Sunday 18 October 2015

Special Baggage Allowance on Jet Airways



Jet Airways is a full service carrier of India which connects to domestic and international destinations. Jet Airways check in and cabin allowance rules which allow passengers to carry luggage free of cost within prescribed limits. However, if the passengers wish to carry more, they can always carry it by paying excess baggage charges. There could be certain items which are of odd-size or nature and which are required to be carried on flight. Some of these items could be the sporting or musical instruments. Sporting items can be carried on Jet flights without paying the excess baggage charges as these are exempt from oversize charge. These items are:
  1. Non motorized touring bicycles
  2. 1 pair of water skis of standard type
  3. Fishing equipments including 2 rods, 1 reel, 1 pair of waders, 1 landing net and tackle box
  4. Fibre glass made surfboards
  5. Golf kit including a bag which contains 1 pair of shoes, 12 golf balls and 14 golf clubs
  6. Non motorized paragliding items
  7. Snow boards and pair of boots
  8. Scuba diving items including a set containing 2 fins and 1 piece each of empty scuba tank, tank harness, tank pressure gauge, snorkel, knife, safety vest, spear gun, scuba regulator and mask.
  9. Skiing kit including 1 pair of ski boots, 1 pair of skis and 1 pair of poles.

Musical instruments can also be carried in the cabin luggage but for large equipment passengers are required to buy a seat. These items shall not weigh more than 75 kgs and shall be capable of being fastened to the seat. Since the extra seat is not occupied by a human, there will not be any free allowance for it and passenger will not earn any extra JPMiles towards Jet Airways frequent flyer program. Another important point to note is that the Jet Airways web check in, kiosk check in or tele check in is not to be permitted for such guests. Check in has to be done at the airports.

Weapons and ammunition are prohibited to be carried in the cabin baggage unless this has been authorized by the Government for specific persons. Certain items of dangerous nature such as knives, martial arts weapons, box cutters, spears, licensed firearms and swords are some of items which can be carried in the check in luggage provided these are suitably packed so as not to cause any harm to the handlers. However, the passengers are required to pay Rs 5000 per such items and ammunition up to 50 rounds for domestic flights and USD 100 per such item on international sectors.

With respect to the carriage of kirpans or short knives by Sikhs for religious reasons, there is a limitation of their carriage in Cabin only on the domestic flights within India. These are not allowed to be carried in cabin on international flights. These have to checked in on international flights of Jet Airways.  

Wednesday 7 October 2015

Delta, Air France Aiming to Cut Jobs To Remain Viable


With cost cutting ruling the roost in the airline industry in Europe and Americas, it is clear that certain major players might not be all that well financially. Delta Airlines of US and Air France of France have recently announced job cuts to ensure that they remain viable. While Delta has been eyeing the top management positions and the salaried workers for meeting this end, Air France is cutting the fat at the lower rungs of organization.

Delta has seen a sluggish growth in revenues with only 3 and 1 percent hikes in the first and second quarters of this year as compared to last year. This has not been as per expectations and there has been a need to cut down on the costs by job cutting of regulars. While there is not so much of frenzy with this measure with Delta, the story has been different on the other side of Atlantic.

Air France labor unions resorted to violent measures by tearing off the shirts of two of Air France managers who had announced cutting down of costs by job-cutting. It is notable that the mega airlines of Europe- Lufthansa and Air France- have been battling the union strife for some years now on a number of issues. With soaring competition from the Gulf carriers on long haul flights and from low cost European carriers, the mega airlines of yesteryears have been feeling the squeeze. When the corrections are sought to be applied, it results in labor unrest. Recent strikes and violent methods have dented the image of these carriers worldwide which has resulted in curtailing of some routes, scaling down of operations and accumulating losses.


While the American airlines have been able to do a balancing act with cooperation from the unions and some deft handling of situation by top management, the same has not been seen in case of Europe.