The yet-to-be-released 2009 report of ?India?s Most Valuable Brands? says the value of private carrier Jet Airways has ?plunged heavily? in one year.

Brand Power Rating (BPR) by Brand Finance, an independent brand valuation consultancy that assesses the value of top 50 listed brands in the country, also says Jet has slipped from its previous ranking.

The 2009 survey results will be out in a week?s time. Last year, Jet Airways along with Tata Steel were rated the two most powerful brands in India, both improving on their previous year?s (2007) ratings with an AA+.

But not any more. ?Jet Airways is facing its most challenging time in the 17 years of its brand history,? says Brand Finance country manager Unni Krishnan.

?Jet is still a very unique brand. However, it is now under assault from all sides. All stakeholders ? key employees (pilots), customers and investors, appear to be disenchanted with the brand,? says Krishnan.

The iconic brand that has been operating international flights for the past four years has bagged a slew of awards, including the second best long-haul airline from Which? magazine in 2008 and was named one of Cond? Nast readers? top three airlines, after Singapore Airlines and Etihad Airways, the same year.

This was the time (between 2000 to 2008) when riding on the back of strong profitability, market position, brand equity and a boom in the Indian capital market, Jet claimed a market share of 40% share in the full-service category and profit margins of 20% to 30%, according to industry sources. The decline started soon after.

Between 2004 and 2009, when Brand Finance started tracking Jet Airways, its brand valuation showed quantum jump (almost five to six times) and Jet was consistently ranked in the A+ or AA+ category. The 2009 valuation for the first time will show a decline in value.

Offering possible reasons for this slip, Krishnan says, ?Over the past few months, people at the helm of Jet affairs appear to have taken a series of risky decisions that may have diluted customer perception of the brand.?

Among other things this includes the launch of Jet Airways? Konnect, a low-cost offering, the much-publicised sacking of fresh recruits and the present standoff with the pilots. ?All this and more would have taken a heavy toll on the brand,? says Krishnan.

However, according to a Jet Airways spokesperson, ?Jet Konnect, as a different class of service was the only flexible, deployable solution available to us. We introduced it at a time when the load factor (occupancy) on flights was less than 50%; executives and MPs were being asked to travel economy and competition was willing to charge zero fare and just taxes.?

?Securing necessary licenses and clearances under JetLite would have taken time. This was the only solution open to us.?

Whether or not Jet Konnect is dismantled when the economy improves, market observers feel Jet Airways has loads to do to in the meantime. ?In months to come, Jet would have to work hard to salvage its image,? remarks Nabankur Gupta Nobby, chief executive officer of Nobby Brand Architects.