Economy Class & Beyond

Train Travel… and they wonder why they’re loosing revenue hand over fist.

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So muggins had to make a mission of mercy trip to London on Tuesday, and of course as time was short - I needed to catch the fast trains and pay the idiot fares to London. Not that the fast train helped to be honest - we were 21 minutes late due to line problems near Birmingham airport. And nor that it help on the way back (as the slow lines were closed to a point, a slow … [Read more...]

Where BA goes, Aer Lingus Follows – Up to 800 jobs for the cut.

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It seems the year of woe is continuing in the aviation industry with Aer Lingus now being forced to make cuts to their staff in an attempt to save £90 million over the next year. In basic terms, 100 staff have already been told their when their contracts end, they will not be renewed. In addition new IT systems and modified working practices mean that another 676 … [Read more...]

**Breaking**: 1700 BA jobs for the cut

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Hitting the wires right now is very bad news from BA with 1700 jobs for the chop from long and shorthaul crews. Basic coverage at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8293536.stm -- updated 12:15, 07/10 -- So, yes - to cover the still falling revenues, they're pulling out the stops to save more money. They will be looking for 1000 cabin crew taking voluntary … [Read more...]

Soapbox: United… WHY? (Put the booking engine back to how it was!!!)

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You know, I think airlines are turning more into confusopolyies these days (According to Scott Adams of Dilbert fame, a confusopoly is where a company or companies gains monoploistic powers by being too darned confusing for mere mortals). And United Airlines seem to be taking this to an extreme. For example, I'm pricing out a mileage run whilst I'm stateside next so I hit … [Read more...]

**BREAKING – Going TATL? You probably won’t be – Problems at Shanwick Control – CLEARED **

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Breaking news off the BBC News wire - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8288313.stm "All transatlantic flights from the UK are grounded because of an air traffic systems problem in the Shanwick airspace area, says BAA. Delays could be as much as three and a half hours, it is thought.  The problem concerns Shanwick Oceanic Control, which is the airspace area for the north … [Read more...]

The Friday News Roundup

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It's Friday, and I've been under the weather with a cold, so lets do a roundup before I go for another bucket full of lemsip... Qantas - From Bad to Worse to Bad Qantas is having one hell of a rough time it seems, with the latest traffic numbers down again by 1.4% year on year. Things are slowly improving, but it's a hard road for the flying Kangaroo TUI Group cancels … [Read more...]

Auntie goes after the Odious Little Man… and makes a nice music video…

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If there's one thing you can trust the BBC to do - and it's "Watchdog" programme - it's to go after companies. Especially if Anne Robinson (of The Weakest Link) is at the helm.  This week it's the turn of the aviation industry's scum - Ryanair. It's of course, an attack on Ryanair's so called cheap fares policy, and the idea of removing check-in desks and replacing … [Read more...]

TSA: SnowGlobes – a weapon on the war on Terror.

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This was spotted today at LaGuardia airport in New York - by Matt Daimler, founder of the www.seatguru.com... OH GIVE ME STRENGTH! Snowglobes are now formally a WMD it seems now. I'm honestly speechless. Once again, the TSA are proving they are living up to the axiomin that they are a bunch of... Thanks to Upgrade: Travel Better.  I'm going off to vent some … [Read more...]

Analysis- BA001 takes to the skies again – LCY (SNN) JFK

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Well after yesterdays launch of the BA ERJ-170's, we now turn to the big launch of the week - the  London City (LCY) to New York JFK International (JFK)  via Shannon. (SNN). BA has also resurrected the magic flight numbers - BA1, BA2, BA3, and  BA4 - last used on it's Concorde flights. Lets try and work out what BA were thinking when this route was dreamed … [Read more...]