NEW DELHI: Air India and its domestic counterpart, Indian Airlines, are buying more than 100 planes to revamp ageing fleets but still face a bruising battle to win back market share, analysts say.

To reclaim India’s crowded skies, the state-run carriers must jettison their bureaucratic management style and prune bloated workforces in order to outwit rivals who are driving down ticket prices, they say.

Industry watchers also say that the Indian state airlines boast some of the region’s top managerial talent but are unable to achieve their potential because of rigid government control

“Restructuring of both carriers is long overdue,” said Kapil Kaul, chief executive officer of the India office of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, a consultancy. “It’s high time they moved toward professionalizing their managements. Otherwise, they’ll just keep bleeding.”

Indian Airlines is planning to buy 43 Airbus aircraft while Air India expects to get the government go-ahead soon to buy up to 68 Boeing jets.

The carriers, which used to rule Indian skies before liberalisation opened the way to competition in the early 1990s, are expected to start taking delivery of the new planes in 2006.

The fleet revamps and expansions will help the airlines in their fight to regain market share, analysts say, but they add that more will be needed in terms of aggressive marketing and promotions.

“Aircraft is a basic need,” said Subhash Goyal, president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators. “We must compliment the government for taking the purchase decision, but that alone will not be enough.

“Both the airlines should upgrade their product in terms of service.”

From its former monopoly position, Indian Airlines has seen its market share slump to 33 per cent of the domestic passenger market, behind Jet Airways, which has 43 per cent and regularly wins awards for good service and food.

Aside from Jet, Indian Airlines is facing competition from three new domestic carriers launched in the past 18 months which have slashed tickets to close to rail travel prices through tight financial controls.

Air India, famed for its smiling maharaja mascot, is also in the doldrums with just 20 per cent of Indian international passenger traffic. It faces merciless competition from rivals who are discounting tickets by 15 to 20 per cent, analysts say.

India’s cumbersome red tape and political interference is stifling the ability of the carriers to make nimble decisions and match the aggressive tactics of its rivals, say industry-watchers.

“We hope to have a product with much greater appeal with the new aircraft,” an Indian Airlines spokesman said, but he added that the airline planned no changes to its management operations.

Global consultancy firm A.T. Kearney had been appointed to recommend organisational changes with the aim of sharpening the international carrier’s competitive edge.

But a former Air India board member, who did not want to be identified, said there was “little hope” of a big change in their business tactics.

He said the two airlines should join their networks to take on rivals, but added that the move would never materialise as long as the government was in the cockpit.

Independent New Delhi-based transport consultant O.P. Ahuja urged the Congress Party government to sell off stakes in the airlines, a move hotly opposed by its leftist backers, on whom it relies for support in parliament.

“It would bring in more professional management,” said Ahuja. “Otherwise, I’m afraid they will lose the game.”

Aside from their bureaucratic management style, analysts say the two airlines are also hobbled by too many staff. The airlines have a combined workforce of 35,000, with a ratio of 350 to 400 staff to an aircraft.

Most airlines around the globe have no more than 100 employees per plane.

“I don’t see how Indian Airlines and Air India can compete with their present cost structure,” said Kaul.—AFP