Neha Jain: http://indianairlinesnews.blogspot.com/ 24

1. Jet Air’s on-time performance soars to 89% in Feb

Jet Airways, Jetlite and GoAir were the only three domestic airlines that reported a month-on-month increase in seat factor (number of seats occupied against number of seats available) this February.

All other domestic airlines saw a marginal decline with overall domestic seat factor also declining owing to end of peak travel season.

As per data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Jet’s seat factor was up to 76.5% (73.9%), JetLite’s to 80.2% (74.6%) and GoAir’s to 87.1% (83.3%) during the month.

The biggest decline, almost by 3 percentage points, was seen in Kingfisher’s seat factor at 83.6% (86.5%), followed by Air India at 68% (69.3%), SpiceJet at 81% (82.6%) and IndiGo at 87.6% (88.6%).

In terms of market share though, Kingfisher continued to rule the domestic skies, despite IndiGo snapping at its heels. While Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher network carried almost one in five domestic passengers, with 19% market share in February, low fare IndiGo was not far behind at 18.7%. Jet Airways was also close behind IndiGo with 18% share of the market and Air India (domestic) was at the fourth place with 15.8% share. SpiceJet was a distant fifth at 13.8%, followed by Jetlite at 8.1% and then Go Air at 6.6%.

In a statement on Wednesday, though, Jet claimed market leadership when taken together with low fare subsidiary JetLite. “Jet Airways, together with JetLite, successfully retained its leadership position in the Indian Aviation sector with a dominant market share of 26.1%....Jet Airways carried 3.81 lakh international revenue paying passengers in the month of February 2011 with an overall seat factor of 81.1%. The airline also carried 8.24 lakh domestic revenue paying passengers with a seat factor of 76.5%,” the statement said.

But Jet’s passenger complaint record wasn’t so rosy, with the airline facing maximum complaints per 10,000 passengers at 4.1.

Though the number in itself is quite small, it compares poorly with Air India Domestic’s 1.1, which was surprisingly the topper in this category. Kingfisher saw 1.7 complaints, JetLite 2.1, GoAir 2.2, SpiceJet 2.8 and IndiGo 3.1.

In the on-time performance (OTP) area, Jet again topped with 9 out of 10 flights taking off on time. Jet’s OTP was the highest at 89.2%, followed by 88.7% for Kingfisher and 86.8% for IndiGo. The worst was SpiceJet, with almost one in four flights not operating on time and an OTP of just 73.9%. Air India domestic also had a similar record with 25% flights getting delayed and OTP of just 75.8%. One in five JetLite flights also could not fly on time at 80.6% OTP. GoAir’s OTP was bettter at 83.2%.

2. Steve Harrigan to Nic Robertson: ‘It’s unfathomable that a journalist could go on the air, without getting his facts straight’
By Chris Ariens on March 22, 2011 5:36 PM

During his evisceration of Fox News’s reporting about him, and others, being used as human shields in Libya, CNN’s Nic Robertson singled out Fox News’s correspondent in Tripoli, Steve Harrigan. Now Harrigan is responding and accusing Robertson of telling an untruth. Harrigan did not go on the trip to the ruins of Muammar Gaddafi‘s compound, considering it propaganda by the Libyan government. Instead, he sent his security guard who was armed with a camera.

CNN’s Robertson told Wolf Blitzer last night, “The member of the FOX team was surprised that the correspondent and the cameraman weren’t coming out, that he was being sent. This isn’t his normal job.”

“It’s unfathomable that a journalist could go on the air, without getting his facts straight and attack another journalist while in a war zone,” said Harrigan of Robertson. “Our security guard made it very clear to me that he never even spoke to Robertson about why Fox reporters were not going on the trip.”

Harrigan and Robertson, who were live on their respective networks at the same time today: 4:13pmET, are staying at the same Tripoli hotel. Should make for an interesting breakfast in the morning.

Update: CNN’s response: “Fox news has reported and is continuing to report without an accurate and respectful grasp of the conditions for all the reporters on the ground – we have no further comment on this.”

Related: Harrigan also spoke with HuffPost about Robertson: “…for someone to say I’m lazy who doesn’t know me, who’s not in our working condition, who doesn’t know our schedule…this guy has a screw loose!”"

3. Westminster 6th grade tours Castleton
Students respond to time spent on campus.

What I really liked was when I got to go into a radio station and I got to go on air. For future reference the radio station channel is 93.1. One thing that surprised me was how nice the students were and just all of the people there were really nice. One thing that I learned was that you can pick your own classes but you still have to do the main classes. I really liked how we ended the day with swimming in the pool. It was really fun. I really appreciated how the life guards took their time and let us play in the pool when the pool was closed. My favorite thing that I did there was lunch because there were a lot of options of food and there was soda and an ice cream machine. The only thing if you lived there was if you ate there every day you would probably gain weight. I also think that the football field was pretty cool and the basketball court.

Thank you Castleton, for letting me and my class come and come see your college, and also for all the people who set up this trip for taking their time. This college really sparked interest to go to college because I really didn't know if I wanted to go to college.

The journey between 6th grade and college is a long one, but for a single day that journey seemed short. As if I was going tomorrow. Now I am not sure if Castleton would be the college I would be going to, but it still felt like an orientation for a college I am going to (or considering to go to) next year. This trip not only encouraged my want to go to college but also made me consider Castleton for a two-year or four-year degree. The facilities were amazing and they had a major and minor that I might want to do. These were a major in chemistry and a minor in mathematics.

The library was truly amazing; I wish I could have stayed there longer. I really enjoyed the trip. It was fun to work on reporting and of course swimming was too. I think that the football coach's speech about self motivation was, well, motivating. I am glad that our class had the wonderful opportunity to see a real college before we are even in middle school. Most people don't visit a college until their Junior or Senior year in high school. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the students, teachers, and administrators who let us visit and helped us when we were there. This trip was fun, informative, and inspiring.

4. U.S. Joins French and Coalition Forces Launching Tomahawk Missiles on Libya

Updated at 3:49 PM ET. U.S. military, already at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, launches missiles against Gadhafi's forces in Libya, defense official says.

BENGHAZI, Libya – After pro-Gadahfi forces were reported attacking rebels early Saturday, officials from France, Britain, United States and the Arab world agreed to launch an attack on Gadahfi forces.

United in their agreement to attack Libyan forces was approved after world leaders met in Paris on Saturday to discuss the “no-fly” zone resolution that was passed by the U.N. on Friday.

It was only two hours after the meeting when French air forces were seen hovering over the city of Benghazi. According to a French official, one of the first strikes came from a fighter jet that fired on a Libyan military vehicle. "Our planes are already preventing air attacks on the city," said French President Nicholas Sarkozy said. "Our determination is total.

When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was asked at the meeting in Paris if the United States goal is to overthrow Gadhafi’s regime, she reportedly did not answer saying it is the aim of Western powers to protect the civilians in Libya. "If the international community is to have credibility ... then action must take place," Clinton said during a news conference. "We have every reason to fear that left unchecked, Gadhafi will commit unspeakable atrocities."

Over the skies of Benghazi, dramatic pictures of a pro-Gadahfi warplane crashing to the ground in Behghazi have been captured. NBC News' Jim Maceda confirmed on the TODAY show that authorities are still trying to determine if the jet was shot down by Gadhafi forces, rebels on the ground or if the jet suffered a malfunction. Rebels were seen cheering when it crashed.

Al Jazeera recently reported French warplanes have also hit four tanks that have been used by pro-Gadahfi forces on the outskirts of Benghazi. Other reports of military action have come in from witnesses in Bengazi, in the east of the country who said they heard very large explosions on Saturday along with Al Jazeera's correspondents reporting multiple explosions and plumes of smoke in the sky.

Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of the opposition National Libyan Council, told Al Jazeera "there is a bombardment by artillery and rockets on all districts of Benghazi".

Ahmad Shabani, a spokesman for the Libyan opposition's national council, told Al Jazeera the opposition feels more hopeful now that allied forces are being seen.

NEHA JAIN

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