Jet Airways to phase out ATR aeroplanes

IndiGo had announced recently that it would buy 50 ATR aircraft to enter regional aviation

Full-service carrier Jet Airways has decided to phase out ATR aircraft from its fleet as it leans increasingly on larger planes. 

Market leader IndiGo has decided to buy 50 aircraft for foraying into regional operations. The ATR-72 is used on short-haul routes. According to Jet's website, the carrier has 15 ATR 72-500s and three ATR 72-600s. 

Sources say with a larger focus on international routes, the airline felt ATRs didn't fit the scheme of things. Add to that a scarcity of pilots to fly smaller planes and high maintenance costs. At present, expat pilots operate most ATRs for the airline, which leads to higher costs. For an airline, the cost of an expat pilot is at least four times that of an Indian pilot. "ATRs no more suit our strategy. Their maintenance costs are higher, getting pilots for them is difficult, and for the management it was becoming too difficult as the network strategy of operating an ATR is very different from that of a Boeing 737 or Airbus A330," a person aware of the development said.

Over the last few months, Jet has taken significant steps to phase out ATRs. The airline has tweaked its route planning. Shorter routes like Delhi-Bhopal-Delhi, Pune-Hyderabad-Pune, and Kolkata-Aizawl-Kolkata have been upgraded to Boeing 737. Kolkata-Silchar-Guwahati route, which was served with an ATR 72-500, has been extended to Delhi with a Boeing 737. The airline has also shut its ATR bases in Mumbai and Kolkata.

A Jet spokesperson said, "Jet Airways continues to evaluate and work on consolidating its markets and capacity deployment on various routes. ATRs have long constituted an integral part of our fleet and network and Jet Airways continues to operate ATR 72s on a host of sectors. The airline's strategic and long-term planning applies to our ATR fleet as well." The airline has been deploying wide-body aircraft like the 236-seater A330 on domestic routes of two and half hours. "Passenger feedback tells us that there is popularity of large aircraft in domestic sector; the feel is different, you have extra leg space unlike narrow-body jets," a Jet executive said.

Jet has been planning a restructuring of fleet since it decided to operate as a single brand in 2015. "Jet has to find someone willing to take the planes," said the person quoted earlier in the copy. 

The airline got shareholders' approval to combine subsidiary JetLite with itself in 2016.