Airline offers buy-on-board meals on domestic flights

Economy class passengers will no longer get free meals on Jet’s domestic flights. This will come into effect for tickets purchased from September 25 and for travel on or after September 28.

Vistara introduced a buyon-board option for economy class passengers last month to compete with no-frills brands.

Under the fare policy announced on Wednesday, domestic passengers opting for lowest fares on Jet will not be served complimentary meals. However, free meals will be available to economy class passengers on international routes, irrespective of the ticket price. The airline is working on cost-saving and revenue maximisation initiatives after ~23-billion losses in two preceding quarters.

Another possible step to cut costs could be restrictions on lounge access for its loyalty programme members.

“Service philosophies and models are being reviewed and remodelled by global airlines virtually every day. As India’s premier international airline, we are receptive to these changes and endeavour to align our service framework to embrace such needs of various segments of customers,” said Raj Sivakumar, senior vicepresident (worldwide sales).

A travel industry source said the fare difference could be as much as ~1,000 on MumbaiDelhi sector.”We do not expect fares to drop further. On shorthaul flights, customers may opt for cheapest fares, with a buyon-board option. On longer flights, we believe customers will go for all-inclusive fares,” said Ajay Awtaney, founder of Live from a Lounge website.

John Nair, head, business travel, Cox & Kings said, “With this, the differentiation between a full-service and a low-cost carrier will be a thing of the past.”