‘Air India most reputed Indian aviation firm’

National carrier Air India has topped the list of reputed brands in Indian aviation while SpiceJet has stood first among private domestic airlines, followed by Jet Airways. The ratings, reportedly the first of their kind, are based on media coverage and reviews of travellers using the services of these airlines.

The one-year survey was conducted by media analytics company, BlueBytes, in association with research organisation, TRA. Pooja Kaura, chief spokesperson of BlueBytes, said that in the span of a year, it gathered as many as 30,000 articles about airlines and aircraft from Hindi, English and regional newspapers and magazines. “The survey was carried out in nine cities across the country. A brand perception study was also undertaken through interviews of 2,500 passengers from June, 15, 2015 to June 15, 2016 based on which, a 53-page report was prepared,” said Ms Kaura.

According to the survey, Singapore Airlines is the leader among international private airlines with Emirates and Etihad coming second and third, respectively. “We tracked the managing and organising functions of the airline and how much it was discussed by media and for every negative review or news item, we gave a negative marking to the airline,” said Ms Kaura.

Air India garnered 22 per cent votes (combined for international and domestic sectors) for increasing baggage limits, flying in profit zones and for a net profit of '200 crore while it was given negative marking for incidents such as the fire scare and an engineer being sucked in by the aircraft engine and for delays. SpiceJet which stood first in the domestic sector received 23 per cent votes for reasons such as their low price scheme and earning good profit whereas it was slammed for being a defaulter vis-a-vis Airport Authority of India and offloading disabled passengers. Jet Airways and Indigo scored 12 per cent votes whereas GoAir got 17 per cent votes for increasing connectivity to tier 2 and tier 3 cities and announcing no cancellation.