Domestic Flights

The following are several potential threats to travelers as a result of airline consolidation, according to the U.S. General Accounting Office, a non-partisan research service:

Three major domestic airlines were completely taken over by their merger partners in the last decade: TWA by American, America West by US Airways and Northwest by Delta.  In all three mergers certain cities lost service, with other cities having reduced flight frequency and nonstop service being dropped in many instances.

As to the airline claims that mergers increase efficiency, any improvements due to mergers appear to be of short duration and recent history shows that for whatever reason eventually the less punctual partner (in terms of on time performance) exerts the greater influence.  Similarly the partner with the poorest customer service skills (as evidenced by customer complaints) appears to negatively influence the merged airline. In other words, generally, on time performance decreases and customer complaints increase after a merger, opposite of what the carriers claim.

History shows that when one airline dominates a route where previously it competed with a merger partner, ticket prices often increase, sometimes by a significant amount. It only makes good business sense for the carriers to take advantage of the less competitive situation they find themselves in once a merger has been completed.

Domestic airlines are those that provide service between different cities in the same country. They are a great option for business travelers who are always on the move, people who don’t like driving for long distances, and just for people who simply want to get somewhere faster.

Some of these airlines also ply international routes in addition to domestic routes. Some of these include Delta Airlines, American Airlines and Continental Airlines. You will find that they have partnerships with other international airlines. For example, an international carrier might have flights between Madrid and New York. But for those flying Madrid to Denver, the carriers’ partner for example Continental airlines will fly from New York to Denver.

The kind of aircraft that the domestic airlines use varies from destination to destination. For example, thy might use the larger Boeing 747 for international flights or coast to coast flights, while from city to city, they use the more compact airbus planes. The kind of service provided on board depends on the length of the flight and on the airline. Some of them will charge for drinks and snacks while others will provide them for no added cost.

Domestic lights usually have about five people seated per row, and this allows for ease of service. One of the advantages of domestic flights is that they generally have fewer passengers, and thus better service is provided to the passengers and boarding and disembarking times are reduced. This is great for the airlines, because they have a faster turn around time, in case they are turning around with passengers.

It’s very easy to find a domestic flight. Most domestic airlines offer service many times a week between multiple cities.

New airlines have started domestic flights in India and thus the flying routes in the Indian subcontinent have increased recently. The major domestic airline operating domestic flights in India is Air India.

This is the national carrier of India and is the largest and only domestic airline that is owned by the government. Air India was founded in 1932, when it was initially known as Tata Airlines. Its primary hubs in India are Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, and Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai.

Another major player in India domestic airline is Deccan. This airline was formerly known as Air Deccan and was the first low cost flight carrier in the country. It started its operations in 2003 with an aim of connecting unconnected cities and towns by providing low fares. Its hubs are in Bangalore and Chennai. The Indian domestic airline, Air Deccan, fares for non-resident Indians, tourists and locals on domestic routes are the same.

One of the older domestic airlines in India that is privately owned is JetLite. This was formerly known as Air Sahara and it was founded in September 1991. It operates domestic flights as well as flights between Delhi and Chicago through a code share agreement with American Airlines.

Its bases are located at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata, and Chennai International Airport in Chennai.

One of the recently founded low cost Indian domestic airlines is GoAir. It was founded in 2004 and it is based in Mumbai. Just like JetLite, it does not have different fares for NRI, locals or tourists.

In 2006, Indigo entered the domestic airline market and it currently connects Ahmadabad, Agartala, Bhubaneswar, Bangalore, Chennai Guwahati, Goa, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jaipur, Kolkata, Kochi, Mumbai, New Delhi, Nagpur, Pune, Udaipur, and Vadodara.

Its base is at Mumbai and it does not discriminate fares among different travelers, local or NRIs. Jagson Airline was the first private airline to be established in India. It was founded in 1991 and has its base in Delhi. The major routes that it operates include Shirdi-Mumbai and Shirdi-Pune flights as well as Delhi-Kullu and Delhi-Shimla routes.

The airline offers internet booking facilities for domestic Indian flight tickets. Other notable flights that are operated by domestic airlines in India include Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airline booking, Paramount Airlines, SpiceJet booking, and Indus Air. Take not that Indus Air went out of business after a few months of its launching; it is no longer operational.