As I suggested on October 4, American Airlines has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In its petition filed in New York, AMR reported assets of $24.72 billion and liabilities of $29.55 billion. The company has $4.1 billion in cash. They have lost about 50 billion dollars in the last decade. The bankruptcy will give the carrier the opportunity to reduces its debt levels. A chapter 11 filing allows for a reorganisation. The aim is to survive. What does this filing mean? Not much will change immediately. Existing ticket holders will find their tickets are honoured. Planes will still…
Yearly Archives
Yearly Archives for 2011.
Qantas Social Media Backlash
If Qantas, the Australian airline had any doubt as to how the Australian public feel about the once iconic brand, then their latest Social Media campaign has shown them the truth. It all started innocently. This week Qantas began a new social media campaign called “Qantas Luxury”. From my view it seems to be an attempt to to win back the hearts and minds of Australians concerned about Qantas. The airline has been battered by four issues in the last year particularly: a series of incidents which have suggested to some that the airline appears…
#Flight 799 and #Flight 800
Just flown my 799th flight from Pittsburgh to New York’s JFK with Jetblue. Followed by my 800th flight on an Air France A380 from NYC to Paris Charles de Gaulle. Trip report to come! In 47 years, I have flown over one million miles spending just over 3.5 months inside aeroplanes. Check out my flightmemory.com for more
Emirates massive order
Heard today that my favourite airline Emirates has ordered 50 of my favourite plane: 777-300ER. They also have options for 20 more. Delivery will start from 2015. The order is valued at $18 billion dollars for Boeing – $26billion with the options. Boeing’s largest dollar value order. Emirates has currently got 57 of the 777-300ERs so they are effectively doubling this type of plane in their fleet. They may of course sell some of their existing 777s to keep their fleet as one of the very youngest. Combined with their orders for 76 Airbus A380s,…
American Airlines Ticketing #Fail!
I have just used Kayak to research a flight: Austin-Pittsburgh-Boston. The best option price and schedule- wise was an American Airlines/USAir combo sold by American Airlines for $US357.60 in Economy. Kayak gave me a link to American Airlines which I clicked on. This deposited me on the onto the American Airline homepage (www.aa.com). I entered all my personal data and scrolled through to payments page where I entered my Credit Card details including address. I discovered, at this point that there was not a drop down box for “Australia”. I could enter “USA”, “Canada” or the “UK” but not “Australia”. So I called…
Fry Tweets Qantas A380 Failure
British actor and Tweetaholic Stephen Fry was en route from Sydney to London today aboard a Qantas A380 operating as QF 31. Four hours out from Singapore, the plane was diverted to Dubai due to engine problems. Bizarrely one year to the day since a Qantas A380 Rolls Royce Trent 900 engine shredded in what could have been a disaster for that airliner. Fry kept us entertained with a blow by blow account of today’s situation which a Qantas spokesperson said was not connected to last year’s issue (Oh yeah? how d they know?): 82 stephenfry: Taking…
More on Qantas: Reaction to the Grounding
Roy Morgan has released results, from their regular phone poll survey of public opinion in Australia. Som key feedback from the Australian public suggets that respondents were: more inclined to blame management (56%) than the unions (42%) for the shutdown overall disapproving of the shutdown with 61% against it and 35% approving wanting federal government sooner (64%) -with 32% disagreeing This suggests that the Qantas Board and Management have a long row to hoe to get Australians to support their move and new directions.
Qantas is Back
21 days of compulsory negotiations between unions and company to follow. I will be interested in the outcomes! What the unions want: Transport Workers Union: 5 per cent pay rise per year, with an additional 1 per cent in superannuation (pension payments) protected against a rise in CPI. The Australian and International Pilots Association: 2.5 per cent pay increase, each year, for three years Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association : 5.33 per cent pay rise to cover wages plus additional allowances, every year, for three years. This, however, is not what the real issue is about. Qantas announced recently the…
Qantas and the Unions- Desperate Dejavu?
My friend Leanne has been planning her Italian holiday for 18 months. She was flying out tomorrow with Qantas. Not anymore. In a move thats bizarre, risky and inexplicable, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce told a news conference in Sydney, Saturday: “We have decided to ground the Qantas international and domestic fleets immediately,” Joyce said. How often does an airline shut down all of its operations? 108 planes grounded. Those in the air landed at their destinations. The rest are not going anywhere. On Monday the entire staff will be stood down without pay. There are seventeen…
Who gets BMI?
I have always liked British Midland (BMI) and its various incarnations. Owned by Lufthansa since 2009, the loss making BMI is now up for sale. I really hoped Virgin Atlantic would be the buyer of BMI or a Virgin/ Etihad combo would hop in with an offer. Vigin have had an interest in BMI off and on since 1999. The Virgin and BMI route networks would mesh well. Etihad are clearly looking for expansion by takeover. The major issue is that BMI is losing a lot of money. Virgin and its 49% owner Singapore, would not be keen to…
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