印度航空大户举步维艰

来源：The Wall Street Journal

现在，经营一个飞机制造公司便意味着亏钱，这点印度的Jet航空公司可以证明。1992年Naresh Goyal成立了自己的Jet航空公司，从而改写了印度的飞机制造历史。在公司成立早期，几乎控制印度整个国家的一半的市场，并慢慢地成为印度航空业的大户。然而，2007年末，Jet公司营业额大幅度下降，直至现在情况窘迫。

Airline-Sector(航空部门) Woes （困难）Slam（猛攻）India's Highflier

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

Naresh Goyal shook up（使改组） Indian aviation （飞机制造业）when he founded Jet in 1992. With punctual （准时的，正点的）flights, new planes and friendly service, Jet was the first carrier（运输机） here to truly modernize（现代化） air travel.

Jet controlled nearly half the domestic （国内的）market by early this decade, with most of the rest going to state-owned（国有的） 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（赶超） the industry with net profits（净利润） 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（低票价） from no-frills（低成本） competitors ravaged（蹂躏，璀璨） revenue（收入）. Staff costs soared as rivals （对手）poached（偷猎） pilots （飞行员）and mechanics（技工）. Airport congestion（拥塞） in India made for a logistical（后勤） nightmare -- forcing Jet to open an international hub（枢纽） 4,000 miles from home, in Brussels. Amid a glut of （供过于求）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（挣得） 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（可维持的） profits.

U.S. carriers have lost billions of dollars in recent decades despite soaring （快速增长的）passenger numbers. Jet Airways has similarly struggled to capitalize （资本化）on growth as it got squeezed（挤） between uncontrollable costs and increasingly unfettered （无拘无束的）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 （暴发户）to challenge bigger, established carriers.

In India, where state-run carriers and government policies stymied（侵袭） air travel for decades, the sudden transition proved tumultuous（混乱的）. Last year was particularly rough. The airline business floundered（挣扎） as fuel prices surged（上涨）, the credit crunch（信贷紧缩） hit and world-wide travel plunged（颠簸）.

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（很小就会） 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（提供资金） by personal savings and a gold bracelet（手镯） 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（质优价高的） air travel.

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