartheid era, was performing. I seem to remember that I said something to the effect that South Africa's performance was disappointing and even Kenya were doing better in the medal tally.

"…But it is still better than India.. at least we are assured of a medal.."

 I heard a very sharp retort coming from behind me. Completely shocked from someone unexpectedly interrupting our conversation, I looked back to see a straight-faced white man staring at me and from what it seemed like, very eager to take the debate further. My father's Swazi colleague signaled to me to ignore the man and we all got back to concentrating on the pizza as if nothing had happened. Again, I did not quite understand, what made the white man take such grave offence.

A few weeks later, I was strolling down the local Swaziland mall, wearing a black color t-shirt with a large red color Nazi Swastika on it. Sold on Bangalore street corners, Hitler and Nazi symbols, while poorly understood, were sure to add to a teenager's cool quotient ratings. As I crossed the street corner, I saw a large black man, presumably Zulu, twice my height and width, coming towards me. He was looking straight at me and as he came closer and closer, I could sense, that we were not just crossing each other on the street, instead he was coming at me. No evasive action was possible, and before I knew, I sensed being picked up into the air with large blood-shot eyes in my face. The man could perhaps sense my fear because he said nothing and put me back down on the ground. I was shivering by now. He then pointed to the red sign on my t-shirt telling me if I were smart, I would not wear that t-shirt again and that he was telling me this for my own good.  Completely hysterical and confused I ran back home and narrated the incident to my mother, who called my father at office. It was only later, that we learnt that AWB, the right wing, heavily armed and very often militant, Afrikaners Party used a version of Swastika as their symbol.

The early 90's were extraordinary times in South Africa and as a teenager one couldn't have learnt there significance until much later.

 12 June, 1998: The blue red and white Filipino flag with a golden sun slowly went up the pole as tears filled the eyes of my office colleagues who watched the ceremony to commemorate 100 years of freedom. The birth of a free nation is always a solemn moment and its celebration even more so. I stood witness too as the Filipino national anthem played. At my graduate school, our dean quoted Gandhi, and related the Filipino freedom struggle to his thoughts. While the Filipino Freedom struggle is replete with violence, Gandhi's thoughts, he said, were relevant to them. While no longer a teenager, one wondered why nations that won their freedom through an armed struggle still regarded Gandhi's thought as central to their manifestos.

12 December, 2009:   I attended a special screening of Invictus, a movie that describes true events before and during the South Africa of 1995. Apartheid is long since dead, at least in the law, if not completely in the spirit just yet, for vestiges of an evil, once created, die slow and even in dying leave behind relics that threaten to manifest themselves all over again in newer forms.

In South Africa of today for instance, it appears that, Indian, (or any other community) is not a race nor a nationality, not even a mistaken identity christened by an explorer. It is a category, for all people must be categorized for their rights to be determined and apportioned. One morning, a 5 year old, my son, posed to me a question as to whether he is Indian. Isn't it odd for a toddler to be that aware of his category at such a young age?  

In their naivety governments, not just here in South Africa, still believe they can somehow go back in time and reverse the excesses of the past. And how? By doing exactly that, what was deemed unfair and unjust even back then, except, this time to a different category of people.  It is an excellent example of how in trying to correct the past, we can't embrace the future.

The laws of physics govern that every action must have an equal reaction; that a pendulum, once swung to an extreme, must swing back to the other, opposite extreme. Those are irrefutable laws of our physical world.

It is exactly in this context that Gandhi's thoughts but what is even more so- Mandela's actions, which came much later in time, define true leadership. Almost anyone can start a revolution when the conditions are right. Make a few inflammatory speeches, cobble together a band of followers and if a cause is deemed worthy, people will sacrifice themselves. Infact, you can buy ready, custom made revolutions off the shelf today with help from some big brother nations. 

Both Mandela and Gandhi, however, managed to STOP a revolution. That is, stopped a revolution going the wrong way. Gandhi stopped Civil disobedience movement when it turned violent. Mandela stopped his people from seeking revenge when Apartheid was demolished. He taught them reconciliation and forgiveness. Both stopped the pendulum midway, refusing to be governed by Newtonian laws. They refused to be subdued by popular sentiments of their own people, instead showing them the righteous path. That takes a lot of courage. They knew it would meet resistant from their own, most loyal supporters but will eventually result in the greater good.

Very few men have achieved this.  

 

The Flying train

 

 

It is just past midnight. After tossing and turning into your bed for an hour (a result of double dose helpings of the extra rich butter chicken that you have had for dinner washed down with Johnnie Walker black), you are just about to enter into the deep slumber when your blackberry (with overused faded keys due to constant SMS's that you send while sitting on the cold toilet seat, lulling yourself to believe that you make the most productive use of your time) starts to ring its irritating ring. You make a mental note to move to the I-phone 4 as soon as the new aircraft deal is sealed.

As you struggle to open your eyelids, sneaking one look at the phone and the other at your wife to check if she has been disturbed, 'Leahy' it announces, is the caller. He is your affable big boss and he has the license to kill,….er… I mean… to call you at any (or all) of the 24 hours in a day. It's minus degrees, but you rush to the balcony, and fake the adrenaline rush into your voice, managing to produce a crisp, enthusiastic greeting masking any signs of yawning. Leahy's voice is merry, dancing with jubilance. It may be your midnight but Leahy is in a mood to wax eloquent about his latest deal with XX airline while the cold numbs your feet. 45 minutes later, somewhere between him going on about his exploits, and you being in a dilemma about letting the wind out loudly (or not, lest the phone's microphone catch it), he suddenly changes the topic – the call is about your bonus. You are being given the India sales territory. You are about to let out a joyful shriek, thinking about moneybags you will bring home, when he drops the big dampener- no bonus on narrow bodies, until you sell A380's. You can't hold anymore, letting out the loud one, just at this very moment. But if any A380's were sold, it would seemingly be worth its weight in gold, the boss elaborates helpfully.  

2 years later, you have tried every trick in a salesman book- arranging champagne and caviar parties, organizing aspiring Bollywood starlets for important people, obtaining secret lists of Swiss bank account holders, sponsoring MBA courses for the half dozen progenies (some unofficially so, born out of wedlock) of the prospective promoters but to no avail! You have even flirted with the idea of financing the coup in the small island nation that could change a few geo-political calculations, pleasing the powers that be. Success is still elusive. Then, as a blessing from god, you overhear your office peon talk about Mamta didi and The Duronto Express and unexpectedly, an idea strikes. What if you were to tell Leahy that Mumbai Airport capacity crisis can be turned into an opportunity? You are already visualizing the first slide of the slick PowerPoint you are going to show Leahy with the Chinese character Wei-Ji splashed over it in red that spells crisis one way but reads opportunity in reverse and just as the opportunity part of the character is displayed on screen, the slide will turn green (indicating greenbacks). Terrific, you think, congratulating yourself. Leahy would be sold on this. This year you are surely buying that Ferrari for your recent Lebanese interest you met at a Dubai bar. You jot down your thoughts and immediately decide to call Leahy on the phone. This is how the conversation goes:

Leahy (nasal American twang) - What have you got for me, son?

You- Well, I am sure of selling some A380's if we position it …er...um...as The Doronto Express. I mean, as a flying train that can carry 853 people in one class configuration mainly between Mumbai-Delhi. A train carries that many people, imagine the impact on per seat price, Leahy!

Leahy- Go to sleep son. I told you to get off Marijuana, didn't I?

You- Please let me explain Leahy. Look Mumbai Airport is bursting at seams. It can't handle any new movement, even though traffic continues to grow. The average boarded figure continues to rise, which means wide-bodies have to be used on domestic sectors sooner or later.  

Leahy- There are a lot of wide bodies between A320 and the A380, now don't waste my time. A380's are optimized to fly long hauls. Are you even aware that our biggest customer has asked us for a higher gross weight variant of A380 so they can offer longer flights to the US West Coast?

You: Yes, I know. But I am proposing using the aircraft at the other, opposite end of the spectrum. After all, Japanese carriers did use high capacity 744-SR to service similar high demand domestic routes, don't they? Even China Southern has decided to test the A380 service between Beijing and Shanghai. Besides, we anyway offer a 1 class 853 seat configuration to Air Austral. All we need to do is to customize the maintenance program for short hauls, to take care of the increased engine cycles. We will need certification for it, but that's small change.     

Leahy (somewhat less doubtful): hmm…The Indians can't even board an A320 in an organized fashion, and you want to compare them to the Japanese. And its not just the maintenance plan. We will have to work on a full variant customized for short hauls – with reduced fuel capacity, recalibrated lower power engines and some other changes such as the landing gears to take the strain of increased landings. Anyway, what figures are we talking about?

You- The Indians can change, Leahy. Really, take a look at Delhi Metro and how even the Delhites have shown discipline in boarding it. Plus we will have Airport bosses salivating just at the mention of A380's doing multiple landings every day.   

Leahy- Figures son, I want figures!

You- Sure, I think we will manage to grow the market 20% every year for the next 10-15 years based on capacity increase multiple between the A320 and the A380. There is no constraint on demand in India except price. Price, is the strategic P in India, not product, unlike Japan. We will be able to offer second tier non- air conditioned train fares on at least 20% of the seats and even the rest would be sold at an incredible 3-tier air conditioned train fares of Rs.2000-2500. It is not unfathomable that we sell 50 of these special variants over a 10 year period.      

Leahy (now almost in agreement) - Well son, I am pleased to hear that. Send me the plan and we'll consider it.  

 

Railway lamb Curry

 

 

You have heard of the 'Military' hotels in India – the name implies that they are eateries that serve non-vegetarian meals.  This weekend however, while grocery shopping at a local grocery store, a pre-cooked meal box that read "Railway Mutton Curry" caught my eye.  I already had an inkling that it had something to do with India. Curious, I picked it up to read the details and sure enough it was a throw-back to the British times in India, in the league of the "mulligatawny soup' and other such British Indian delicacies.

Surely, one can expect a few Indophiles to fall down if you shake a tree in London. What surprises me about these things is the extent to which India influenced that era not just in England but also amongst the various British colonies. This recipe therefore has travelled from the Chennai Central railway station to not just Britain but also subsequently to colonies such as South Africa and is being sold to this day, 100 years later! That is remarkable isn't it?  (Remember, all of this happened without any internet, Facebook or other social sites!)

Amongst other similar surprises that I have had, is coming across a 100 year old Dravidian Tamil Hindu temple right in the middle of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). What was even more surprising was that it had a Tamil Pujari ( who could speak Tamil sparingly), was married to a Vietnamese women and still performed the rituals of the Puja, albeit, the Communist government that Vietnam had discouraged people from religious beliefs and had taken over the precincts of the temple for hand making toothpicks and other such things. On my father's prodding he told us the whole story of how he came to be at Saigon, as a little boy who escaped in a ship with his father. The temple however, was already there and he didn't really know much about who built it. ( Subsequently, with donations from a few Indians who were working there, the temple was renovated, the tooth-pick factory was moved out, although it needed some persuasion and the temple is in fine form I am told).  For good measure, the Pujari also pointed us to the other (infamous though) India connection- a house that he said belonged to Charles Shobraj's Mother (the infamous crook, whose father was Indian, mother was Vietnamese).

Then, in the library of the University of the Philippines at Los Banos, I came across a book titled "Indian influences on the Philippines" (See the link below).

http://openlibrary.org/books/OL5345917M/Indian_influences_in_the_Philippines

It was actually a Phd. Thesis in the form of book written by a Filipino gentleman, who did his PhD. from University of Madras.  If you read the book, you will find that many 100's of words that Filipinos use to this day, originated from either Tamil or Sanskrit. (The South African fruit 'Naartjie' at first sounds Dutch but its origins are Tamil) One of the major highways linking the mountainous North of Banuwe to the Bicol region in the East is called Maharlika. "Mukha" in Filipino means face.  Fascinating! At one traffic circle in a small town, somewhere in the Visayas islands, is installed an idol of kali. However, there are no records of how it reached there. Visayas itself is the corruption of the name Vijendra (after King Vijendra, who ruled the parts of the Indonesian Islands).  

Finally, however, one's elation at learning all of this is instantly punctured looking at today's India. Perhaps best explained by the title of the book "The Wonder that WAS India". The operative word being WAS.

PS: For those of you, who may be interested, this is the 150 th year of the arrival of Indian indentured labour in South Africa. Many books have been released on the gruesome history of what South African Indians went through. You may want to read:    http://www.hsrcpress.ac.za/product.php?productid=2277

THE FLAW IN MASLOW'S THEORY

I once attended an interview with a leading Indian IT company. 9/11 had just happened, I was retrenched from a large Airline company and was trying to resume working.

 

No sooner had we finished exchanging very brief pleasantries, than I was asked about my percentile scores from nursery to high School, an explanation on the derivation of the theory of Black Scholes model AND my views on the flaw in Maslow's theory. This was the opening question for a sales position for selling Aviation related services (read outsourced call centers for large airlines).  The interviewer was an IIM graduate ( probably 25 years old), brimming with cocky confidence, clearly relishing the sight of sweat on my brows and the fact that he had 'defeated' yet another 'rival'.

 

Not prepared for such dazzling display of intellectual prowess and faced with questions of such importance that would materially change the existence of human race, I failed the interview, infact miserably failed it- humiliated and red in the face, morale completely shattered and shaking with nervousness, I walked out of the room, head hanging down in shame, in less than 5 minutes of having entered it. Dejected,  I walked back home, as hallucinations of failing math exams in calculus kept appearing with voices of my elderly relatives advising my father that opening a PCO booth at the corner of a busy thoroughfare in our colony would be the best career move for me. It would earn me a lot more than people earned in regular jobs.   

 

However, You could probably imagine that I was curious to know who the bloody hell Maslow was, whose theory (or the flaw in it) was threatening to permanently interrupt my nascent career.

Maslow, a management theorist, (whatever that is), simply put, said this: People aspire for more material things early in their life such as money and gradually graduate to things like self esteem, standing in the society, respect etc. and he drew a pyramid to explain this. The flaw, again simply put, is that it is not necessary that people will follow Maslow's said trajectory and could desire and value self esteem right in the beginning. That is it- that's all that there is to it.  Trust the management theorist and consultants to make common sense sound like rocket science.

 

You get the point I am making- why is there so much obsession with theory and so little with its application?

 

Take a look around you and you will find products with outdated technology everywhere- some very common, low tech, day to day examples- the whole world uses a variety of drip systems as toilet deodorants, we use phenyl balls. Visit the Yelehanka Air force station with machines like MIG-35 at display-the very pinnacle of Aviation technology that we have in the world, and hear about them on 'bhopus' (loud speakers) designed in Circa 1919-the rest of world uses slim smartly designed ones and much much smaller, that produce far better sound. But the technology simply hasn't permeated down. The world decorates its buildings and trees during festive time with special decorative lights, we still use the ones with large plastic beads- I have seen them since I was born- and am inclined to believe there is just one manufacturer of decorative lights in India and 1 single approved design.  If this is the case with low technology items, you can imagine the state of high technology products.

 

Many years later, while talking to my wife, who is studying education, I learnt that Education, comes from the word 'Educe' which means 'to take out', or  'to extract' . We do it exactly the other way around. We drill rather than extract. Well, some amount of drilling is perhaps good, if the motive is to extract, but education cannot be 'planted'.

 

Anyway, back to the flaw in Maslow's theory, I noticed this wonderful signboard in a local grocery store and loved it. Maslow hasn't left me since the disastrous 2001 interview (and I thank my young interviewer for that) but now that I understand the flaw in his theory rather well, I do consciously look for opportunities where it can be applied. You can use Maslow's or other  management theories as ammunition to unnerve and unsettle an unsuspecting interviewee or you could understand and apply them to make things better.      

 

EXODUS

 

Flipping through the Feb 20, 2011 issues of Business India, one statistic caught my eye:

 

Which is the number 1 state in India, in terms sending workers aboard?  The top of the mind answer would be Kerela. And that was the correct answer, until 2009. Since then it has been UP.  Just the first half of 2010 saw 68,375 migrant workers leaving, mostly to the Gulf. 

 

This is a familiar phenomenon observed elsewhere- when Argentina was about to default on its sovreign debt in 2008, there was an exodus of people to UK, Italy, Spain. The flights were full- (one way). It was a short term phenomenon. In other cases however, like Mexico, Philippines and India, there is a recurring exodus- leaving for the US, or Japan and in India's case to the Middle East mostly. There is no prospect of a local job, so migration is forced. Real GDP in UP has been sliding with Behenji (may peace be upon her) at helm.

 

What does it mean for Airlines? Vast swathes of UP are underserved. Places like Bareilly (covered in the media, only when Priyanka Chopra opens her (much talked about) pout to let the world know that she schooled in Bareilly), have a fine airport controled by the Armed forces and can be opened to civilian traffic if Behenji wants it (may peace be upon her).  

 

Those airlines that have been recently blessed (or should I say cursed) with a license to fly aboard, may want to consider launching flights from relatively uncontested territories like Lucknow, rather than do exactly what the others have done, launching yet another flight to Singapore/Bangkok from a Metro city. This is, a rather 'unglaomourous' option but then we have Ms.Chopra to lend all the glamour if a flight from Bareilly was ever launched. We may even have the other behenji (may peace be upon her) grace the occassion, given that elections in UP are near.  Don't believe me? Ask Air Arabia- Where do you think traffic on their Nagpur flight comes from?

 

  

 

Unusual hiring

 

 

The luxurious office of Northwest Airlines was located at the 19th floor of Cosco Tower at Hong Kong's Queen Road in Central Hong Kong. As I stepped into the corner office of the Vice President of Asia, I was stunned by the expanse of the room and the unfolding vista offered by the very large glass wall that overlooked the busy Kowloon bay area, as one got closer to it. That room was designed to portray power. For a brief moment, I felt I had stepped into the scene from 'Dewaar' where Iftekaar (playing Dabur Saheb) offers Amitabh Bachchan his first bundles of currency notes spread on the table and the camera moves to show the Marine Drive down below, clearly visible from the office….

I was there for an interview with the then VP of Asia at NWA (let's call him David). Awed by the set up, I was fumbling a bit when David asked me to take a seat and soon after asked me what it was that I wanted to do. I mumbled something about doing pricing. He smiled, looked at me intently and repeated his question, adding that he meant it in a much larger context, as in, my ambition in life. I hadn't expected the interview to start with this sort of talk, so could not muster any words at all for some time. Sensing my discomfort and nervousness, David sought to put me at ease by telling me his own story. A person with just high school education, he started his career as a baggage loader at TWA and rose to become VP Asia at NWA many years later.  Another example- UPS Airline President Robert Lekites, started his career as delivery truck driver and rose to become president of the Airline company.  There are numerous such examples of people, who were the most unlikely candidates for the top job, but succeeded nevertheless. I have narrated these story to make a point to which I will come to later in the article.

When you step into a 5-star hotel as a guest, unknown to you, the concierge Porter or Bell Boy, as they are called, has not just spotted you, he has noticed the car you got down from and its registration number, people accompanying you-and if these are women, he has judged whether they are your family, your office colleagues or otherwise. He has seen your shoes, the quality of your suit, the make of your mobile phone and the watch you are wearing.  If you are a repeat guest, he has already welcomed you with your last name and reassuringly informed you that the hotel holds a reservation for you, even before you step infront of the reception desk. As a 21 year old, and their Manager, I was continuously challenged by them. They knew the views and vantage points of all the rooms. They knew the staff- all 500 of them by their first names. They could organize just about anything in a matter of minutes. They knew who the General Manager was sleeping with. They knew even whim and fancy of the repeat guests. A bell boy goes to every single room in the hotel and we are talking about 500 or more rooms here and he knows every nook and corner. If a switch wasn't working or there was something wrong with the carpet in the walkway, they were the first people to spot it. Infact, I would say, if a fire broke out, a fireman may lose his bearings, but a bell boy, is your sure shot bet to find a safe way out of the place.  

In short, Bell Boys are far sharper than we think and do far more than their intended role. Yet will you ever think of a Bell Boy when looking to fill a role that requires sharp observation, continuous customer contact, ability to make polite conversation, and solve day to day issues. I would give a serious thought to enlisting them for an eventual role as managers in service organization, like the role of a Airport Manager at an Airline. I am not saying that every single Bell Boy should be made an airport manager, but just being a bell boy, does not exclude them from that possibility, so don't stop looking.

If you are an early riser, take an early morning stroll to the local street corner, where bundles of newspapers are dropped, and the local distributor's boys get down to the task of sorting them and putting the advertising inserts into them. Perhaps there's one boy there, who has done this long enough to help you with your direct marketing/advertising initiatives.

Ever spoken to a TTE (Train ticket examiner) of an express train? Imagine Abishek Bachchan's role in Bunty aur Bubli.  A TTE would have traveled between a sector like Raipur and Delhi 100's of time. Could anyone know the route and the passengers who travel on it better than him? Why then would you want to hire a city boy, with a cozy confined up brining in a life full of luxuries to do a job that legitimately belongs to someone who has spent all his life traveling on trains?  

Take the auto rickshaw drivers. Many of them are rowdy's and so is there public perception. But try talking to some, just to get through the noisy ride, if for nothing else. They go to every part of the city- to the railway station, bus station, city centre, suburbs, bazaars, high streets, red light areas, deal with the traffic police and local goons, who all have to be paid a 'hafta'. Some of them are in fact listed as informants for the police. Wouldn't you include them as part of your city sales team, even if just as the driver?  I surely with responsibility for sales, it does not matter what I call him, but I know he would not fail me.

There are numerous other examples but the point I am making is this: Use imagination to hire. Leave the orthodoxy to the British Royals. They may make a living out of it. Just because someone has done something before is not an indication that he is good at it. You can't etch your designation on your forehead as an example of what skills you have. Infact, usually, if a candidate has done a job before, and you are hiring him for exactly the same job, he/she may bring little enthusiasm to it.

A high performance team needs all kinds of people, greater the diversity of experience, better the chances of achieving success. All fingers are not created equal, Yes you need an IIM graduate to take care of those complicated algorithms; yes you need the good looking bimbo (or brute) to attract some corporate eyeballs perhaps, or so people believe, but what a pity it would be, if you filled your ranks with people who are out of touch with the reality on the ground?

(CAN BE APPLIED ANYWHERE, BUT THE ARTICLE IS WRITTEN FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF AN INDIAN AIRLINE)

Deccan’s new avatar in Gujarat- Can it work?

Deccan's new avatar in Gujarat- Can it work?

 

 

There have been many serial airline entrepreneurs in the world. It is as much an addiction as any. Branson and Neeleman are the two names that come to mind. Closer home is Capt. Gopinath, who is attempting is fourth Airline venture in Gujarat. With fuel at USD 125 per barrel, this requires considerable nerve. The house is however divided and the jury still out, on whether this will qualify as courage or audacity. Time will tell.

 

I just wanted to examine the possible directions this venture may take and how it could be grown through various stages, (a sort of a business plan, written more from the point of view raising finances):

 

STAGE 1: Getting off the ground-(Intra-State traffic)

Year 1

All the assurances from the Gujarat government mean nothing on the ground.

For a planner to actually implement flights and come up with a financially viable and coherent schedule is a nightmare. When planning them for the whole of India, there are at least a lot of airports available to play with. We are talking of only a dozen Airports here- most of which do not operate at night; many do not have fuel depots (it really matters in summers, when temperatures are high and payload is restricted). Most of all, ATC timings have remained unchanged for years. Just like the Indian courts, they function for a fraction of hours a day and then are in recess. Hopefully, corporatization of ATC will perhaps improve this situation. This isn't the full list of woes. The Airport Authority of India, a central government controlled body, feels no compulsion to lend an ear to what the state government may have to say. We have not even started talking about BCAS and CISF who are perpetually short of staff and only personal initiative from some of the more proactive commandants ensures that the day is saved. The Airport equipment- X-ray machines, Radars, passenger amenities, ground handling equipment….You get the idea of what it takes to get off the ground. Even with this list, the flight completion rate of the operator remains woefully low, because operations are so totally dependent on the elements without proper infrastructure. Passengers aren't likely to patronize a service that anything short of reliable.

 

When however, the above is achieved, the commercial target would be to get break-even traffic on the aircraft. This would mainly come from the point to point Gujarat intra-city, traffic, some from existing services, if any, and other from surface transport. For example, Surat to Bhavnagar is a lucrative route, as traveling by road can take easily upto 8 hours. Train takes longer. If, the promised additional new airports come on line sooner than anticipated, it will help improve Deccan's prospects.  

 

STAGE 2: Growth beyond the state  

Year2- 3

I believe that Deccan is not targeting getting into bigger planes beyond ATR's, if its stated objective is to provide intra-state traffic. I cannot, however, imagine that Deccan can survive independently just on the intra-Gujarat traffic, even if it makes a major break-through in terms of shifting traffic from surface transport modes. The fixed costs are far too high in India (Even if recent developments in third party maintenance provider availability and other related costs are taken into account) and it needs enough scale to cover all of them, which means growing the number of flights. This can happen in 2 ways:

 

1.      Replicate the model in neighboring states: Deccan, can fairly easily replicate the model in Maharashtra, Goa and Rajasthan. They all fall within the range of an ATR and can easily be linked. This takes the scale up to about 30-40 airports. There are enough business linkages to provide sustainable air services, provided they come at the right price. AND, most importantly, the major carriers are too occupied with the trunk routes that it is unlikely that Deccan will find competition. Its real competition would be the railways and what has come to be known in India as 'Volvo' bus services (law of marketing: first entrant defines the category).

 

2.      Become a feeder: I bounced this suggestion off a few people but they weren't convinced. It is true that Airlines that have an established network into Gujarat out of Mumbai have little incentive to change anything. But an Airline like Indigo, with one plane type, could use a feeder at AMD, can it not? Look at the US market- they are full of feeder carriers. Some are part equity owned by the major airlines and share the infrastructure keeping their overheads and costs low. While we are a long way off from achieving the traffic scale available to these feeder carriers, I have at least one very strong reason to believe that the time has come for a feeder carrier in India.   

 

Currently most of the traffic to Gujarat's cities (other than AMD) is flowing over Mumbai. So, if you were coming from Calcutta and wanted to go to Jamnagar, you would have to connect via Mumbai. However, as is very well known, Mumbai is full up to the brim and will have no choice but to push out the smaller planes completely. That plan is dependent on the upgrade of Juhu Airport. Airlines will have no choice but either upgrade their Gujarat flights into larger code C aircrafts or move to Juhu. Looking at the number of hurdles, I suspect neither will materialize. However, the unintended consequence of this could be that traffic to Gujarat from the rest of India, that is today flowing over Mumbai could move to flowing over Ahmadabad, if (Big if), a feeder network is built at AMD. Let me explain: For all the traffic that is NOT local, ie, between Mumbai and Gujarat, there is no need to connect at Mumbai if an alternative was available to connect to any/all Gujarat cities via AMD. Deccan can provide this alternative. It is a great opportunity for AMD Airport if they can see it. They must therefore work with Deccan to make this happen.  

 

On Deccan's part, instead of simply adding more flights to maximize utilization of the aircraft, they must align their departure and arrival schedules to the schedule banks of other major airlines serving AMD, such that their flights can get feed/Defeed flights arriving into/departing from AMD. Even without a formal interline agreement, Indian public is smart enough to figure out connection opportunities. That is not to say, that it isn't important to gear your systems to offer formal interline/code share services, particularly in light of the next stage (STAGE 3).

 

STAGE 3: Become an International Feeder

Year 3-5

We are now really dreaming, getting unrealistic, are we? But assume, 3 years down the line, Deccan Gujarat has been a resounding success, what will it need to continue to grow? Assuming that major airports in Gujarat have been activated for night operations, Deccan could introduce an early morning bank of flights that de feed traffic off the international arriving flights. In addition, the early morning bank can only increase utilization. If the government allows, it is possible that a foreign carrier may want to formalize this interline relationship into a larger role through equity. Deccan must ensure that its mission critical IT systems are geared to offer these services that can add a much required revenue stream and have a very positive impact on the yields. Sure the cost goes up too, but today, these services can be offered at much less overhead than ever before. Airlines like Jetblue in the US and GOL in Brazil are doing it.      

 

STAGE 4: Launch International flights

Year 5 and beyond

You are laughing hysterically by now. But, look, all business plans can be unrealistic. Have you ever come across a business plan that shows negative growth in a given year? No right? Yet there are recession years where companies de-grow. Likewise, there is no harm in being a bit wishful when envisioning the future course.

So, the ATR is ETOPS rated for 120 minutes. A 2 hour (250-300 NMs) flight is more than within the profitable range of an ATR. You could probably offer flights to Karachi and some other destinations in Pakistan but that's about it. For other destinations like Muscat and Salalah in Oman, lesser known destinations in UAE like RAK and Fujairah and Bandar Abbas in Iran, Deccan would need to get into longer range aircraft. All of these are pretty poorly connected and can at max, support 1-operator. This cannot perhaps happen today, but 5 years down the line, anything is possible.  

   

If you however ask the Deccan watchers, they will say, ah…why get into these complicated models, so much thinking is simply not required! The real plan is to get the company off the ground and then sell it off to a willing party! There are plenty of fools out there, who want to get into the Airline business. J

Reverse hubbing?

 

 

 Air India is in the news for all the wrong reasons so often, that even when it does something really sensible, it goes virtually unnoticed. Take for instance, its decision to establish an operational control center at Dubai, with the reasoning that too many AI flights are bound for Dubai and it therefore makes sense to operationally manage them through a central network control from there. I believe this is very sound reasoning. I have been thinking about this for sometime albeit from a more commercial angle.

India is sandwiched between the heavyweight mega-hubs-The Middle Eastern trinity-Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi and the Asian quartets- Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. These international hubs and their home carriers have been in the making for 20-30 years with oil money and the sub continental traffic funding the former while Asian tiger economies and Chinese growth, funding the latter. All of these have capacities above 50-100 million. A lot of silly money has been thrown on rearing the airlines to give them the scale and reach they have today. Infact, if you ask the network Planners from Emirates, such is their appetite for global dominance, they will tell you they are still not happy with the payload range of planes available to them today. For instance, they have not been able to dominate the Americas (US, Canada) to the extent possible; particularly the US/Canada West Coast remains virgin territory, as far as MEB3 are concerned. The airframe manufactures will tell you their great dilemma- on one hand, is this 1000 pound gorilla (or 3 gorillas), which is fortunately or unfortunately their largest customer today and on the other is the rest of the old world order. This 1000 pound gorilla is not shy of trumpeting its weight at the slightest of provocation, demanding aircraft designed specifically to offer payload-range solely to suit their network requirements.

But I digress from the topic I want to tackle in this note, which is reverse Hubbing.

Progressive liberalization of Indian bilateral air rights has ensured that even secondary cities like Jaipur, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Goa, Nagpur etc. are opening up to foreign carriers. Our Hubs, at Mumbai and Delhi, cannot at present handle traffic growth from these cities, and as a result, people are choosing to connect out of these International hubs outside India.

Given this scenario, does it not make sense for a carrier like Indigo or Spicejet to launch what I call 'Reverse Hubbing'? Let me explain:

Indian traffic is fragmented over 50 plus cities. India has 35 cities with over a million people that have an Airport that can handle Code C aircrafts. I talked about 7 hubs around us in Middle East and South East Asia. Multiply those number and you get 245 city-pairs. Not a small number. Multiple those by 4 daily frequencies in both directions and you get 2000 flights per day. That is not a small number either. Just as a fly Dubai, Air Asia, Tiger Air or Air Arabia can fly from their respective hubs at Dubai, KL, Singapore or Sharjah respectively to Lucknow, so can Indian carriers, as the bilateral allows that. Why not build operational bases in these 7 hubs and launch flights to all 35 Indian cities? The flight can be scheduled such that it originates at an Indian city to avoid violating the BASA, however, the operational base is used to rotate the aircraft between various city pairs. It is essentially a hub operation, but since it is outside the home country, I call it reverse hubbing. Very similar to what Ryan Air does, but EU is one single market, unlike the above.

Instead of resisting the liberalization therefore, Indian LCC carriers may in fact want to hasten it and even ask for open skies. In the end, an Indian carrier will know the Indian market better than foreign competitors and thus must prevail over them, eventually. The trick is to get the scale as fast as possible. 

 

The New Mumbai Airport

 

 

The New Mumbai Airport offers the best ever opportunity for the newcomers to level the playing field against incumbents.

The protest season is about to start, as the New Mumbai Airport gains traction.  Expect even the corporate big-wigs to join just as they did when the New Bangalore Airport went online.  And if you are overwhelmed with a feeling of Déjà vu, well, expect even more.   

In the case of Bangalore, I expected that some intelligent soul, an industry veteran, people exposed to the world, Industry think tanks (such as CAPA), perhaps the Aviation press (if such a thing exists in India), would look at precedents around the world to suggest a solution. Because certainly, Bangalore's situation was not unique. Other cities around the world have been put through this dilemma of what to do with old infrastructure, once a new facility replaces it. Instead, we had a CEO of an IT company resorting to displaying placards and picketing outside the old Airport, in a cheap publicity stunt. Nobody even mentioned the Wright Amendment and the formula used to carve capacity between Love Field and DFW Airport in Dallas.

But this is not about Bangalore. This is about Mumbai. The situation is a bit different in this case, because Mumbai is so short of Airport capacity that both the new and the old Airport will continue to function ( and possibly the Juhu Airport will be made operational too for commercial flights).  Given a chance, no airline would want to give up its operations at the old Airport and move to the new one, due to a number of issues- Distance from the city and lack of proper Airport transport in terms of a high speed train. Besides, cost of operation at the new airport in all likelihood is going to be far more than the old one.  However, most certainly, some airlines have to shift to the new facility, as the old Airport is operating above its capacity and it's only going to get worse in the next few years until the new airport comes on line.

The central question then is: How would the authorities divide Airline operators between the old and the new airport?

In order to decongest the old Airport, will it require that some airlines be 'forced' to operate out of the new airport? And who will these be? All the foreign carriers, perhaps? Remember, discriminating between carriers on grounds of nationality is in contravention to the laws of EU and of ICAO and could seriously entangle the whole process into a legal fight.  

Let us examine some similar case studies elsewhere: 

Moscow has 2 Airports- one privately owned and home to most foreign carriers operating into Moscow, the other govt. owned (but proposed to be privatized soon) which is home to the home carrier and some other carriers from the so called 'Eastern Block'. Most carriers chose to operate from the private Airport, so there was no need for intervention.

There is the infamous case of Milan's Malpensa Airport. Italy insisted that routes carrying more than two million passengers a year should continue to use Milan's established Linate AirportLinate Airport (IATA: LIN, ICAO: LIML) one of the two major airports of Milan, Italy along with Malpensa International Airport. Due to its proximity to Milan compared to Malpensa, it is mainly used for domestic and short-haul international flights, with over 9. , because this would restrict its use to the Rome-Milan run operated by Alitalia, the Italian national carrier. Other Airlines were forced to use the poorly connected and untested new Airport at Malpensa.
There were also expected difficulties for passengers making onward journey into the city of Milan, as no rail or metro links from Malpensa to the City center existed.  There were only bus services along an often congested motorway. Sounds familiar?

Another case in point: The London Air Traffic Distribution Rules came into effect on April 1 1978 and were applied retroactively from the beginning of April 1977. These rules were designed to achieve a "better" distribution of traffic between London Heathrow and London Gatwick, the UK's two main international gateway airports, to meet Government policy objectives of the time.

The 1978 London Air Traffic Distribution Rules (TDRs) stated that at peak times:

(a) Airlines that did not already operate an international scheduled air service from/to Heathrow prior to April 1 1977 would not be permitted to commence operations at that airport. Such airlines would have to use Gatwick for all their London-based operations;

(b) Airlines that did not already operate at Heathrow prior to this law taking effect could still commence domestic scheduled services at the airport provided that the BAA and the Secretary of State for Transport granted them permission to do so;

(c) All charter flights were banned from Heathrow as of 1 April 1978; and

(d) All new all-cargo, business and general aviation flights were banned from Heathrow and Gatwick from 1 April 1978.

 

All of the above examples indicate a formula to equitably and justly distribute traffic between airports in the same or similar catchment area.  Mumbai does present a somewhat complicated situation, however, there are pointers to some solutions that I wanted to explore:

1.       If you examine the slot division and capacity deployed, you will find that incumbent airlines such as Jet Airways and Air India control 1/5^th of all slots available at Mumbai. Jet Airways alone deploys 20% or one-fifth of the seats available out of Mumbai Airport. This is little less than double of what an Airline like Kingfisher has. The situation is much the same in Delhi, if a little less imbalanced. This share is unlikely to change, as there is no more space left to grow.

 

2.       Incumbent airlines like Jet Airways are far less likely to move out of the old airport, as they dominate the better slots, and therefore enjoy an advantage over their competitors.

 

3.       Air India, in a business decision, decided to move its International schedule bank to New Delhi, as the new Airport allowed more flexibility to operate a hub and spoke network vis-à-vis Mumbai that is completely choked. Given that Air India's major stake holder and possibly its major customer as well, is the Government of India, it also makes good sense to be in Delhi.

 

4.       Unlike in the 80's or 90's, the world's airlines are far more aligned into the 3 major alliances- Star, One World and Sky Team.  In addition, the fourth major block is the so called MEB3- The Middle East Big 3-Qatar, Emirates, and Etihad, that remain non-aligned but have much the same strategies. India's own major carriers have chosen to align themselves- with AI becoming part of Star and Kingfisher becoming part of One-World. Jet Airways has been making aggressive overtures to both Star and Sky team, however, industry observers believe Jet will go with Star.

 

5.       The newcomers like Kingfisher and possibly even Indigo and Spicejet therefore stand to gain the most out of the New Mumbai Airport.  It offers carriers like Kingfisher, the best chance ever to level the playing field against the incumbents, differentiate the product and compete effectively.  Take Kingfisher for example: it has been unable to offer a coherent hub and spoke network to its International flights, competing mainly for the point to point traffic, which has grown fast enough to keep them going. However, it is not going to justify building an International network, if you have no schedule bank to feed it. The advantage it may enjoy today on some short-haul International markets, is fast depleting, as the market fragments between more carriers coming on line. Sooner or later, they will have to evolve into a proper network carrier.  Kingfisher must continue to tightly integrate with the one-world carriers (possibly even equity if the government allows it) It must continue to develop One world Alliance dependencies on its domestic and sub-continental network to such an extent that it must make it necessary for all one-world carriers to move along with it to the new Airport.  The move to the new airport is not without risks, as it is dependent on support infrastructure. But there are advantages- such the incentives that the new Airport may provide to subsidize the move.  In addition, it also opens up the very lucrative Pune market and the industrial belt cities of Maharashtra.  Failing to do so, could result in Kingfisher being in the same situation as Virgin Atlantic today.

 

6.       Kingfisher has also struggled with its fleet- having 2 different kinds of cabins even within the A320's required them to launch 2 brands- Kingfisher and Kingfisher Red.  The new Airport offers them the opportunity to operate a hub and spoke network, while they can choose to operate the fleet configured for an LCC operation, out of their existing slots at Old Mumbai Airport. This will result in a split operation scenario driving costs somewhat higher; however, it will also allow division of risk and minimal disruption of cash flow. A smooth transition as far as the changeover to the new Airport infrastructure is concerned will take time to settle down and is not without risks. But do you have a better idea?  

 

7.       Finally, this would probably be the first time ever that Airport capacity is neatly carved out based on the 3 large alliances and Airlines operating within them.  With AI calling Delhi its Hub, incumbent Jet Airways happier than ever at its old Mumbai Airport Den, and Kingfisher finally finding space at the New Mumbai Airport to transform itself into a true network carrier.

 

Market Research: A neglected function in the Indian Airline Industry?

 

 

The CCO's phone starts to ring abruptly. Ordinarily, this would be a non-event except that it is 3 am in the morning and the much harassed CCO had only just completed half the 40 winks that he manages to get every night. Of course, it is the MD-owner of the Airline on the other side of the phone. And, of course he is in a daylight zone, somewhere in Europe-excited and talking hurriedly. The minister has been so kind to approve the plan to import 20 aircraft worth hundreds of crores. Not just this, in an extraordinarily generous gesture, the Minister has even agreed for allocating parking bays so the aircraft could be imported. There is just one small condition to this-They must launch a flight to his constituency somewhere in an obscure corner of India. That is not even the major issue. Now that the aircraft are finally arriving, the CCO must figure out where to use them. And quickly too, because the aircraft will start arriving in exactly 2 weeks time lest the Minister is shuffled out and his successor has a change of heart. The MD has spoken for about 2 hours about his wit and negotiation skills. It is 5 am now. There is no time to waste. Soon the CCO may find himself addressing a press conference in this regard.

The CCO scribbles down the names of a few cities on a scrap of toilet paper, while sitting in the potty and then decides to call his crack team: consisting of a failed property dealer, 2 fresher Hotel Management graduates (from Sri-Devi College of Hotel Management, Chickpet, Bangalore) and a retired Indian airline man.  The team would be sent for a 'recce' trip to the 8 cities in question where they will do the following drill: They will meet some touts, local bullies and union leaders around the airport area, or the local MLA's cousin who could be possible candidates for PSA's. Then they will go and meet a handful of city Travel Agents, who are industry experts with years of experience in organizing Tirupati-Tirumala tours. You may see them salivating at the first mention of the possible flight to the city. Some may drop names of local MP's/ MLA's to get the coveted GSA contract. The evening is reserved for getting drunk and some merry-making. As for the prospects of the flight, you will get as much relevant information from them, as you can get in a film magazine. Armed with this anecdotal information and some figments of imagination, a 'report' would be drafted next morning and handed over to the CCO with an 'All iz well' conclusion. Oh and the fresher's, they haven't yet taken to the game, so they feel a bit guilty. They do some extra research on the internet about companies operating in the city and add those names in the report, as their contribution.

Welcome to the Indian Airline industry-You see it is almost philosophical- Life is about trial and error and so my friend, is the route planning process. So what if the Airlines are dabbling in assets worth millions of dollars, not one of them can produce a coherent 5 year, 3 year, even 1 year route plan driven by market research. That is because of the belief, that the universe will unfold as it has to, whether one plans or not.  And when the day of reckoning comes, it must be won by way of Jugaad, the all Indian concept- the cure for all ills, for all human suffering. Ladies and gentlemen, hold your breath, for this certified management best practice will launch India into realms of a super power nation.       

Could airlines learn something for an FMCG and the process of launching a new product? The process, in an FMCG could start almost 2 years in advance with a good budget assigned for market research. Just how much work and thought and detail goes into developing even a soap brand could be mind-boggling. Ask some of the advertising people and they will tell you how much they dread being on a soap company account because all that could be said about soap has already been said. I won't be surprised if we soon come across a brand that claims that it can negate or cure the harmful effects of nuclear radiation.  

Some may say, this is the function of margins available in the business- an Airline's 2% net margin vs. an FMCG's 15%. However, I believe the process can adapted to reflect the realities of the airline industry. The truth is that Market research as a function does not even exist in most airlines.   

Disclaimer: This article is not a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any events or persons, employed in the airline industry is purely intentional and deliberate.