I am interested in what is happening over at American Airlines. Their shares fell 33 per cent yesterday as people expected the worst after a 62 percent drop so far this year. This last fall came amid fears that the airline could be forced into bankruptcy. Unlike most of the major airlines in the USA, American Airlines has avoided bankruptcy. This may change. Currently, they are one of the airlines I dread flying. Despite being a One World airline, the difference between Cathay, Qantas, Lan and even British Airways is palpable. They have very high debt levels ($17 billion), a higher cost base than other…
Tuesday Trip Report: US Airways was okay!
US Airways is not one of my favourite airlines. In fact, they rate in my bottom ten airlines based on my experiences of their service over eight years. I have given them an overall 2.9 out of 5 after a decade of flying them. My experience is that every time I fly them they have got worse. A client of mine, booked me on US Airways from Houston to Richmond via Charlotte to get to an important meeting. This gave me a good chance to test them. Booking: 7/10 Upon receiving my booking confirmation, I logged onto to US Airways.com to find my seats. The…
Wild about Travel reaches 20 000 page views!
A new record for September with my greatest readership yet and a new milestone achieved. Thanks everyone
Monday’s A380 Seating
I seem to have snagged the window seat of the exit row on my next A380 flight,A lot can happen between now and check in so fingers crossed! Watch for Tuesday Trip Report on 12th October
History Repeats?: Air New Zealand’s Aussie Investment
Air New Zealand took its stake in Virgin Blue(owners of V Australia and Virgin Australia) to 19.9% as a result of a fairly low share prices.The last time they took an interest in an Australian airline (Ansett), it almost bankrupted Air New Zealand and the Australia’s longest running domestic carrier Ansett ceased to exist. Ten years later, Air New Zealand are hopefully wiser and Virgin are a better business than Ansett Australia were. Former chief executive Rod Eddington “described Ansett publicly and internally as a great airline, but a poor business”. It makes huge sense for Air NZ to have a strong…
San Francisco in 24 hours
I started the day with a run along the waterfront near the Embaracdero with the city on one side and the Bay on the other: -outstanding! I ran 5miles (8 kilometres). This got me ready for breakfast at the Ferry Plaza Farmers market. Held three times a week, it has an amazing range of local, fresh and often organic fruit and vegetables. I bought the most delicious peach I have had for years, As the juice rolled down my fingers, I marvelled at the difference to the supermarket ones I buy from time to time. No comparison.…
Perfection 777th flight on an NZ B777
After 43 years of flying I flew on my 777th flight. In a previous Blog post, I was trying to decide whether to fly my 777th on an Air New Zealand or V Australia 777. I appreciated the advice from friends to try Air NZ’s new 777-300 and was glad I did. I have recently blogged about V’s superb business class product on the 777-300. This Air NZ flight gave me lots of opportunity for comparison. For those who haven’t been following: I flew #737 on a Southwest B737, #747 on a Qantas B747, #757 with United and #767…
Wild about Travel hits record audience numbers
The number of readers to this blog has been rapidly climbing which I am thrilled about. June, July and August were my three biggest months. September is shaping up to beat them. To do that I need 33 more readers every day. Love you to do one of four things please: Keep reading each of my blog posts Comment on them Tell me whats missing-what do you like reading about in my posts? Recommend to others please Thank you for joining me in my travel adventures.
Lufthansa names an A380 “Zurich”.
On Tuesday13th September, Lufthansa named A380 D-AIMF “Zurich“, after the Swiss city which is hub for the Lufthansa owned SWISS airline. This particular A380 was the sixth in the Lufthansa fleet and has been flying for them since April this year. While the plane is named Zurich, there is no suggestion of it moving from its Frankfurt base to the Swiss city. Passengers will have to fly from Zurich to Frankfurt to connect with Lufthansa to its A380 destinations (Beijing, Miami, New York, Only a couple of weeks for my Lufthansa A380 flight, which will be my fourth A380 carrier (already flown Emirates, Qantas and Singapore)
See 787 handed over to ANA – LIVE
Apparently we will be able to watch the handover of the 787 from Boeing to ANA (at last) at 0900h US Pacific time Monday 26th- midday US Eastern time, 2am Sydney on the 27th and oddly 1am Tokyo on the 27th. I would have thought an afternoon time in Seattle would have been better. It would allowed people to watch it live at a civilised hour in the Airline’s home country. e.g. 8am Tokyo time which equals 4pm Seattle time. Wonder why this timing?
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