Jet Airways to reconfigure 17 B737 aircraft to economy class

Begumpet, Hyderabad: With a slow pick up in market demand for business class travel affecting load factors adversely, private Indian carrier, Jet Airways, is reconfiguring 17 of its Boeing 737 aircraft to reflect an all-economy class ethos.

Speaking on the sidelines of an international conference on aviation at the old Begumpet Airport here, chief commercial officer of Jet Airways Sudhir Raghavan said, "This is being done to increase our low-cost offerings and increase our passenger load factor significantly. We are taking out the premium seats and reconfiguring at least 17 aircraft to all-economy seats," Raghavan said.

Jet Airways currently operates a fleet of 89 aircraft, comprising 10 Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft, 12 Airbus A330-200 aircraft, 53 Boeing 737-700/800/900 Next Generation aircraft and 14 modern ATR 72-500 turboprop aircraft.

As part of its restructuring process, initiated soon after the aviation sector went into a tail-spin along with a global recession, the airline diverted a significant number of its daily seats to its low-cost subsidiary, Jet Konnect, to build up load factor, even though it impacted per seat earnings.

Jet Airways has registered a market share of 25.2 per cent in January this year, according to official data.

Along with Jet Konnect, the carrier operates over 300 flights daily, while its wholly-owned subsidiary JetLite operates over 110 flights.

The event at Begumpet is being co-hosted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) along with the ministry of civil aviation.