AJet General Manager responds to backlash: We provide low-cost service

AJet, a subsidiary of Turkish Airlines (formerly known as Anadolu Jet), has been in the news regarding passenger grievances due to frequent delays.

Meanwhile, journalist Fatih Altaylı wrote in his column regarding the company, "The claim from THY personnel is that AJet was likely organized to be sold to Arab capital, which is why it separated from the reservation and planning system that Anadolu Jet shared with THY, and that the problems stem from this."

Another claim by Altaylı regarding Minister of Finance Mehmet Şimşek was that "AJet canceled other passengers' tickets at the last minute for a minister's wife and children." Şimşek responded to this claim by saying, "I strongly condemn the accusations made against my family..."

AJET GENERAL MANAGER ANSWERS QUESTIONS

AJet, a subsidiary of Turkish Airlines, made its first flight to Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, under its own flight code. Responding to questions from members of the press regarding delay issues before the flight, AJet General Manager Kerem Sarp stated that they are taking measures to prevent delays.

Sarp noted that a large portion of the AJet team comes from Turkish Airlines and consists of professionals with many years of experience in the sector.

"Currently, many infrastructure improvements are ongoing. We plan to reach the level where we will position ourselves as a digital airline according to our own plan by October," he said.

"EXPECTATIONS WERE DIFFERENT"

Drawing attention to the intensity during the holiday period, Sarp stated that while operations went very smoothly on the first day despite heavy traffic to meet demand, aircraft that could not be serviced due to technical malfunctions and maintenance—which were not in the plan—disrupted the balance.

Sarp said, "You start the operation, you are about to close the door. The slot from Amsterdam is 390 minutes. That means it tells you, 'Keep the passenger on the plane for 390 minutes.' This effectively means 'do not operate the flight.' Another point sent 230 minutes. 200 minutes. At that point, you cannot get the planes off the ground.

We experienced similar problems to those faced by all players in the sector, and during that period, we were highlighted a bit more in the press or in written and visual media. People are right, too. They have holiday plans. They have arranged their cars and hotels accordingly. Naturally, they reacted when there was a delay. Initially, because the brand perception was always linked to Turkish Airlines, we couldn't fully establish the distinction. This led to different expectations. When expectations are different, providing service at a low-cost airline standard means we failed to meet those expectations. Because of this, complaints about us started to come to the fore a bit more," he said.

Emphasizing that the issue of delays is a reality in any case, Sarp pointed out that AJet had a better three-month period with a 5-point difference in on-time performance between April-June 2024 compared to Anadolu Jet's on-time performance in the April-June 2023 period.

Sarp stated that they started the first week of June well, but due to the density caused by weather conditions in European airspace during and after the holiday, and problems experienced due to technical reasons in the same period, there was a 4-point difference in on-time performance in June.

Noting that the impact of the 4-point difference should not be that much in reality, Sarp said, "You send the plane. Your plane doesn't come back. This operation is a chain linked together. I sent the plane from here. It couldn't return on time. When it couldn't return, all the flights following it were automatically affected. These are things we cannot change with our own hands."

"TO AVOID DELAYS OF OVER AN HOUR..."

Sarp said, "As AJet, we have 5 spares in Ankara and 7 in Sabiha Gökçen. The cost of leaving 12 planes on the ground as an airline is unfortunately very high, but we are not thinking about that right now. Since we started doing this, we haven't had a major problem in Ankara. It has also brought us to a certain point regarding on-time performance in Sabiha Gökçen. However, this is not enough because we have the data.

Delays will not be like they used to be, but it is impossible to reach 80 percent in Sabiha Gökçen like in Ankara. Because the airport is busy. You are doing a busy European operation and the facilities of the airports are also limited," he expressed.

Sarp stated, "We will definitely do our best not to have delays of over an hour, and once we establish this, we will try to prevent AJet from being associated with delays entirely."

"WE WILL TAKE ALL JUSTIFIED CRITICISM"

Stating that they are open to all kinds of criticism, Sarp said, "These problems exist throughout the entire sector. We are dealing with them one-on-one. But we have no tolerance for lies and slander. We need to distinguish between passengers who have truly suffered and non-existent issues. We have a customer experience team that works on this weekly, analyzing incoming complaints and looking at what we can improve together. We are showing a lot of will together with our employees, and we are doing our best to improve these. We will continue to do so from now on. We will take all justified criticism," he said.

Sarp stated that they have taken action regarding the delays and that European airspace will also be relieved during the winter operation, adding, "Naturally, delays are decreasing, and we will implement the strategies we have set for ourselves by working faster."

Kerem Sarp also stated that AJet's flights to Cairo will begin.

News Source: 12punto