Crisis of Kingfisher Airlines Essay Example for Free

Crisis of Kingfisher Airlines Essay The Indian air market is estimated to be the ninth largest in the world but with the population size the country has, the Indian government believes it will become the world’s third largest market by 2020. 87 foreign and five Indian airlines fly to and from India to 40 countries. Approximately five million Indians fly every month domestically. Domestic traffic more than doubled between Jul-2006 and July 2011, with growth of 101%. One reason for the growth was the deregulation of Indian domestic aviation in 2003- 2004 followed by international deregulation in 2007-2008 India has three full service airlines Air India, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and four Low cost carriers: GoAir, IndiGo, JetLite (owned by Jet airways), and SpiceJet. Kingfisher also had a discount version: Kingfisher Red known formerly as Simplifly Deccan and before that Air Deccan. Ironically the Indian aviation despite a market growing at 18 per cent for last 11 months, five out of six Indian airlines are bleeding leading to the failure of one of the leading aviation player Kingfisher Airlines. Kingfisher Airlines, a subsidiary of UB Group (United Breweries Holdings Ltd), founded in May 2005 operates a passenger airline in India. It was the first airline in India to provide premium first class service on domestic routes with all new aircraft. In May 2007, it announced it would acquire a 26% stake in Air Deccan, a low cost carrier (LCC) for 5.5 billion rupees ($135 million). Kingfisher Airlines Limited came to become one of the country’s largest airlines, operating more than 400 flights a day and having a wide network of destinations, with regional and long-haul international services touching almost 60 destinations. At one point the Kingfisher Airlines had the second largest share in Indias domestic air travel market. However due to the severe financial crisis faced by the airline, it has the fifth largest market share currently. Even the company have no funds to pay the salaries to the employees and is facing several other issues like fuel dues; aircraft lease rental dues, service tax dues and bank arrears. As Kingfisher airlines is in the midst of a financial turmoil, the case will aim to understand the various factors which are fuelling the growth / decline and those which are/will be critical for the company’s performance in the near term. Introduction History of the Indian Airline Industry In December 1912, the first domestic air route was opened between Delhi and Karachi by the Indian State Air Services (in collaboration with Imperial Airways of the UK). This marked a new beginning in India. Three years later, Tata Sons started a regular airmail service between Karachi and Madras. At that time, there were a few transport companies operating within and also beyond the frontiers of the country, carrying both air cargo and passengers. Some of these were Tata Airlines, Indian National Airways, Air Service of India, Deccan Airways, Ambica Airways, Bharat Airways and Mistry Airways. The Tata Airlines was converted into a public limited company in the year 1946 and renamed Air India Limited. In 1948 a joint sector company-Air India International was established by the Government of India and Air India headed by J.R.D. Tata. In 1953, the Parliament passed the Air Corporation Act. Air India International and Indian Airlines Corporation came into formal existence and Air India International was nationalized. The Indian Aviation sector was liberalized in commence in 1990 with private sector players being allowed to operate as air taxi operators in India. A number of private players commenced domestic operations like Damania, East-West, Modiluft, Air Sahara and NEPC, entered the industry. However, a decade later none of them have survived. Foreword of Kingfisher Airlines Kingfisher Airlines is an airline group based in India. Its head office is The Qube in Andheri (East), Mumbai; and Registered Office in UB City, Bangalore. Kingfisher Airlines was established in 2003 and began operations on 9 May 2005 with a fleet of five A380s, five Airbus A350s aircraft and five Airbus A330s operating its first inaugural flight from Mumbai to Delhi. It seems staggering that an airline a month old could order the world’s biggest plane in an untested market. They went international in 2008, less than four years ago. In May 2009, they became India’s largest airline by passenger numbers. Owned by the Bangalore based United Breweries Group. Kingfisher Airlines, through its parent company United Breweries Group, has a 50% stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red. The UB group is lead by Dr. Vijay Mallya as the Chairman to one of India’s largest conglomerates with diverse interests in brewing, distilling, real estate, engineering, fertilizers, biotechnology, information technology and aviation. Dr. Mallya, was elected by shareholders as Chairman of The UB Group in 1983, at the age of 28 and has been instrumental in growing it into a multinational business conglomerate. Kingfisher is the only Indian and the one of the six in the world to have received the 6 stars rating for its services by the Skytrax operates more than 400 flights a day connecting 72 destinations the world over. Merger of Kingfisher- Air Deccan A wholly owned subsidiary of Deccan Aviation, Air Deccan, was India’s first low cost carrier. It has a vision to enable every Indian to fly thus representing the airline’s simple and no frills approach. With a low pricing strategy, Air Deccan primarily focussed on first time travellers and successfully shifted people from Rail travel to Air travel. Air Deccan airlines merged with Kingfisher Airlines and decided to operate as a single entity from April, 2008 under the title name Kingfisher Aviation. The merger is based on recommendations of Accenture, the global consulting firm. KPMG was asked to do the valuation and the swap ratio was decided accordingly. The merger came through on as Vijay Mallya from Kingfisher airlines bought 26% of the stake in Air Deccan. The unification of the two carriers had to be sanctioned not only by the two panels, but also by the institutional investors, independent directors, and other shareholders. Air Deccan had four independent directors-which included prominent persons like IIM Prof Thiru Naraya, Tennis player Vijay Amritraj, and A K Ganguly, Former MD Nabisco Malaysia. Post merger, KingFisher would operate as a single largest (private) airline in the sub-continent with a combined fleet of 71 aircrafts, connects 70 destinations and operating 550 flights in a day. The combined entity has a market share of 33%. Captain Gopinath continued as the Executive Chairman and Vijay Malay in-charge as the Vice Chairman. To rationalize the fleet structure, Kingfisher was focussed towards the international routes and functioning as a full-service carrier while Air Deccan was allotted the wider domestic reach and operated as a low cost carrier. As both the carriers operated the Airbus, the operational synergies integrated not only the management and staff of the airlines but also the engineering, inventory management and ground handling services, maintenance and overhaul sectors. These efforts brought about an increased savings in costs by 4-5% (INR. 300 crores)* Further, by devising a more optimal routing strategy it could help in rationalizing the fares. Before the merger Air Deccan recorded a net loss of Rs 213.17 crores on revenue of Rs 437.82 crores for 2006-07. The company had also raised Rs 400 crores through an IPO in May 2006. The merger will create a more competitive business in scale and scope to emerge as market leader.

Academic Competitions Essay -- Education, Talented Students

Academic Competitions As many of us know, we do not have many academic competitions here in United States. While in other countries, however, students are combating for getting the top marks, so they can gain entry into good colleges. This will automatically raises their chances for receiving opportunities in the career fields they are striving for. The need to be the best has become the motivation behind many students in today’s academic settings. Our country has a problem with education and students dropping out of school, but if we have more academic competitions which bring out the best in students, we will have a lower percentage of dropouts and the newer generations will have the power to advance the world. Academic competitions are being used all across the world as a tool to identify the most hardworking, creative and talented students. This process takes place outside the curriculum that is mandated by the school programs. â€Å"Academic Competitions can expand the scope and depth of content, allowing readers to explore subject areas beyond the opportunities available in a regular classroom.† (Debank 3). Competitions are used by many teachers at the root level to develop the talents of their students. â€Å"We need more, not less, competition in schools. We need to teach students how to win with dignity and how to lose with grace. We need to teach students that coming up short does not mean end of the world, but the beginning of a new journey, we should proudly show case examples of how competition betters the character of a student and how it motivates people to achieve greatness. Finally, we need to expunge the computer garbage that has seeped into our education system, and poisoned the dreams of our children† (Debank 3). Th... ...ous problem. We may not notice it now but as time goes on, we will have problems in our education systems. Competition has plenty of advantages and at hand may be some disadvantages but they can surely be solved with the guidance of an adult. In the process of competition the students realize the emotional and psychological moments in which they have to be resilient in withdrawal and humble in victory. Competition exists at every level of education and every stage of human life, so it is important to get involved in competitions that benefit our lives. It is equally important to turn every stage of participation into an opportunity, for us to learn and develop in many different ways. School competitions benefits students say research. (Melvin 6). It is said that competition breeds excellence; that only by the threat of defeat can we achieve the greatest victory.

Machiavelli and Renaissance Humanism

Renaissance Humanism is defined as â€Å"a literary and linguistic movement-an attempt to revive classical Latin (and later Greek), as well as the values and sensibilities that came with the language† (Hunt et al, 415). I think that Machiavelli was a humanist of his era because in his writing The Prince, he relied on history to provide a handbook to future rulers and princes. Machiavelli drew much of this guidebook from his past dealings with politicians and their self-ambitious monarchies. In my opinion he wrote this guide to as a way to show future princes that the ways of the past should be adhered to in order for Italy to regain its prior glory. In The Prince Machiavelli uses many examples from history to show that we need to embrace the past in order to gain a prosperous future. Machiavelli's, The Prince serves as a handbook to future rulers with their roles and responsibilities. Machiavelli begins his handbook with his view of princely virtues. He argues that in order for a person to be a good leader and stay in rule he must not just be a good person but that â€Å"he must learn how to not be good† (Lawall et al, 1951) in order to protect himself from anyone trying to overtake his rule. He must always be prepared and not make himself the â€Å"good guy† all the time. Machiavelli shows that being a good person all of the time will only allow for the bad people to overpower the good people, â€Å"because anyone who determines to act in all circumstances the part of a good man must come to ruin among so many who are not good† (Lawall et al, 1951). Machiavelli goes on to further his humanistic views on how a prince should be viewed by his people. He discusses the choices a person of power has in being â€Å"liberal† (1952) and generous or stingy. He goes on to say that being too liberal will bring a man of power to ruin and that being frugal is important. He explains that as long as a ruler â€Å"abstains from the property of his citizens and subjects† he will gain the respect of his people. He goes on to discuss that a ruler will be more respected if he is living and spending other people’s money. He discusses the examples set by Cyrus, Caesar, and Alexander in which they lived off â€Å"plunder, loot and ransom† (1953). These three rulers were spending the â€Å"money of others† (1953) and therefore were not hurting themselves by having to spend what was already theirs. Machiavelli goes on to explain that â€Å"nothing eats itself up as fast as does liberality† (1953) because when practiced it can lead to poverty and will make a ruler have to raise taxes which will in turn bring hatred on by his people (1953). Machiavelli also discusses the importance of being feared and loved as well as, being thought of as cruel but compassionate all at the same time. He uses Dido and Borgia as examples. Borgia is used as the example for cruelty. He says that because Borgia was so cruel his cruelness brought prosperity and unity to Romagna and therefore was prosperous because of the fear that he instilled in his people. But because his Senate was too â€Å"compassionate† he lost his clout (1954). Machiavelli also explains that a new prince is going to face several challenges and because of this will be faced to make very hard decisions that may or may not hurt his reputation among his people. Here he uses Virgil’s Dido as an example, â€Å"Hard circumstances and the newness of my realm force me to do such things, and to keep watch over all my lands† (1954). From these examples, Machiavelli is telling his reader that as a prince they must be flexible and show cruelty or compassion when needed in any situation. Machiavelli goes on to state that a prince should â€Å"be slow in believing and acting, and should make no one afraid of him†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦so that â€Å"too much confidence does not make him incautious, and too much suspicion does not make him unbearable† (1954). This is the way to keep support from his people and will not turn their backs on him when the going gets tough. Renaissance Humanism is defined as â€Å"a literary and linguistic movement-an attempt to revive classical Latin (and later Greek), as well as the values and sensibilities that came with the language† (Hunt et al, 415). Machiavelli’s The Prince was essentially a handbook for how a Prince should portray himself but could also be seen as a day to day handbook by the everyday people of his time for they were all faced with the same moral decisions on a daily basis. Machiavelli used The Prince as a gateway to create a moral and philosophical guide for all people in general and uses examples from history to show that the past needs to be embraced in order to gain a prosperous future.

The Mockingbirds in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee...

Walt Whitman’s 1859 poem â€Å"Out of the Cradle Rocking Endlessly† depicts the mockingbird as a symbol of innocence that chants or sings of fond memories from the past. By contrast, Harper Lee’s famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird, published in 1960, written almost a century after Whitman’s poem, portrays the mockingbird as innocent but as a fragile creature with horrific memories – memories of discrimination, isolation, and violence. Harper Lee wrote her novel, which is rooted in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, in the Deep South, during a time of segregation and discrimination, social issues which can be seen not only in the novel but were witnessed by Harper Lee in her own life. While Lee does insert bits and pieces of her own life†¦show more content†¦She was part of a southern family related to the confederate general Robert E. Lee. Her father was a lawyer and newspaper editor. Harper Lee attended Huntington College and then the University of Alabama as well as attended Oxford University as an exchange student for one year (McGovern 2). Lee entered law school briefly but soon left for New York to pursue a writing career. Harper Lees father, similar to Atticus, Scout’s father, had defended two black men who were accused of killing a white storekeeper; both men, father and son, were later hanged (Big Read). Although the Civil Rights movement had begun and society was making some positive changes such as Brown versus Board of Education (1954) which â€Å"held that the racial segregation of children in public schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment† (PBS). While these events were creating positive changes in society and in the government, real-life injustices such as Amasa Lee’s case and the Scottsboro trials still remained. It was events like these which helped to inspire Lee to write a book that brings to light the social issues of the day such a s social class distinction and, of course, racism. However, the novel also establishes the idea that not all were guilty of heinous behavior and ideology – some, like the mockingbird, were innocent. To understand the importance of the theme of the mockingbird in Lee’s novel, one must understandShow MoreRelatedKill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee1049 Words   |  5 PagesTo Kill a Mockingbird: How a Story could be based on True Events in Everyday LifeDaisy GaskinsCoastal Pines Technical Collegeâ€Æ'Harper Lee was born in Monroeville, Alabama. Her father was a former newspaper editor and proprietor, who had served as a state senator and practiced as a lawyer in Monroeville. Also Finch was known as the maiden name of Lee’s mother. With that being said Harper Lee became a writer like her father, but she became a American writer, famous for her race relations novel â€Å"ToRead MoreTo Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee1000 Words   |  4 Pagesworld-wide recognition to the many faces of prejudice is an accomplishment of its own. Author Harper Lee has had the honor to accomplish just that through her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, a moving and inspirational story about a young girl learning the difference between the good and the bad of the world. In the small town of Monroeville, Alabama, Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926. Growing up, Harper Lee had three siblings: two sisters and an older brother. She and her siblings grew up modestlyRead MoreKill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee1290 Words   |  6 PagesHarper Lee published To Kill a Mockingbird during a rough period in American history, also known as the Civil Rights Movement. This plot dives into the social issues faced by African-Americans in the south, like Tom Robinson. Lee felt that the unfair treatment towards blacks were persistent, not coming to an end any time in the foreseeable future. This dark movement drove her to publish this novel hopeful that it would encourage the society to realize that the harsh racism must stop. Lee effectivelyRead MoreKill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee873 Words   |  4 PagesIn the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates that â€Å"it†™s a sin to kill a mockingbird† throughout the novel by writing innocent characters that have been harmed by evil. Tom Robinson’s persecution is a symbol for the death of a mockingbird. The hunters shooting the bird would in this case be the Maycomb County folk. Lee sets the time in the story in the early 1950s, when the Great Depression was going on and there was poverty everywhere. The mindset of people back then was that blackRead MoreKill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee1695 Words   |  7 PagesIn To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee presents as a ‘tired old town’ where the inhabitants have ‘nowhere to go’ it is set in the 1930s when prejudices and racism were at a peak. Lee uses Maycomb town to highlight prejudices, racism, poverty and social inequality. In chapter 2 Lee presents the town of Maycomb to be poverty stricken, emphasised through the characterisation of Walter Cunningham. When it is discovered he has no lunch on the first day of school, Scout tries to explain the situation to MissRead MoreKill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee963 Words   |  4 Pagesgrowing up, when older characters give advice to children or siblings.Growing up is used frequently in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Harper Lee uses the theme growing up in To Kill a Mockingbird to change characters opinion, develop characters through their world, and utilizes prejudice to reveal growing up. One major cause growing up is used in To Kill a Mockingbird is to represent a change of opinion. One part growing up was shown in is through the trial in part two of the novelRead MoreKill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee1052 Words   |  5 PagesTo Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee takes place in Maycomb County, Alabama in the late 30s early 40s , after the great depression when poverty and unemployment were widespread throughout the United States. Why is the preconception of racism, discrimination, and antagonism so highly related to some of the characters in this book? People often have a preconceived idea or are biased about one’s decision to live, dress, or talk. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee examines the preconceptionRead MoreTo Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee567 Words   |  2 Pages To Kill A Mockingbird is a novel written by Harper Lee. It is a novel that addresses issues of race, class, gender roles and destructions of innocence. The title is symbolic to the plot of the novel. Moreover, it serves as a metaphor which in turn serves as a warning for people to judge their own souls, rather than what is seen by the eyes. The mocking bad is used as a symbol of innocence, yet people are hurt throughout the novel. As a metaphor because, initially, the author writes, to kill a mockingRead MoreKill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee1656 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"Mockingbirds don’t do any harm but make music for us †¦ that’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird†, is a famous quote from the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Atticus, the father of the main character Scout, says this to her and her brother Jem when they receive rifles for Christmas. This book is considered a classic due to the allegory between the book title and the trial that occurs about halfway through the book. In the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout is six. She is an innocentRead MoreHarper Lee and to Kill a Mockingbird931 Words   |  4 PagesHarper Lee and her Works Harper Lee knew first hand about the life in the south in the 1930s. She was born in Monroeville, Alabama in 1926 (Castleman 2). Harper Lee was described by one of her friends as Queen of the Tomboys (Castleman 3). Scout Finch, the main character of Lees Novel, To Kill a Mockinbird, was also a tomboy. Many aspects of To Kill a Mockingbird are autobiographical (Castleman 3). Harper Lees parents were Amasa Coleman Lee and Frances Finch Lee. She was the youngest