Aviation wars are not just fought on the skies, but at training institutes too. Kingfisher Airlines, which runs Kingfisher Training Academy (KTA), is exploring all options including legal recourse against FrankFinn Institute, a leading training firm. FrankFinn, while taking potshots at KTA in a newspaper advertisement, has stated that KTA has a negligible presence. The advertisement also says that KTA gives its own certificate, which is not recognised anywhere. The advertisement, which reads ?FrankFinn or Kingfisher: take a uniformed decision?, has 12 pointers which suggest why a student should not join KTA but Frankfinn instead.
The advertisement also elucidates that KTA does not provide swimming lessons to students. Hence, KTA students can?t even apply for most international airlines, it says. Further, it says that KTA also does not provide uniforms for the students, which FrankFinn does.
Reacting to the advertisement, a Kingfisher Airlines spokesperson said, ?The mischievous advertisements in question, suppress material facts and information and are designed to deliberately mislead and take undue advantage of the unsuspecting public. While we welcome healthy competition, we strongly condemn such unethical practices. We are exploring all options including legal recourse and we will do what is required to expose and stop this willful misrepresentation being made with a view to tarnish our reputation.?
The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), a self regulatory authority to check irregularities in advertisements also considers the advertisement as ?combustible.? ASCI council member AR Shenoy says, ?If the affected party complains to ASCI, the advertiser will have to remove the advertisement immediately. Second, KTA can file a defamation suit against Frankfinn in the court.? There have been many teaser or tongue-in-cheek advertisement with rival airlines to woo passengers, but they need not be direct or blatant in nature, he adds.
Meanwhile, Frankfinn Institute of Air Hostess Training MD Rakesh Agarwalsaid, ?Before printing the advertisement, we did a due diligence about the course KTA offered and after arriving at a conclusion about the poor standards the academy adheres to, we came up with the advertisement so that students are not misguided and are able to take a rational decision.?
The Kingfisher spokesperson, however, argued that KTA is the only institution in this space which has a fully functional Airbus A 320 first class cabin service simulator (mock up) in all its centers, and ensures that the maximum elements of service delivery, including cabin familiarisation, meal service delivery and cabin crew announcements are covered on the ground itself in a simulated setting. He further said that KTA curriculum has been developed based on industry-specific benchmarks and the certificate issued to successful students at the end of the program validates compliance to standards as per the service dimensions of aviation and hospitality training.