[經濟廣角]印度航空大戶舉步維艱

印度航空大戶舉步維艱

來源：The Wall Street Journal

現在，經營一個飛機制造公司便意味着虧錢，這點印度的Jet航空公司可以證明。1992年Naresh Goyal成立了自己的Jet航空公司，從而改寫了印度的飛機制造歷史。在公司成立早期，幾乎控制印度整個國家的一半的市場，並慢慢地成爲印度航空業的大戶。然而，2007年末，Jet公司營業額大幅度下降，直至現在情況窘迫。

Airline-Sector(航空部門) Woes （困難）Slam（猛攻）India's Highflier

Running an airline is a reliable way to lose money. The turbulent （洶涌的，狂暴的）ride of India's Jet Airways shows why.

Naresh Goyal shook up（使改組） Indian aviation （飛機制造業）when he founded Jet in 1992. With punctual （準時的，正點的）flights, new planes and friendly service, Jet was the first carrier（運輸機） here to truly modernize（現代化） air travel.

Jet controlled nearly half the domestic （國內的）market by early this decade, with most of the rest going to state-owned（國有的） Indian Airlines. In Jet's 2004 fiscal year, as many of the world's carriers were still recovering from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S., it outpaced（趕超） the industry with net profits（淨利潤） of $33 million. Jet's initial （主要的）public offering, in 2005, valued Mr. Goyal's 80% stake at $2 billion.

Now, Jet is scrambling（爬，攀） to stay aloft（高高在上）.

Low fares（低票價） from no-frills（低成本） competitors ravaged（蹂躪，璀璨） revenue（收入）. Staff costs soared as rivals （對手）poached（偷獵） pilots （飛行員）and mechanics（技工）. Airport congestion（擁塞） in India made for a logistical（後勤） nightmare -- forcing Jet to open an international hub（樞紐） 4,000 miles from home, in Brussels. Amid a glut of （供過於求）capacity, Jet's market share slid from a high of almost 49% in 2003 to roughly 25% this year.

The airline started posting sharp losses in late 2007. Jet eked out（掙得） a net profit in its latest quarter by selling assets, slashing（降低） costs and booking tax credits, but the outlook remains tough.

"It's been hard," said Mr. Goyal, the 59-year-old founder, in an interview at his $15 million London townhouse. "We were making so much money, and now we're losing money."

The carrier's woes（悲哀，不幸） began as India's economy boomed in 2005, thus highlighting a broader problem for the global airline sector: Even in good times, the industry struggles to generate sustainable（可維持的） profits.

U.S. carriers have lost billions of dollars in recent decades despite soaring （快速增長的）passenger numbers. Jet Airways has similarly struggled to capitalize （資本化）on growth as it got squeezed（擠） between uncontrollable costs and increasingly unfettered （無拘無束的）competition.

Jet's slide can be traced to （追溯到）a sea change in the global aviation business. Deregulation（放松管制）, the rise of Internet ticket sales and other factors have made it easier than ever for upstarts （暴發戶）to challenge bigger, established carriers.

In India, where state-run carriers and government policies stymied（侵襲） air travel for decades, the sudden transition proved tumultuous（混亂的）. Last year was particularly rough. The airline business floundered（掙扎） as fuel prices surged（上漲）, the credit crunch（信貸緊縮） hit and world-wide travel plunged（顛簸）.

Jet is reacting by cutting staff, closing offices around Asia and reducing flight frequencies. Searching for profitable routes, Jet recently took planes from India's crowded domestic market and expanded service to Dubai. It soon plans to start flying to Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Goyal cut his teeth（很小就會） in the airline business by working -- and sleeping -- at his uncle's New Delhi travel agency while he was an 18-year-old student. Seven years later, in 1974, he started his own agency, bankrolled（提供資金） by personal savings and a gold bracelet（手鐲） of his mother's that he pawned. As the Indian sales agent for overseas carriers including Air France and Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., he learned the ins and outs of upscale（質優價高的） air travel.

Keke View: Nothing can be exempted from the impact of the economic crisis.