The Indian air industry has kept me entertained for the last few years. There has been the saga of the long slow death of Kingfisher which finally vanished last year, the incomprehensible losses at government owned Air India. Profitability for the rest of the sector has continued to elude. Air India and private competitors Jet Airways and Spicejet all announced losses for the fourth quarter of 2013. Air India’s loss for 2013 exceeded the Indian government’s entire higher education budget. It’s outstanding debt stood at 26 billion rupees. The airline’s employees have been facing a…
Airline News (Friday)
Category Archives for Airline News (Friday).
Qatar’s Staff Criticisms – 3 questions
Is it acceptable to have your employer grant permission “in case you wish to change your marital status and get married“? This employee rule made the news, this week, in an article The truth about the luxury of Qatar Airways published last week in a Swedish tabloid: Expressen. The article is blisteringly critical of the airline. Qatar Airways has been voted world!s best airline for two years in a row. They pick up awards for business class, their service and their lounges. On top of that, the airline had been involved in massive expansion going from four to 120…
Etihad sets deadline for Alitalia
Etihad announced last Sunday (February 2), that it has set a 30-day deadline to finalise a possible investment in Alitalia. The two airlines in a joint statement said “Any issues that may prevent the establishment of an appropriate business plan will have to be resolved to ensure the plan can be implemented to move Alitalia to sustainable profitability,” The statement was released while Italy’s prime minister, Enrico Letta, was on an official visit to the United Arab Emirates. The announcement came after a month long review of Alitalia’s finances by Etihad. The Italian carrier is…
Lion cancels 787s
Last Monday, Indonesian budget airline Lion Air cancelled its order for five Boeing 787s and ordered 737s in their stead. The carrier said it needed widebody aircraft to accommodate more than the capacity of the 787-8 for domestic high demand routes and will place a new order for aircraft in 2015. The dreamliners had been ordered in June 2012. They had been intended for Lion Air’s full service subsidiary Batik Air, launched in March 2013. The list price for the package was $US 967.5 million. Batik provides a personal TV (in-flight entertainment system) at every seat, snacks and meal, plus more generous…
Norwegian 787 unhappier and unhappier
Budget carrier, Norwegian Air Shuttle is Europe’s fourth largest low cost carrier (after Ryanair, Easyjet and Air Berlin).It has pinned its long haul expansion hopes on the 787 and the plane keeps letting them down. The airline has endured a number of maintenance issues with its three 787s from brakes to cockpit sensors to grounding to hydraulic pumps. The latest was a fuel gushing from a valve on the plane’s wing at Bangkok airport. The situation was photographed by a passenger and went viral. Passengers had a lengthy delay and the plane flew back to Stockholm for…
Your worst airline?
What has been our worst airline experience – and why? Ryanair for taking you to the wrong airport or charging you a fee higher than the airline for a printing a boarding pass at the airport? Lion air for scaring you with a rough landing? ( the airline has one of the world’s worst safety ratings) United for losing your baggage? Cubans for one of their infamous half day delays? Air Zimbabwe for stranding you? Alitalia for ignoring you? What’s been your experience?
Reviving Qantas
The news that Qantas has been devalued by two rating agencies to “junk status” filled many of us with dismay. In 2020, Qantas should be celebrating its 100th anniversary. Only two airlines: KLM and Aviannca are older. Qantas has survived the Great Depression, World War Two, 1970s hyperinflation and oil crisis, the Asian Financial Crisis, the bombing of the World Trade Centre, SARS and the the global financial crisis. It has outlived other Aussie competitors: Ansett (1935 to 2002), Australian National Airways (1936 to 1957), Compass (1990 to 1993) and East-West (1947 to 1993). Today,…
A friendlier Ryanair cuts fees
Yes, you read that right! After being accused in 2013 by consumer group Which as the worst brand in the Uk and after years of being perceived that the airline is above addressing customer complaints, Ryanair have been introducing a whole raft of improvements. This follows chief executive Michael O’Leary’s comment to shareholders last September that it should scrap its “macho” image and eliminate things that “unnecessarily p*** people off”. Ryanair has a reputation for publicising very cheap fares while charging passengers high fees for a whole raft of things check in luggage and to…
Airlines that vanished in 2013
Twenty carriers disappeared in 2013 compared to twenty-six 2012 . Six of them were based in Eastern Europe/former USSR countries. Most of the carriers were small regional airlines with tiny fleets. Kingfisher of India was only one carrier that could have been considered major, although it has been some time since they were India’s largest airline. Nearly all of the airlinest that vanished are young but a few Evergreen, JAT, OLT Express and Ryan International are old names in the airline game. I thought Air Zimbabwe would finally vanish but they managed to get enough…
A century of commercial airlines
On January 1st, 1914, the first scheduled US commercial airline flight using a fixed wing aircraft occurred. The passenger was Abram C. Pheil, the then Mayor of St. Petersburg. He flew to Tampa, Florida paying 400 dollars for the round trip ticket in a charity auction. Pilot Tony Jannus flew a Benoist flying boat for St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line taking 23 minutes for the journey at a height of five metres (15 feet). There were reported to be over 3,000 spectators at a parade accompanied by an Italian band at the departure point. Kermit Weeks…
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