In Person
Jet’s high flyer
Jet Airways group chairman, Naresh Goyal, has been spearheading quality onboard service and championing India’s potential to lead the world in its hospitality standards
This year Naresh became the first non-hotelier to be conferred the prestigious “Hall of Fame” Award at the Hotel Investment Forum India 2011 in Mumbai.
OBH: Tell us about your award? NG: As a part of Jet Airways, I have had the pleasure and privilege of partnering the hospitality industry in India’s remarkable growth story. The award was for ‘significant contributions towards taking hospitality to the skies’ and was for our success in providing guests with a truly world class onboard hospitality experience, rivalling the best five-star comfort and service anywhere in the world, as well as for the development and growth of Jet Airways as an iconic Indian service brand.
What do you feel is the significance of the award? It is a great honour as this is the first time that an airline has been honoured at these prestigious awards. It is recognition of the dedication and hard work put in by all our employees to offer our guests a world-class travel experience, and will motivate them to further raise the bar with regards to Jet Airways’ product and service quality.
What principles have guided Jet’s onboard developments? Since we began in 1993, Jet Airways has benchmarked itself against the very best international carriers. We have relentlessly focussed on offering the very best travel experience in the skies, be it in terms of new, state-of-the-art aircraft, a world-class in-flight product, superb cuisine, or warm hospitality and service from our skilled crew. Our crew undergoes rigorous training and is committed to offering guests personalised, attentive service. Jet Airways is now India’s largest domestic airline group, by marketshare, in a very competitive commercial environment.
What inspired your onboard quality drive? My dream has always been to see an Indian carrier
take its place among a list of the five best carriers in the world. If Jet Airways is to accomplish this, a relentless focus on meeting and exceeding current class-leading global service standards is a pre-requisite. I believe that Indian people have an inherent advantage as hospitality towards guests is a part of our culture. Couple this with our intensive crew training, and I am confident we can further raise the bar in the global arena in this regard.
Which partners have been the most significant in helping you achieve this? We have worked with a range of partners in diverse areas like seat development, in-flight catering and even aircraft manufacturers, to name a few, with regard to in-flight product development. In addition, travel agents and other hospitality partners have been extremely supportive in raising awareness levels about and effectively marketing our product.
Do you feel Jet Airways is unique or does its success reflect a trend within India as a whole? India’s economy has been rapidly growing, enabling the country to slowly but surely take its place as a significant player on the world stage, even as traditionally strong economies have faltered or
Award-winning service on Jet Airways
even shrunk. Jet Airways’ success is not isolated and reflects the increasingly global growth of Indian businesses.
How has the global recession impacted on your luxury/quality philosophy? Our commitment to offering guests the very best travel experience has remained unchanged through the global recession. However, we did offer domestic guests a low-fare product (Jet Airways Konnect), in addition to our flagship full-service product, in accordance with the prevailing market demands. With the recovery in premium air travel demand, we are now transferring a significant number of domestic Jet Airways Konnect services to full-service Jet Airways. Internationally, we continue to offer guests our full-service product.
What’s next for Jet Airways? We will look to connect more existing international destinations with our current gateway cities of Mumbai and Delhi. We are also examining new international destinations, although no final decision has been made in this regard.
www.onboardhospitality.com 59
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