Kingfisher Airlines Bags the 2006 Avaya Global Connect Award for Customer Responsiveness

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India , 2007-01-25

Kingfisher Airlines, India’s fastest growing private carrier and the first airline in India to offer a premium first class service on domestic routes, added yet another feather in its cap with the announcement that it has been bestowed the 2006 Customer Responsiveness Award by Avaya Global Connect, a leading converged communication solutions provider in India.

The Customer Responsiveness Awards, being presented by Avaya Global Connect, the company that has been spearheading the movement, are based on evaluations of the Customer Responsiveness policies and practices of leading Indian organizations. Well-known business intelligence firms such as Ernst & Young and AC Nielsen are backing the endeavor as process advisors and research partners, respectively. The organizations that have made it to the final awards listing are the ones that have built awareness about customer responsiveness within their set up and delivered an enhanced customer experience in a consistent manner. The Awards program aims at taking the Customer Responsiveness movement in India to new heights.

Kingfisher Airlines has a dedicated Guest Commitment Team which handles all guest queries and feedback. These are acknowledged and addressed within set timelines. This section is linked to the quality setup and works under the Chairman’s direct guidance to ensure that guest feedback is used to improve service delivery. In addition all guests flying the Good Times with Kingfisher Airlines can directly write to the Chairman & CEO of Kingfisher Airlines Limited Dr. Vijay Mallya.

Commenting on this latest accolade bestowed on Kingfisher Airlines, Dr. Vijay Mallya, Chairman and CEO, Kingfisher Airlines said, “Kingfisher Airlines was set up with the objective of offering air travelers in India and our guests an un-paralleled flying experience backed by superior technology and a commitment to on-time performance. Since its launch, Kingfisher Airlines has constantly and successfully raised the bar of service offering in the domestic skies and has embarked on initiatives aimed at delighting guests. The launch of Kingfisher First and live in-flight entertainment on board our flights are just two instances of offerings that were introduced in response to market needs. This laurel marks yet another milestone in our journey towards reaching the pinnacle of market leadership in a few years from now”.

Dr. Mallya added, “Customer responsiveness is about being fast and right. The value of being right is obvious — customers get something that meets their needs. But the value also depends critically on the speed with which the response is produced. Maximizing performance across the two dimensions constitutes excellent customer responsiveness”.

Responsiveness of organizations was identified and points were allotted to each of the categories. These points were then added up to give the final score of Customer Responsiveness for a company. As a follow up to this in-depth research and to make Customer Responsiveness a coveted badge for companies, Avaya Global Connect instituted the Indian industry’s “Customer Responsiveness Awards”. The Awards concept meanwhile saw light of day when Avaya Global Connect decided to interact with leading global business intelligence firms such as Ernst & Young to create special methodologies and benchmarks for accessing the Customer Responsiveness of companies.

About Kingfisher Airlines

Kingfisher Airlines is India's first and only private airline to receive the prestigious, 'Best New Airline of the Year' award in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East region from Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA). Kingfisher Airlines has also been voted as the 3rd Most Successful Brand Launch of the Year 2005, in the annual Brand Derby Survey conducted by India's leading business daily-Business Standard. In another Survey conducted by agencyfaqs.com and Brand Reporter, Kingfisher was voted as the 7th Buzziest Brand of 2005 amongst 2000 leading national and international brands. More recently, Kingfisher Airlines has bagged the "Service Excellence for a New Airline" award from Skytrax, a UK based specialist global air transport advisor.

Another addition to the list of laurels is the "Best New Domestic Airline for Excellent Services and Cuisine" award from Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA), the biggest travel writers' organization, across the globe, that conducts independent annual surveys across various industries related with Travel and Tourism in order to select the best in each category. In a survey conducted by IMB for Times of India, 46% of the participants voted Kingfisher Airlines 'The Best Airline" and "India's Favourite Carrier". Lastly Kingfisher Airlines won the “Brand Leadership Award” in the service and hospitality segment against several acclaimed hotels, leading banks and other airlines. Kingfisher Airlines commenced operations on May 9, 2005 with a brand new fleet of aircraft. Kingfisher Airlines offers Full Service at True Value and promises an unparalleled experience to the Indian air traveler. On offer, are extra-wide seats and spacious leg room, delicious gourmet meals, international-class cabin crew and a whole host of comforts and delights. Kingfisher Airlines also facilitates doorstep delivery of tickets on guest request. Kingfisher Airlines has further raised the bar by introducing the Indian business traveler to a premium product- Kingfisher First, the finest experience in the Indian skies. For more information on Kingfisher Airlines log on to www.flykingfisher.com . Fly the Good Times with Kingfisher Airlines.

About The Awards

Avaya Global Connect, in partnership with The Economic Times, has launched the Customer Responsiveness Awards for the first time in India. The Awards will be presented to organizations that have shown a commitment to Customer Responsiveness and measured high on a stringent evaluation procedure drawn up by leading business intelligence and market research firms in the country.

About the awards methodology

The Awards methodology has been developed and designed by Professor M. Janakiraman of IIM Lucknow, a well known name in the area of business management. Professor Janakiraman created a unique questionnaire for the Awards, which is distributed among participating organizations by AC Nielsen. The survey form, which is self administered by companies, is taken up for evaluation, after which Ernst & Young and a Jury of three eminent persons help draw a shortlist of firms that will go through to the second round. AC Nielsen then administers a second questionnaire for the customers of the organizations short-listed by E&Y.; These surveys help measure the organizational readiness of the participating companies to address customer needs. It also brings out the key strengths of organizations and the areas where they need to improve their customer orientation. Finally, it creates an index for companies to plot future strategies for Customer Responsiveness.

In the second stage of the Awards procedure, besides customer interviews, a ‘Reader Poll’ is also announced through The Economic Times, to invite the opinion of the “common man” on the short listed companies. The Economic Times and Professor M. Janakiraman work closely with the tabulators and auditors to measure the performance of companies on parameters such as responsiveness, intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination, customer education, top management emphasis, innovation and learning. At the end of the evaluation, data tabulation and data validation process, a seven-member jury votes on the rankings based on the final score of the company applications, the customer interviews and the Reader Poll.

Contact

Malini Nair, Manager PR, Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, + 91 93242 39730
[email protected]