The alliance between India’s two largest private carriers Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines – which if fully implemented would give the duo a nearly 58 per cent market share – will take six months to be fully operational, according to Kingfisher Chairman Vijay Mallya. Already the two carriers were cooperating “very closely in many ways” but it was not as simple as it sounded to ope rationalise the agreement, signed by them last October, Mallya told the Press Trust of India. “One project is taken at a time. If you decide that frequencies on a particular route operated by either Kingfisher or Jet are going to be changed, it is not as simple as making one phone call to the planning department and saying stop the flight,” he said. Asked if the alliance could take off fully in the next three to six months, he said: “Absolutely, hundred per cent.” Among the hurdles will be managing the distinctly different fleets of the two carriers: Kingfisher has an Airbus based fleet, while Jet’s is largely Boeing based. Meanwhile, Jet has reported a INR2.14 billion (US$42.8 million) loss in its third fiscal quarter ended 31 December, up from a INR911.2 million deficit a year earlier saying it will continue to focus on “domestic market consolidation” and “cost reduction initiatives,” including plans to rationalise its workforce. The carrier said falling fuel prices and rising yields helped it improve from a disastrous second quarter in which it lost INR3.85 billion . Jet said traffic during the third quarter was impacted by the global economic downturn and November’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai, but that efforts to boost or maintain yield through capacity cuts have helped preserve operating margins.