評(píng)論
打印
Business.
商業(yè)。
Air India.
印度航空業(yè)。
Flying low.
在低迷中飛行。
India's flag carrier is in big trouble.
印度國(guó)家航空公司有大麻煩了。
WELL-TO-DO Indian graduates used to line up to join Air India. The national carrier was founded in 1932 and nicknamed the Maharajah. Singapore and Malaysia sought its advice when setting up their state airlines in the 1970s, as a former director recalls. "This was a temple of modern India," he sighs.
印度的優(yōu)秀畢業(yè)生曾經(jīng)排著隊(duì)要加入印度航空公司。這一國(guó)家航空公司成立于1932年，外號(hào)"大君 "。根據(jù)一位前任主管回憶，上世紀(jì)70年代，新加坡和馬來西亞在創(chuàng)立自己國(guó)家的航空公司時(shí)，都曾向印度航空咨詢意見。他嘆息道："它曾經(jīng)是現(xiàn)代印度的神殿。"
Today the Maharajah is looking shabby. Air India made an estimated loss of $1.45 billion in the 2011-12 fiscal year, according to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), a consultancy. That was nearly three-quarters of the losses made by all Indian carriers combined. Air India has not made a net profit for six years. Its losses have ballooned since a disastrous 2007 merger with Indian Airlines, its state-owned counterpart for domestic routes (see chart). The union has sparked spats-the latest pilots' strike, which ended on July 3rd, cost almost $120m. The government bailed out the merged firm with $5.8 billion in April, after a $3.5 billion debt restructuring last year.
如今，"大君"看起來十分落魄。根據(jù)亞太航空中心（CAPA）咨詢公司的數(shù)據(jù)，印度航空公司在2011-12財(cái)務(wù)年度的預(yù)計(jì)虧損為14.5億美元。這幾乎是印度所有航空公司虧損總額的四分之三。印度航空公司已經(jīng)連續(xù)六年沒有創(chuàng)造凈利潤(rùn)了。自從2007年與印度人航空公司——專營(yíng)國(guó)內(nèi)航線的國(guó)有航空公司——的一次災(zāi)難性合并以來，印度航空公司的虧損額不斷增長(zhǎng)（見圖表）。這一聯(lián)合引起了一些小爭(zhēng)端——七月三日剛剛結(jié)束的最新飛行員罷工事件，造成了近1.2億美元的損失。繼去年35億美元的債務(wù)重組后，政府在四月份又撥款58億美元給這一合并公司幫其渡過難關(guān)。
Yet the government is unlikely to give up on the combined carriers, whose share of the domestic flight market has dropped from 42% to 16% over the past decade. It would be hard to attract a buyer. Air India spends over a quarter of its operating revenue on employees' pay and benefits; Jet Airways, a domestic rival, spends a tenth. The board approved a voluntary-retirement scheme for 5,000 staff this month, but needs the government's approval. The Maharajah is even thinking of selling its art collection.
但政府現(xiàn)在不大可能放棄這一聯(lián)合航空公司，在過去十年里，印度航空公司在國(guó)內(nèi)航空市場(chǎng)的份額從42%下降至16%。這樣的情形很難吸引購(gòu)買者。印度航空在雇員的薪水和福利上用掉了超過四分之一的營(yíng)業(yè)收益。而捷特航空，印度航空公司的一個(gè)國(guó)內(nèi)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)者，花費(fèi)的比例僅為十分之一。董事會(huì)這個(gè)月為5000名員工批準(zhǔn)了一個(gè)自愿退休方案，但這一方案仍需要政府的批準(zhǔn)。"大君"甚至在考慮出售它的藝術(shù)收藏品。
Air India keeps ticket prices uneconomically low. When it slashed prices last year, it forced others to follow suit. That, and India's high taxes on aviation fuel, make it hard for any airline to earn money. Only one of India's six carriers, Indigo, a budget airline, is expected to post a profit this year. Some blame the rise of Gulf airlines on international routes. "Emirates is now the national airline of India. That's what people say," sighs the retired Air India man.
印度航空公司保持著不經(jīng)濟(jì)的低票價(jià)。去年，當(dāng)它大幅下調(diào)票價(jià)時(shí)，它迫使市場(chǎng)中其它航空公司跟進(jìn)。這一行為，連同印度對(duì)航空燃料收取的高額稅費(fèi)，使得航空公司賺錢異常困難。在印度六家航空公司中，只有靛藍(lán)航空這一家廉價(jià)航空公司，在今年有望盈利。有些人把原因歸為海灣地區(qū)一些航空公司在國(guó)際航線上的崛起。"阿聯(lián)酋航空目前是大家公認(rèn)的印度國(guó)家航空公司。"這位印度航空公司退休的職員嘆息道。
