Paramount’s formula: Business as unusual

‘C’ factor The cost-effective southern airline is giving the big boys a run for their money with its all-business-class flights, reports Lalatendu Mishra. Flyer's verdict

Call it the ‘C’ factor. Flyers say they like flying in Paramount Airways because of the comfort it provides, the connectivity it offers and its cost effective fares.

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For entrepreneurs with small and medium businesses in south India, it has provided much needed air connectivity at value-for-money rates, despite its all business class business model.

Chennai-based Paramount Airways may be one of the country’s smallest airline — flying five 75-seater aircraft catering to only 2 per cent of India’s air travellers — but it is giving big airlines such as Kingfisher and Jet some real competition in the south — if customer satisfaction is any indicator.

The first airline in India to have adopted the all-business class model, it imported the small Brazilian Embraer jet aircraft for cost effective operations.

“Though they look compact from outside, the Embraer planes are spacious inside,” says Pramod Chaudhari, chairman of Praj Industries, a bio fuel producer.

Chaudhari was “pleasantly surprised with the high quality of service” the first time he boarded a Paramount flight. “The flight from Pune to Chennai was so pleasant that I could immediately head for a meeting after disembarking,” he recalls.

“They have utilised space efficiently so you can really travel with comfort,” says Chaudhari, who has flown Paramount many times not only on work but also when traveling with his family.

The airline also offers a wide choice of on board food, passengers say.

“Paramount always aims at providing cost-effective service excellence. It pampers guests with genuine warmth and care by welcoming them to a world of difference,” says Paramount Managing Director M. Thiagarajan. “At all touch points, guests are given a pleasurable experience.”

Because Paramount offers only business class seats, disembarking is quick.

“A businessman wants to come back home for dinner with his family and save on hotel costs. Paramount provided that option. It bridged that connectivity gap,” says Ram Kumar, a Hyderabad-based professional. “Due to the frequency of its flights in south India, one can start in the morning, visit clients in two cities and return home by evening.”

However, can Paramount sustain its operations?

“Superior customer services come at a huge cost and if the cost is not recovered, then the airline cannot sustain operations,” says Mohan Kumar, former CFO of Air Deccan and now an

aviation consultant. “Paramount must be spending heavily on customer delight, but I cannot comment on its financial viability because its balance sheet in not available in the public domain.”

There are disparate opinions on Paramount’s financial health, but that can’t in any way detract from the fact that all the 42 Paramount flyers the Hindustan Times-MaRS survey met rated it the best airline in the country.