Pittsburgh_Patrika_July_2015

The Pittsburgh Patrika, Vol. 20, No. 4, July, 2015
tier cities in the US and the Indian subcontinent are shortened anywhere
from 4 to 6 hours or even better.
With the Open Skies policies in the US for international carriers,
the Big-3 US carriers are feeling the heat from competition from
these big Persian Gulf carriers. These new comers have much younger
fleet, better and wider range of in-cabin service (like food, entertainment,
and importantly, cabin crew).
Besides, the Persian Gulf hubs are huge
shopping/entertainment complexes with
even hotels within the airport for long
layovers. The Business Class service in
these new entrants is far better than what
the US carriers offer.
So, these new Persian Gulf airlines are now luring away international
travelers from established US and European carriers such as Lufthansa,
KLM, British Airways, Delta, United, and American. These legacy
airlines for decades had almost 100% share of the international travelers
from the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and Africa. Those days
are gone for good.
The Big-3 US carriers are complaining to the US government that the
Persian Gulf’s Big-3 get unfair financial subsidies from their governments.
Not many in the US who understand global travel are convinced.
In any case, international travelers in second-tier cities in the Indian
subcontinent and North America now have more travel options, shorter
gate-to-gate travel time between their home towns in the US to their
destinations in India, and possibly also less expensive tickets. The incabin
service in US carriers may even improve with competition, and the
competition will keep the air fare in check.
In the man-eat-man world of international air travel business, India’s air
carriers and big airports in India have missed chance to lure international
travelers compared to the Persian Gulf’s Big-3 carriers and their hubs like
Dubai. On this also, India will be perpetually in the catching-up mode.
If we get a nonstop from PIT,
an excellent airport for international
arrivals and departures, to
a Persian Gulf city like Dubai, we
can reduce our gate-to-gate travel
time by at least 6 to 8 hours. If you
know elected officials in Pittsburgh, or the airport administrators at PIT,
or our regional business leaders, persuade them to look beyond Europe
and explore getting a nonstop to one of the Persian Gulf hubs from the
Steel City before some other city in our region gets it. •
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