Parallel thinking

Two completely independent pronouncements were made on 8 May. One was from Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline, and the other from Lord Lawson of Blaby, former Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom. Let's start with Lawson. He put forward a case that the UK should leave the European Union on the basis that, whatever the original rationale for membership, modern realities have rendered UK membership irrelevant. Lawson clearly believes that people have become blind to the obvious fact that, 'the relevant economic context nowadays is not Europe but globalisation.' In other words, to prosper, you should follow the money and stop faffing around barking up the wrong trees.

Coincidentally, Tim Clark, speaking at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, was saying precisely the same thing. Except that Tim was thinking of airline alliances, rather than membership of the European Union. He said that the old ways of doing business and 'patchwork quilts' of airline alliances are coming unglued in the face of a changing industry. 'You must go to where your new markets are and fit your products to what is happening whether you like it or not.' And, of course, the Emirates and Qantas partnership is a perfect illustration of this idea.

Lord Lawson and Tim Clark, without realising it, have stood up for each other.

A plea to FlightGlobal

I must take my hat off to the folks at FlightGlobal. Nice people, nice articles, nice blogs. Yes, they are all very nice indeed. Their website is informative and always full of interest.

However....
Quite often my interest is piqued by some juicy headline or other, which leads me to click on a link in order to read the full article. And then my glow of appreciation for those nice people fades somewhat. Why? Because, more often than not, there is a little orange logo within which are the dreaded letters, 'Pro'. This means, of course, that unless one subscribes to FlightGlobal Pro, access is blocked. What I do not understand is why this is not made clearer at the outset. It is soooo frustrating. I wouldn't mind if 'Pro' were to be reasonably priced, but it isn't. At least, it isn't for independent businessmen like me, who have to watch the pennies.

I did speak to a nice gentleman at FlightGlobal about this, and he was terribly decent about it, sympathising and agreeing with me. But I am small fry and policy will not be changed for me. This is a pity because in my past life, when I controlled corporate budgets, a simple signature was all that was needed to unlock the treasures within 'Pro'. Who knows, one day I might be a bigger fish again, with my finger on the corporate purse.

Nice.

Another return to the world of the living

Greetings to one and all

Those of you who know me well will understand the reasons for my silence over the last three years. I was working on an aviation project for the Abu Dhabi Government and any form of private activity connected with that activity would have been frowned upon. Happily for me, that episode in my life is now well and truly over. In effect, I am a free man. And this leaves me to speak freely once again. You can't imagine the relief....unless, that is, you happen to live in the UAE in which case you will know what I mean.

Dodging the ash

Thanks to Eyjafjallajökull, I have just spent five and a half days travelling from Abu Dhabi to Montreal. I suspect that, when I checked in with Lufthansa at Abu Dhabi, they already knew that I would not be able to complete my journey. Sure enough, we were among the last to land at Frankfurt before the airport closed. Three nights in a hotel were followed by a gruesome bus journey to Rome, taking 18 hours and 26 minutes precisely. Air Canada finally rustled up a 767 and a crew to take me, and my fellow exhausted travellers, to Montreal. I fared a lot better than many people, who camped out on army cots at Frankfurt

However, Star Alliance members were definitely adopting different procedures in dealing with their customers. For example, Air Canada stumped up two nights in a hotel near Frankfurt, whereas Lufthansa were prepared to pay for however many nights were necessary. And the Air Canada manager at Frankfurt told me that United Airlines were refusing to cover any hotel costs. Also, when rebooking a Lufthansa flight with Air Canada, I was initially told to go and speak with Lufthansa!

All this suggests that, although airlines commit to their alliance in fair weather, they are likely to absolve themselves of collective responsibility in foul weather, particularly if the terms being employed by one member do not suit another.

Don't mention the......Arabian Gulf

Thank you to 'Anonymous' for welcoming me back.

Here's a little story from the desert world, which acts as a reminder that one needs to be careful what one says these days. Iran has warned airlines that use of the term "Arabian Gulf" instead of the preferred and politically correct "Persian Gulf" can have dire consequences. Iran's transport minister, Hamid Behbahani, demanded an apology from Kish Air, an Iranian Airline, after the forbidden geographical term was uttered by one of its stewards. The fall-out is that airlines flying in Iranian airspace are now being threatened with revocation of their permits if the the dreaded words "Arabian Gulf" are either spoken or appear on in-flight monitors.

It's probably best not to mention the w.. - sorry, I mean Arabian Gulf at all.

Rumours of my passing are exaggerated

My regular readers (and yes, there really are some) are doubtless wondering why I have not posted anything for a while. The answer is simple. I have relocated to Al Ain, in the United Arab Emirates, and have assumed the position of Director of the Al Ain International Aviation Academy. One of the joys of moving to a new country is that one can never take things like an internet connection for granted. In my case, the blog site was automatically translated into Arabic, thereby making it impossible to upload any posts.

After some deliberation, I decided that it would be quicker to resolve the internet connection issues rather than learn Arabic. The site is now appearing (at least to me) in the English, as opposed to the Arabic, language and, as a consequence, I am happy to say that normal service will now be resumed.

Security woes

Security is naturally aviation's biggest concern, and the impact on aviation deepens every time a plot is uncovered or foiled. The fallout of the failed attempt to blow up an aircraft on Christmas Day last year now affects millions of travellers. A few days ago I was connecting at JFK's Terminal 4 from Montreal to Dubai. Although the security queues were horrendous, no-one was complaining - except, that is, the security staff who were shouting and yelling at compliant travellers. Yes, it is a stressful job. Yes, they need to be strict. Yes, they are working under pressure, and in conditions that are not well adapted to performing security checks. But it is a sad indictment of our industry that travellers are herded and treated like cattle on the way to the slaughterhouse.

And what happens when travellers at JFK were emerging from the security checks? We were all shouted at by airline staff for delaying the aircraft departure. So much for the glamour of flying. You just can't win.