In Reply to: Jet*-Air asia posted by Busdriver01au on Wednesday, 6. January 2010 at 13:16 Bali Time:
Jetstar and AirAsia have today confirmed a "non-equity" partnership, becoming the first two low-cost carriers of their size to collaborate closely on a range of cost-saving initiatives.
A partnership was widely tipped by today after the airlines were initially understood to have been in deep discussions over the last few months, but it has now been revealed that these talks actually began long ago with former Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon.
"The most significant thing that we're doing today is to show that low cost carriers can work together," says Tony Fernandes, AirAsia CEO, at a press conference in Sydney.
"This is a non-equity partnership," assures Alan Joyce, Qantas Group CEO. "There will be no job cuts... maintenance will stay within Australia."
Jetstar and AirAsia say that the new alliance will focus on cutting costs through a greater bargaining power achieved by the combined might of the two companies. "Hundreds of millions" could be saved through greater buying power in areas such as fuel, aircraft and other third party costs.
Bruce Buchanan, Jetstar CEO, adds that the deal "is not about market-share, but about growing the pie".
Airport passenger and ramp handling services, shared aircraft parts and procurement will be the main areas of cost-saving that the two low-cost carriers will involve themselves with.
Much of the initial focus will be on cost-savings on the Airbus A320, which both airlines fly, whilst the Airbus A330 is also likely to be considered in the near future.
Influence on next-gen narrow-bodies
Both Mr Joyce and Mr Fernandes emphasised that influence on the design of next generation narrow-bodies to be a key factor in the new partnership, saying that both Boeing and Airbus are looking to replace their current narrow-body models.
"Traditionally, aircraft has always been designed for full service carriers," notes Mr Fernandes.
My Joyce adds that Qantas has in the past successfully influenced aircraft design on models such as the Airbus A380 with its buying power, and is hopeful it will be able to also influence the next generation of narrow-bodies.