Passenger creates big debate at American Airlines

If you take along bulky or damageable baggage, you may have to pay an additional fee. What would be the parallel situation for passengers? The given facts are that the passenger is bulky and his part of body protruding into the aisle is highly damageable by in-flight service carts.
So, it is quite fair for that passenger to pay extra fee. He has to be charged for two seats as airlines are not selling partial seats so far.

Date: 07 December 2009 commenting on http://www.flightglobal.com/

Aeroflot and Alitalia to get closer

Gone those old days when Aeroflot was flying to many countries in Africa. The Aeroflot’s African network of destinations was mainly supported by the government of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in an attempt to spread the communist ideology.
Now, Aeroflot is code-sharing with Alitalia to go back to Africa for supposedly real commercial reasons.

Date: 05 December 2009 commenting on http://boardingarea.com/

Decide who to hire before they even walk in the door

With all due respect, the idea of the article does not make lot of sense to me.
I do understand that entrepreneurs are different. However, I did not hear about a company looking for hiring entrepreneurs. On the hand, we can say that real entrepreneurs do not seek employment. The right candidates will be those who have the required academic education and the necessary work skills. Using the concept of the article, I would say that the only possible candidates for employment are "curb huggers." I think that judging the candidates through their way of crossing the street might be ideal if we are hiring wire-walkers since the preference will be given to “matadors.”

Date: 24 November 2009 commenting on http://blogs.bnet.com/

Terminal 3 of Sheremetyevo

Well, the bottom line is whether these architectural achievements will reshuffle the rank of Sheremetyevo compared to the other Russian airports in Moscow. In other words, will Sheremetyevo take the lead over Domodedovo?


Date: 24 November 2009 commenting on http://www.cre.ru/

Has anyone flown Aeroflot lately?

Friendly cabin crew:
Aeroflot flights overfly our house here in Russia. The cabin crew members look extremely friendly.
Lucky those passengers who will be benefiting from these good fares. What a bargain to fly at that price surrounded by beautiful Russian air hostesses and have a chance to see Sphinx & Pyramids!


Date: 18 November 2009 commenting on http://www.jaunted.com/

Bumped? Blame the government

The perishable nature of an airline seat prevents the lost revenue from seats that fly empty from being recovered. The substantial amount of revenue that can potentially be lost through spoilage makes overbooking an essential part of revenue management. In fact, passenger no-shows were the first practical problem that scheduled airlines sought to address as they began to adopt revenue management techniques. All tickets were initially fully refundable and airlines needed to overbook in order to remain financially viable. Overbooking is still extremely important to an airline’s financial performance. According to Robert L. Phillips in his book “Pricing and revenue optimization,” American Airlines estimated that in 1990, they saved $225 million through overbooking.

Date: 18 November 2009 commenting on http://www.forbes.com/

The little airport that could

This is a detailed coverage of the airport activities. Yes, the deregulation of 1970s may be one of the most important factors which lead to the current status of the airport.

There is one little comment about the exact name of the airport. According to International Air Transport Association (IATA), MHT is originally the code for Manchester Airport, NH, USA. That was the situation until April 2006 when the airport management decided to add “Boston Regional” to the airport name to advertise its proximity to Boston, Massachusetts which is about 50 miles (80 km) to the south.

I am fully aware that the airport is in New England which is a geographic term refers to an area comprising of 6 states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

The nomenclature in airline literatures describes the location in the following sequence: airport code, city name, country name. In case of USA, the sequence is further expanded to allow the inclusion of the state name.

Yes, there are some airports which serve twin cities such as MSP for Minneapolis/ Saint Paul, and DFW for Dallas/ Fort Worth. As we can see, the two twin cities are at the same state. Obviously, this is not the case for Manchester (New Hampshire) and Boston (Massachusetts). Are they twin cities? Well, they might be distant cousins.

Date: 13 November 2009 commenting on http://www.londonderrynh.net/

Estonian Air explains its bonus program

Airline deregulation created the need for marketing innovations. The most noteworthy innovation is the Frequent Flyer Programs which reward repeat customers with free tickets and other benefits. Many small air carriers have tie-ins with the programs of larger air carriers.
Generally speaking, marketing is a relatively new market practice in Eastern Europe. The former countries of the Eastern Bloc have been steadily moving toward the market economy since the collapse of the Soviet Union early 1990s. Participation of Estonian Air in EuroBonus program is just one example of the ongoing trend.

Date: 02 November 2009 commenting on http://www.estonianfreepress.com/

Avianova Airbus A320 (EI-EEI)

The name written on the engine is in English language as it is Avianova's website. Names of all websites should be written out in English. However, the name shown on the fuselage is half-Cyrillic (авиа) and half-Latin (nova). Definitely, this is not a typo. The name was intentionally written that way as an integral part of the trademark.
As of today, the traffic figures of Avianova have not been released. However, the aggressive style of utilizing Avianova’s fleet could tell us something about the expected operation results.

Date: 28 October 2009 commenting on http://www.flickr.com/

An open letter to Sky Express and Avianova

Competition is the healthiest feature of the free-market economy. Monopoly may be as ugly as Dracula. So, let us welcome Avianova as a new addition to the Russian airline industry.

Whether Mr. Andrew Payne accidentally or deliberately ignored Sky Express, and irrespective of his subjective or objective opinions, he is free with his own beliefs to the maximum limit permissible by the applicable anti-slander laws.

Business rivals might tend to speak derogatorily about their competitors. They might apply a tactic of belittling or ignoring the existing competition. I would say that respecting the existing competition may create better results on the long run. Let us wait and see. What we know is that Sky Express carried 1,041,308 passengers in 2008 and ranked 13 among other Russian air carriers which is something yet to be achieved by most Russian airlines including Avianova.

With the advent of electronic ticketing, passengers do not receive tangible tickets at the time of purchase. The ticket purchase will be shown on their credit/debit cards as one total amount without details.
I checked today the lowest price of one way air fare from Moscow to Sochi for travel on 28 February 2010. The following have been found:
• Sky Express: 399.00 + 1100.00 taxes = 1499.00 rubles
• Avianova: 750.00 + 204.26 taxes = 954.26 rubles
• Aeroflot: 1500.00 + 924.00 taxes = 2424.00 rubles

The point here is not about air fares. It is about taxes instead. Putting Aeroflot aside as it flies from Sheremetyevo, the attention is drawn to 1100.00 rubles and 204.26 rubles of Sky Express and Avianova respectively as they both fly from Vnukovo Airport. What could be the reason for such huge discrepancy in the amount of taxes?
It is understood that airlines are free to set up their prices. The question if they are equally free to apply the applicable taxes.
So, being the first Russian Low Cost Carrier is not the concern for the customers. I am quite sure that they care more about the first transparent Russian air carrier?


Date: 18 October 2009 commenting on http://www.aviaport.ru/

EasyJet to go live on Sabre next year

EasyJet modifies distribution channels:
The internet has enabled major airlines to reduce their distribution costs. In addition to the savings from selling directly to their customers online, they have restructured their compensation schemes with both travel agencies and GDSs. That situation will contribute to evolve as airlines pressure travel agencies and GDSs to further reduce costs. So, for EasyJet not to offer corporate deals and discounts is a logical decision. It will join Sabre to increase distribution channels only without changing its other marketing variables.
As a result of the evolved market conditions, many GDS operators are reinventing themselves in order to stay relevant as distribution providers. In addition to expanding and diversifying their products and services, their focus is on reducing internal costs and finding ways for the costs to be borne by users, not the airlines.
Email: management@ultraconsultants.net

Date: 17 October 2009 commenting on http://www.abtn.co.uk/

Avianova Airbus A320 (EI-EEL)

As of 23 September 2009, the two Airbus A320 operated by Avianova are still owned by International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of American International Group (AIG).
Moreover, the Airbus A320-232 (registration EI-EEL) is still in the Irish registry and owned by ILFC.
It is true that US Airways was operating the same aircraft under the US registration. However, the aircraft (registration N605AW) was owned by the American branch of ILFC.

Date: 01 October 2009 commenting on http://www.flickr.com/

Wizz Air об одесском аэропорте: Полоса настолько плохая, что мы меняли колеса каждый день

Before canceling the flights to/ from Odessa, Wizz Air thought of releasing the arriving passengers and their luggage by one cooperative parachute.
Wow, what a brilliant idea for avoiding the questionable condition of the runway! However, they had to discard it as no similar solution for departing passengers. Unfortunately, parachutes function downward only.
Oh boy! It seems that low cost carriers do not like bumpy runways.

Date: 04 September 2009 commenting on http://korrespondent.net/

Украинским авиакомпаниям могут запретить полеты в ЕС

The European Union went on with its plan and adopted the regulation despite the pressure exerted by both International Air Transport Association (IATA) and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
With about 4,000 airline operators from all parts of the word which are included in the legislative act, there is a little chance to find exceptions. If the big players are already included in the list, what would be the case for Ukrainian air operators? Simple logic, isn’t it?
Putting aside the interests of individual countries and air operators, and downplaying the possibility that the European Commission is somehow frantic about the environment, we have to look at the environmental issues from a global perspective. After all, Mother Nature needs and requires some serious measures to be taken to guarantee its survival.

Date: 31 August 2009 commenting on http://korrespondent.net/

Minimum Equipment List (MEL)

The MEL practice is to facilitate the operation of aircraft. That facility is not supposed to be abused by aircraft operators, especially those who are involved in commercial carriage of passengers.
As (Fix the jet Gerry) put it, the aircraft has to be grounded if anyone of the crew votes against applying the MEL advantage.
Since the traveling public will not be involved in those technical issues, the aircraft flying under MEL condition should not have passengers on board.


Date: 11 September 2009 commenting on http://www.delray-aviation.org/

High flying tweets

The list contains some distinguished names (in no particular order) in the airline/ aviation blogging despite the fact that the list might be mistakenly interpreted as public relations advertorial.
It has been said that websites are promoted by blogs, and blogs are promoted through micro-blogging (Twitter). However, the article shows that blogging could be used to promote the Twitter’s micro-blogging channel.
Well, social media is a continuous interaction back and forth using all available channels.


Date: 02 September 2009 commenting on http://simpliflying.com/

Delta’s partnership with Virgin Blue causes pain for United in Australia

It is a knockout for United Airlines to lose the code-sharing agreement with Virgin Blue which they began together in 2002 and expanded it on April 2004.
Without enough economy-class passengers, the operation of United Airlines’ Boeing 747 between Australia and the west coast of USA would be mainly for emitting more carbon dioxide. Considering the attitude of United Airlines toward Dave Carroll, the Airline would be hostile to both its passengers as well as the environment.

Published at http://www.bnet.com/

Airline brands to look out for and those that can rest in peace beyond 2009

For now, I can confirm two airlines which are about to rest in peace:
The first is Air India due its current bloated pattern of operation. I have commented on an article discussing the situation of Air India. The second is United Airlines. The credit goes to its lousy operational policy and to the demonstration managed by Dave Carroll (http://bit.ly/MndAp & http://bit.ly/22NURU).


Date: 19 August 2009 commenting on http://simpliflying.com/

What are the basic requirements for airline revenue management course?

The revenue management course will give you a chance to discover the techniques that airlines are applying to derive revenue from seat selling and maximize profitability.
This course will help you understand how legacy airlines and low-cost carriers apply the basic principles of airline revenue management to meet the current challenges that face the industry today.
I will be running a revenue management course through wiziq.com very soon.
Email: management@ultraconsultants.net


Date: 22 August 2009 commenting on http://www.elearningbuzz.com/

FlightCaster

Knowing about weather condition in advance form the Weather Channel might affect our decision to plan for a picnic during the weekend. However, knowing of possible rain during the week will not stop us from going to our offices. It is only a matter of being ready with a raincoat or an umbrella.
On the other hand, what would be the situation if the FlightCaster is expecting a delay of 3 hours?
Are we supposed to adjust our arrival time to the airport to avoid the expected delay?
What about the case if the probability is ONLY a probability while the reality is that the flight is actually on time?
Are the airlines responsible for the information provided by the FlightCaster?
Are they supposed to deliberately delay the flight to accommodate the late arriving passengers who faithfully depended on the delay forecast?
The whole scenario is just an attempt to assess a reasonable level of dependability to the tool.
My argument does not change the fact that I bookmarked the site for further assessments once additional details become available. 

Date: 21 August 2009 commenting on http://www.techcrunch.com/

Untangling the Social Web

The basic equation stating that eye for eye and tooth for tooth is the fairest formula. Hence, for United Airlines to form a musical band to deliver an artistic apology to Dave Carroll makes a lot of sense. That option might be the most authentic apology with the hope to satisfy Dave’s expectations.

I commented earlier about the same incident (http://bit.ly/zURmT). Simply put, United Airlines was supposed to avoid the case to be so deteriorated like that. There should be some ongoing orchestrated efforts across the board to avoid similar situations to be mishandled by ignorant or careless airline service agents.

If the airlines are no longer capable of providing good competitive service, they have to seriously consider another line of business. For United Airlines, I would recommend the field of shoe-polishing. Who knows? They might find their way up and reach the sky again by the 25th century.
Viva all UA’s competitors!

Published at http://sparksheet.com/

Personal branding interview: Chris Anderson

Quite insightful article. That was my first time to see the newly coined word (freemium).

The word (complimentary) was used twice throughout the article. It was used by mistake instead of the word (complementary). However, the sentence (They all seem to complement each other.) of the last paragraph includes the correct form of the word. 

Date: 09 August 2009 commenting on http://bx.businessweek.com/

Touch and Go

Quite interesting piece of writing!
The technology is ever-changing and ever-evolving to the point that it might represent a challenge for many to be up-to-date with or even to interact with.

I would say that the most important paragraph of the whole article is: All technologies are good for some things and bad for others. I imagine a future where gestural interfaces, touch screens, and mechanical/ physical interfaces all exist side by side, used when and where appropriate based on the context of usage.

Published at http://sparksheet.com/

Airline Express ticket for Aeroexpress passengers

Definitely, interline agreements facilitate the travel of passengers. However, most Russian airlines do not consider that fact. They are normally acting like the Brothers Karamazov of the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky: brothers yes but no cooperation.
Arriving international passengers have no way to book their onward domestic connections with many Russian domestic carriers in advance due to limited or no ticketing/ booking agreements with the delivering air carriers.
Having said so, it is no wonder finding out that Sky Express (http://www.skyexpress.ru/) made the through ticking available on the Russian version ONLY of its website. It seems that Sky Express cares only about its Russian-speaking customers. If that was the case, why do they maintain an English version of their website?

Published at http://www.airrailnews.com/

CAUTION: Give your children sugar on a flight at your own risk

Definitely, the cabin crew is supposed to take whatsoever measures to maintain the safety of the flight.
Similar to the possibility of alcohol abuse by adult passengers, the sugar abuse is the parallel case for children.
Adults can get alcohol drinks as long as they are sober or otherwise they could endanger other passengers. By analogy, minors can take sugar-contained foodstuff as long as there is a guarantee that they can behave themselves especially if they are not accompanied by an adult.

Date: 23 July 2009 commenting on http://www.theflyingpinto.com/

Ryanair’s step too far?

With enough demand to make Ryanair sure of serving 67 million passengers in 2009 instead of 59 million passengers served in 2008, it is not strange anymore to expect Ryanair inventing more silly ideas:
• Asking the passengers to fly in their underclothes or otherwise, they have to pay for the weight of their outer-garments.
• Asking the passengers to fly standing. There will be ancillary charge for those passengers who are interested to fly sitting on bamboo stools, and even higher charge for upholstered seats. Oh goodness, it is horrible to think of the extra charges which are supposed to be paid by passengers who require stretchers due their medical conditions.

I proposed some more silly ideas to Ryanair in my article posted on 28 February 2009.
We will see if the passengers are willing to go for one more jump over the equation of supply and demand.

Published at http://www.forbes.com/

United Breaks Guitars

It is a big mistake for the customer service representatives, who handled the case of the damaged guitar, to think that they have the final word for the cases which might affect the image of United Airlines. They were supposed to refer the case to the Public Relations Department before it is too late.

Unfortunately, airlines nowadays tend to hire untrained persons to handle the phone calls, enquires, and complaints of the passengers. Ms. Irlweg exacerbated the situation by ignoring the possibility of harming the image of United Airlines. Unknowingly, she did not think of Dave’s options. By keeping himself calm (but active) for about nine months, he deserves the current free-of-charge publicity.

The story imposes a new practice whereby the Public Relations Department should have the upper hand for all complicated issues handled by customer service representatives.

Published at http://www.planebuzz.com/

The Missing Black Box

It seems that the idea of aircraft’s black boxes is not serving its original purpose. The argument is especially valid in case of crash into deep waters. The black box is a storage medium for recording essential data about the operation of the aircraft. The recoded data is extremely important for analyzing the reasons which are behind the malfunction or the crash of the aircraft.

Obviously, it is not a good idea to keep that crucial information in such easily mis-located medium. It seems that the concept of the block box needs to be revised to offset its current vulnerability. What about a tangible backup system on the ground? Personal computers are often backed up into external storage devices. By analogy, the information from the aircraft could be transmitted through a satellite-based communications system to a reliable data recording system.

Having a back-up of the black box data might have saved a lot of energy and resources wasted in locating the flight recorders of AF 447’s crashed in the Atlantic Ocean early June 2009.

Published at http://rate.forbes.com/comments/CommentServlet?StoryURI=2009/07/02/air-france-box-markets-equity-aviation.html&op=save&sourcename=story

Orrin Hatch is taking you to Turkmenistan, and you will darn well like it

It is a good analogy relating BCS alliance to SkyTeam alliance.

A key element of the SkyTeam global network is the hub-and-spoke system, which provides unparalleled connectivity and an easy way for customers to travel using members of the same alliance from their departure city to any location in the world.

The SkyTeam, with its 11 member airlines and 3 associate airlines, is dedicated to make travels smoother, simplified, and informed. SkyTeam offers a worldwide system of 16,787 daily flights covering 905 destinations in 169 countries.

Published at http://rivals.yahoo.com/

Captain Piccard unveils Solar Impulse HB-SIA solar-powered plane

Adventuring is not only for fun.
Wright Brothers (Orville and Wilbur) made a breakthrough by their invention of the three-axis control to the airplanes in 1903.
About 110 years later, Captain Piccard will add another breakthrough by using the solar power to fuel his air trip around the world.
I wish I have more than two thumbs to bring them up for that savior of the Mother Earth.
Kudos to Captain Bertrand Piccard!

Published at http://www.engadget.com/

A dark and windy night

The article is simply saying that all fingers should be pointing away from Airbus. This is true considering the statistical track record of its airplanes. Airbus, especially after the recent two crashes, should be so grateful for such objective, non-feverish article.
Despite the great concern about the safety of the international civil aviation, there are still some airports, airplanes, and operators acting against the trend. Some more concrete regulations/ actions should be in place to ensure the safety of the innocent airline passengers.

It is true that some Russian airlines have some operational problems. However, I think that talking about Aeroflot was totally out of context in the article for the following reasons:
• The aircraft is non-Russian made.
• The aircraft is operated by Yemenia.
• Departure and arrival airports of the flight are non-Russian.
• No Russian citizens were reported among the crash victims so far.
• The updated list of banned airlines by EU does not include Aeroflot (http://bit.ly/xs3ps).
• Aeroflot has a daily flight to JFK which simply means that it is not banned by US aviation authority.
• The same source quoted in the article (Aviation safety net) is also saying that USA has the highest rate of civil casualties (http://bit.ly/QJFA2).
• Aeroflot has achieved TRUEngine status for its CFM56-5B engines which are powering its Airbus family aircraft (http://bit.ly/13smLI).

Date: 02 July 2009 commenting on http://blogs.reuters.com/ & http://trueslant.com/

Aeroflot terminal to open in winter

The Russian Federation is eagerly waiting for the opening of Sheremetievo Terminal 3 for the sake of facelifting the international image of the airport.
According to Russia’s Transport Clearing House, Sheremetievo Airport handled 15,066,354 passengers during 2008. Considering the fact that the new terminal will be able to handle 12 million passengers a year, are we expecting congested operation during the early years of airport life? 

Date: 01 July 2009 commenting on http://www.iflybusiness.com/

Exclusive photos: Inside the Boeing 787 Dreamliner cabin

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner unveiled during the world premiere in Everett, Washington on July 8, 2007 is truly a dream. The question is about its materialize-ability considering the repeated delays. Was the delay announced on the 23rd of June the last one?
The mother Boeing is seemingly facing hard time delivering the baby B787.
Will it be a natural delivery or do we need a cesarean section?
The pregnancy term has been extended already many times. Is the fetus still alive?

Date: 01 July 2009 commenting on http://simpliflying.com/

Malev orders Sukhoi Superjets

Assuming that Malev showed interest in Sukhoi’s Superjet 100 because of being under pressure from Aeroflot, what about the Spanish airline Gadair which signed a letter of intent for two firm orders and two options and potentially worth around $60 million?
Please check http://www.ainonline.com/news/single-news-page/article/avialeasing-firms-order-for-24-superjets/

Additionally, Alenia Aeronautica’s website (http://bit.ly/FqkpP) states that the Italian-Russian joint venture is in charge of aircraft customization delivery, marketing in the western countries, and worldwide technical support.

Are we still saying that the Superjet 100 will be flying the skies of Eastern Europe mostly?

Date: 26 June 2009 commenting on http://www.bnet.com/

Kevin Costner is doing Turkish Airlines ads

Is this a travel industry blog or a backstage gossip?
Kevin Costner is a star whether appearing in a movie or a commercial. Participating in a successful advertisement like that does not mean that the professional career of Costner is going down. Kudos for Turkish Airlines for a choice well made and a job well done!

Turkish Airlines is achieving a good performance during the first five months of 2009. I checked their monthly traffic data. The figures reflect a positive growth. Is it a coincidence that the Costner commercial is about 4 months old?

Date: 26 June 2009 commenting on http://travelinglight.professionaltravelguide.com/

Rescuing Air India from crisis requires hard decisions and political support

Writing the above article requires a great deal of boldness. Criticizing Indian affairs by an Indian citizen simply implies credibility.

The shocking facts revealed throughout the article are quite resembling the situation of Aeroflot. Its board of directors said last week (viz. the tweet of Airlinologist on 21 JUN) that the airline is 30% overstaffed which is the result of reasons similar to those which made Air India 50% overstaffed.

It is so sad to see the maharaja airlines falling like that due to the effect of corruption-infested India. Away from the sadness-triggering memories, let us face it. Government-supported airline is not the fashion any more. Comparing the ailing Air India with the privately-owned Kingfisher Airlines would clearly reveal some reasons of both failure of the former and success of the latter.

There is one more comment regarding the statement about the communist countries. It is true that that North Korea and Mongolia are still under communism. However, the situation is different for both China and Russia. China is somehow adopting a communist system under a capitalist flag. On the other hand, Russian Federation has been rigorously moving to the market economy since the collapse of the Soviet Union early 1990s.

Published at: http://www.bangaloreaviation.com/

You cannot delegate entrepreneurship - if you are going to make mistakes make them yourself. – Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou is definitely a successful entrepreneur.
His statement (once you’ve proven the business model leave it alone and get a manager in, and hire a proven manger) is somehow in contradiction with what was published by Forbes.com on 06 April 2009 under (EasyJet Shakes Up Boardroom). http://tinyurl.com/cyqnbx

The article is talking about the pressure of Sir Haji-Ioannou to change the board of directors. So, either he did NOT hire proven managers or he did NOT leave it alone.

That situation drove me, (Airlinologist), to tweet the following on 08 April: How can I find Stelios Haji-loannou to tell him about the best one to run EasyJet?

My comment does not change the fact that the article is a source of motivation for many people.

Date: 24 June 2009 commenting on http://www.youngentrepreneur.com/

Social media at Paris Air Show by the numbers

This is another proof of the increasing role of social media in the business world. A sophisticated sphere like aviation to be well represented/ reported through a concise message of 140 characters only. What an eloquent contrast!
Despite the relatively high level of Twitter coverage, some big names like Boeing and Airbus are still shying away from using the social media channel.

Published at: http://ludozone.net/

Losing the backlog?

Their statements are inversely pari passu with the current economic condition. The statements are meant just to serve public relations only. Seemingly, the crash of AF447 earlier this month forced Airbus’s CEO to adopt a bold stance toward mass media.

Date: 23 June 2009 commenting on http://www.fleetbuzzeditorial.com/

South Korea offers to pay tourists who contract swine flu

This is a revolutionary idea in promoting the tourism industry.
Of course, tourists will not go to South Korea to make 3,000 US$. However, the message is clearly saying that the Korean authorities are serious about keeping the country clean form the virus, and that they will not forget their responsibility toward any tourist who might catch the virus in their country.
Finally, if someone is fated to catch the virus, it is better to catch it in South Korea. At least, virus with money is definitely better than virus without money!

Date: 13 June 2009 commenting on http://travelinglight.professionaltravelguide.com/

United removes website hold feature

This is somehow strange to be decided by an airline company to show its customer-friendliness. Instead of exerting some more efforts to keep their existing customers, they are doing something which might push the customers away.

Both canceling the non-ticketed booking within 24 hours, and canceling the ticketed booking within 24 hours without penalty have the SAME effect on the seat inventory but the former option is definitely more customer-friendly.

The feature of auto-cancellation due to expired time-limit has been there since almost the dawn of the automated reservation systems. That feature could be simply used without dissatisfying the customers and without negatively affecting the seat inventory of United Airlines.

Published at: http://www.bnet.com/

The £300m flying palace

This is really a flying beauty.
It is the taste of luxury at its best.
I am wondering whether this aircraft uses regular fuel or champagne.

Published at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Kazan: A taste of Tatarstan

Quite interesting article about Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation.
For traveling to Kazan, Kaliningrad might not be the best gateway as Lufthansa operates four flights weekly from Frankfurt with one stop en route in Samara.

Date: 06 June 2009 commenting on http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Value addition versus value creation

The feature of value-added has to be there at the start of the planning stage, which simply means that the value has to be created with the product itself. However, value-adding could be implemented at any subsequent stage if the existing value is not enough or if there is no value at all.

Published at: http://toostep.com

Airline branding book review: Flying high in a competitive industry - secrets of the world’s leading airline (SIA)

There is one more link between Singapore Girl and the integration of differentiation strategy with cost-leader strategy.
By reflecting natural femininity, grace, and warmth, the girl is acting in a lady-like style. Ladies highly care about their social (public) profiles compared with their private lives.

Seemingly, Singapore Airlines adopted the same style by investing in all “visible” aspects of operation and tightening the belt “behind the scenes.”

Published at: http://simpliflying.com

Randy Petersen of Flyertalk on social media and frequent flyers - Part 2 of 2

What is remarkable in the speech of Randy Petersen is the link between current users of social media and the future generation of business executives who will be using the airline services.

Regarding Randy and his achievements, the professional popularity can not be accurately measured by the number of Twitter followers alone.


Published at: http://simpliflying.com

Randy Petersen of Flyertalk on airline branding - Part 1 of 2

Airline brand loyalists choose to fly a specific airline due to a deep emotional connection and for accumulating air mileage as well.

It is true that your most valuable customer is like your best friend. He’s there for you even in the tough times. However, we have to be careful with the analogy considering the fact that there is no business exchange between friends.

To a great extent, frequent fliers are loyal customers. I would be flying my preferred airline as long as its fares, schedule, and service are meeting my expectation. Otherwise, no one can blame me for putting my loyalty aside and finding another service provider who cares about my needs. For me, loyalty loses its meaning when it is one-sided.


Published at: http://simpliflying.com

CEO reveals what makes SpiceJet a leading airline in India in a frank interview

It is a quite achievement for an airline to start operation in mid 2005 and receive the Skytrax’s award of best Low Cost Carrier for India in 2007.

Published at: http://simpliflying.com

Hilarious MadTV video about airline fees - the ancillary revenues push can sometimes go wrong

What was an out-of-line idea in 2007 is the face-slapping reality of 2008 and 2009.


Published at: http://simpliflying.com

Ancillary revenue: A boon or a bane for the airline brand?

The ancillary revenue is both boon and bane depending on the type of carrier applying it.

So, it is bane for legacy carriers which are already charging high rates for their services. Those air carriers are presumably providing the basic air service plus a reasonable amount of amenities depending on their service philosophies and their market competition. They are not supposed to collect additional charges (ancillary revenues) or otherwise they will negatively affect their brands. For Singapore Airlines to collect additional charge for the emergency-exit row seat is an example of a practice which is on conflict with the brand.

On the other hand, the ancillary revenue is a boon for low-cost carriers. They are presenting themselves as providers of the basic flying services. For increasing their operating revenues, they have to consider ancillary revenues. Of course, collecting the ancillary revenues does not jeopardize their brands as long as they are staying away from asking the passengers to pay for using the toilet.

Putting the nomenclature aside, the reality is that both legacy carriers and low-cost carriers are out there to make money. They are adopting various pricing policies in such a way to make them profitable. Legacy carriers are depending on traditional bundled air fares while budget carriers are depending on a group of unbundled fare components.

Published at http://simpliflying.com

Reality check: Why social media can be the solution for airlines’ grey skies

The effective functionality of Web 2.0 is yet to be thoroughly verified.
What is for sure so far is that Web 2.0 is no longer just for teenagers.

Published at http://simpliflying.com

King of ancillary revenues, RyanAir offers €1,000 for best idea on making money!

Asking for more fresh ideas is unquestionably a good PR idea for RyanAir. Giving away 1,000 euros is almost nothing compared with the high publicity RyanAir will receive from propagating the news about its contest.

Legacy carriers can apply the same idea with little modification. They can simply organize similar contests but not for asking for fresh ideas to generate more ancillary revenues (like the case of RyanAir), but rather asking for fresh ideas to improve the overall passenger services. Thus, the passengers will be double-motivated to seriously participate in any of those contests. Apparently, they have a chance to win the contest and enjoy the to-be enhanced service of the legacy carrier.

Alas for those who can not participate in the contest of RyanAir due to their place of residence! The good news for me is that I will have less competition. However, to show my philanthropic traits, I am ready to have a joint venture with anyone of those ineligible contestants who has a knock-out idea for RyanAir.


Published at: http://simpliflying.com

How an intelligent seating system can bring ancillary revenues, and is great for the airline brand

Definitely, I am not interested to be seated beside a mother traveling with her infant irrespective of the purpose of my trip (business or leisure).

Matching the passengers together is a good idea. Beyond the obvious criteria of grouping similar passengers together, is there a chance to seat single females beside non-married family-oriented males? The result might be happy passengers for both their flying experience as well as their success for building a family. Who knows? The marriage might also create another congenital loyal generation.

Generally, there is a potential for a system like Satisfly. Incorporating Satisfly could be one step more for those airlines which are keen about improving the flying experience of their passengers onboard. Thus, considering Satisfly is a long term investment and makes a lot of sense to be considered now as a way of keeping the existing customers. Of course, those airlines will not be using the system to generate ancillary revenue.

The issue may be different for low-cost carriers. Their passengers are paying for necessary services only: luggage, food, drinks, and eventually for using the toilet. They do not care that much about their flying neighbors who are sitting around them. Consequently, I can say that Satisfly has limited potential in LCC model especially during the current economic conditions.

Date: 15 March 2009 commenting on http://simpliflying.com
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AirAsia X: a brand with a huge potential, but remember, “you’re only buying the flying”

It is too early to predict the success or the failure of the low-cost long-haul model. The historical experience, represented by Oasis Hong Kong Airlines and Canadian Zoom Airlines, is not encouraging at all. Even, the 20% stake of AirAsiaX, which held by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, adds more reservations to the whole idea. Moreover, it is widely known that LCC model does not work for flights over about 13 hours. However, the current economic situation might act to the advantage of AirAsiaX. Something else to be considered is the fact that Malaysian Airlines operates 2 daily Boeing 747 flights between Kuala Lumpur and London. That simply means that MH is making more than 700 daily seats available. It will NOT be a problem for AirAsiaX to acquire some of the existing MH customers who might be enticed by the price advantage of AirAsiaX.
I heard Tony Fernandes, the CEO of AirAsia talking about an important fact which might make things easy for AirAsiaX. He said that their cost is 0.03 US$ per ASK.
The support of feeder traffic provided by AirAsia as well as the existing traffic conditions between Kuala Lumpur and London are unique to AirAsiaX. Thus, the hoped-for success of AirAsiaX is not automatically applicable to any similar long-haul model.
 
Date: 12 March 2009 commenting on http://simpliflying.com