MxMIndia

Tag: Kingfisher Airlines

  • The media has just 'sensationalised' the whole issue of Kingfisher's troubles, we are to glean from Mallya's letter.

    [MJR] Noosemakers: The life and letters of Dr Vijay Mallya

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    “The Indian media and the ‘paid’ media that even the Prime Minister referred to are unscrupulous and they will do whatever it takes, part fact or fiction, true or untrue to achieve their sensationalist objectives.”

     

    These lines are from the opening paragraphs of Vijay Mallya’s letter to the employees of Kingfisher Airlines, promising them that he is making arrangements to pay their salaries. He also says that he intends to pay his taxes.

     

    It is heartening, however, to note that the media, paid and not paid (unpaid would refer to a Kingfisher staffer) have not been responsible for denying Kingfisher employees their salaries. Or indeed, that it is because of the media that Kingfisher could not pay so many taxes.

     

    The media has, therefore, just “sensationalised” the whole issue of Kingfisher’s troubles, we are to glean from Mallya’s letter and concentrated on one airline when the whole aviation sector is in trouble. (Again, thankfully, the media is not responsible here for the woes of civil aviation (at least I think not), just for talking about it.

     

    Except, he points out, the one airline which is not in trouble but even that could be true or untrue according to Mallya. I am not sure the media had any role to play here… does the media have the power to make just one airline in a sick industry successful?Indiawants to know.

     

    I don’t want to point fingers at anyone here, but I think Mallya should also blame passengers, especially his “guests” who paid but were then un-boarded and un-flown. These guests kept blabbing to the media about how they had been inconvenienced by Kingfisher Airlines. I think Mallya should have blamed them too.

     

    And all the pilots who upped and left to work for that one airline “that defies the odds and claims to be profitable, however unlikely that may be”. I’m guessing that they were paid rather than unpaid by that other airline with its bizarre claims.

     

    Many years ago, a person kept calling newspapers (there was not much TV those days, it was that long ago) and claimed to be Vijay Mallya’s PR person. She would talk about his latest horse or yacht or holiday destination. We could never determine if she was paid or unpaid, part fact or fiction, true or untrue. Somehow I feel that Mallya needs someone like her all over again. Might be better if he pays her this time and I know Niira Radia’s out of a job but maybe not her…?

     

    Here’s the text of the letter:

    http://www.ndtv.com/article/business/vijay-mallya-writes-to-kingfisher-employees-read-letter-180222

     

    Photograph: Fotocorp

  • It would hurt Dr Vijay Mallya's pride if his pet project got killed. But there's no place for ego and emotion in business

    Anil Thakraney on 9 reasons why KFA must shut shop

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Dr Vijay Mallya is in no mood to entertain talks about shutting down his messy airline. He is a proud man, and it would hurt his pride if his pet project got killed. But there’s no place for ego and emotion in business, every die hard dhandhewala knows that. Here’s why I think it’s better to ground Kingfisher Airlines Limited (KFA).

     

    1. Dr Mallya doesn’t get this business at all.

     

    2. Running an airline is not the same thing as running a liquor company. Or sailing on a private yacht. Or anchoring Page 3 parties. Or owning an IPL cricket team.

    Totally different sets of rules apply.

     

    3. Kingfisher’s continuing crisis has badly hurt Dr Mallya’s own image as that of a man who can do no wrong. This is damaging his credibility as an industrialist.

     

    4. Because it’s a brand extension, the airline’s very poor image in the market could harm UB group’s cash cow beer brand, Kingfisher Lager. It’s not a risk worth taking anymore.

     

    5. Even if Dr Mallya decides to run KFA as a totally low cost, zero frills airline to slash operating expenses drastically, it will backfire as this strategy doesn’t gel with the stated brand position of ‘Good Times’. So it makes no sense to be around from the marketing point of view either.

     

    6. The huge inconvenience and financial losses Kingfisher has been causing to thousands of flyers across the nation because of cancelled flights will have seriously eroded brand preference. And this situation in the hospitality industry has a cascading effect. Loyalty once lost is very hard to gain back. Just to give you can example: GoAir once cancelled a flight I was booked on at the nth hour, and I have sworn never to touch them again.

     

    7. The KFA staff is highly demotivated. I don’t even want to discuss the ramifications if the airline’s maintenance engineers don’t do their jobs with care.

     

    8. There’s not much hope in his son and heir to the throne, young Sid Mallya. The way he dives into verbal clashes with aggrieved KFA flyers on Twitter is a clear indication that the dude does not fit in with the service business.

     

    9. Dr Mallya doesn’t get this business at all.

     

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    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuiEKm5dDrY[/youtube]

    PS: Not a very recent commercial, but a must watch in case you missed it. Super one from Playstation. Fantastic understanding of the target audience, and totally exciting creative.

     

     

     

  • In Freaking News, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare on primetime news and in the papers

    Freaking News: It’s a dull year for TV

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    The wonder that is TV news inIndiabecomes a total damp squib if there is nothing exciting happening. And this year has been particularly lacking news-wise. Or that is, news that suits TV land. Especially after the excitement of last year – not the least created by the anti-corruption movement – 2012 seems dull. The UP elections have not provided enough fodder and the best we have managed is the hullabaloo over Salman Rushdie and the Jaipur Literary Fest. The Supreme Court came down firmly on the age crisis faced by the army chief and that is now the end of that potential drama.

     

    It’s another matter that we have had sufficient news to keep us occupied. But when you run on a permanent cycle of “breaking news” which can be turned into hysterical studio debates, ordinary news does not suffice. Right now, the crisis within Kingfisher Airlines has the most potential.

     

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    Now that so many states have objected to the National Counter-Terrorism Centre, because it hurts our “federal structure”, it is perhaps time for newspapers to find commentators who can explain our “federal structure” in Constitutional terms. Are we really federal? Or is this just one more political ploy? In terms of law and order, the odd thing is that whenever something goes wrong in any state, people within and without the state clamour for a “CBI” probe. This, in spite of the fact that the CBI goes against our “federal structure” and at other times, is seen as a handmaiden of the ruling party at the Centre. It’s an odd but fascinating dichotomy of thought.

     

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    Yesterday’s newspapers told us that Anna Hazare is fit and raring to go. Today’s newspapers tell us that he and his team are due to meet. It would be interesting to see if television is still as accommodating to Hazare and his merry followers or whether they have fallen out of the news cycle. Newspapers, it must be admitted, have dismissed Hazare news to little single columns.

     

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    Having declared their “Aman Ki Asha” campaign for peace with Pakistan, the Times of India now looks east and introduces a “Bonding with Bangladesh” exercise. Since many Indians are even unaware that Bengal was partitioned (the general feeling appears to be that the only people affected were in north India), it will be interesting to see what kind of response they get. For now, it is sharing stories with the Bangladeshi paper Pratham Alo, to “deepen people-to-people” ties.