Captain Gopinath bothers on quit of Kingfisher RED

kingfisher red ATR 

Kingfisher airlines chairman Vijay Mallya on Wednesday decided to ground his low-cost Kingfisher Red brand by January 31, 2012 as his cash-strapped airline firm hit turbulence due to huge debts and the high cost of aviation fuel.

"We believe there are more than enough guests who prefer to travel the full-service Kingfisher Class. And that shows through in our own performance where load factors in Kingfisher Class are more than in Kingfisher Red," he added.

Captain Gopinath, who pioneered the low-cost aviation business in India, says he is hurt by Vijay Mallya's decision to ground Kingfisher Red. Gopinath's Air Deccan was sold to Vijay Mallya in 2007 for Rs. 1,120 crore, which was rebranded Kingfisher Red.

Gopinath believes that it was a mistake to club the two airlines together and says Mr Mallya should have converted everything to Kingfisher Red rather than Kingfisher Class.

He also adds that it was a good idea to have all domestic routes under Red and international flight under Kingfisher First.

Rough estimates suggest that less than 10 per cent of India travels in airlines. Despite high fuel cost, if Gopinath has his way, that is where the business still is.

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