Hello! BA Here: We Want to Buy You...

"We don't have any money but we think you look attractive so lower your drawers and let us take you because we want to be the world's biggest airline and you should be pleased to become part of BA.

Hello?

Hello??

Hello???"


(Dial tone - fade to black....)

A Plea Deal for Bad Hair Day FA Slater? - Hell No Throw The Book At Him

OK so I am not normally motivated to write such things. But I read today that Steve Chute/Shoot Slater the jetBlue Flight Attendant who decided to have a bad hair day and risk life and limb of his co-workers is discussing a plea deal.

Hell NO - He Needs to have the book thrown at him.

Quote, Daniel Horwitz, Slater's attorney said "Mr. Slater wants to get on with his life, and that's why he resigned from his job voluntarily."

Damn it he committed multiple crimes and endangered life and he gets a plea deal?

What does that say about anyone else who has the same urge.

Bad - VERY bad

Direct or Not?

A really nice editorial on Travel Weekly this week from contributing editor Richard Turen. Well worth a read.

Its good to remember why some people do things.In the direct and fees battle its always good to remember that there are some people who really do good - for good's sake.

And FYI the company he pointed out but didn't identify was Best Western - their contractor was Unicor.

Long may that be the case.

Cheers


Image courtesy of JELF.

Are You REALLY Mad About Airline Fees?

I like to think I am a balanced person. And here is a chance (on Labour Day when I am working) for me to show you how balanced I can be.

A new coalition of those who despise Airline Fees has a new website out. And they having a "Mad As Hell Day" September 23rd.

So far they are being less than subtle about it. Drafting dubious questionnaires in support of their position. However it is their right to do it and I am going to publicize their petition.

I would draw your attention to their privacy policy...

Privacy Policy

"Any information you provide on this page will be used to register your concerns regarding hidden airline fees with elected officials and government agencies. We will never use your e-mail address to send you advertisements or other marketing mails, nor will we sell your e-mail to any outside organizations. We may, at times, use your e-mail to deliver information to you on the issue of hidden fees or on other timely policy matters of interest to travelers. If you do not wish to receive those occasional e-mails, you may unsubscribe at any time via a link on the mail. If you submit a hidden fee story, we will not use your full name or contact information in connection with that story unless you authorize us to do so. We may, however, use any stories submitted on this site on an anonymous (first name and location only) basis to promote this issue in the media, on the web site, in advertisements or through governmental submissions."

Actually this is not correct and they are telling a rather large fib. Because there is no place to register my individual concerns about the issue. Further I am still not happy about the very biased questionnaire that the same team has put up. I wrote about this a few weeks ago. Have a look at my post on the subject.

While I support the right of the individual to protest - they should do it fairly.

I don't actually like airline fees. There I said it... however I firmly believe that Airline Ancillary Service Fees are the appropriate way to allow address the way an airline can offer me a personalized product. I feel empowered by the way its covered and I can now decide what I want and wish to pay for ... AND those I don't want.

So what do you think? If you want to go and register your opinion you can do so directly. The formal rule making proposal document can be downloaded from the DoT here.

For those of you from Georgia (the State not the Country) who farm peanuts - you might want to pay close attention to page 2 where the following statement is made:

In addition, the Department is considering several
measures, including banning the serving of peanuts on commercial airlines, to provide greater
access to air travel for the significant number of individuals with peanut allergies.

If you have a specific complaint then file it appropriately directly here.

Just tell them the Professor Sabena sent you.

Cheers




With acknowledgement to MGM for the image of the cast of one of the best movies ever made.

Amadeus Retreating From Competing With Its Customers - Bye Bye Opodo?

Hot on the heels of a story I did last month on Sabre pulling out of non-core businesses and ending the practice of competing with its customers now comes word that Amadeus is doing something akin.

So either Amadeus is finally giving up on its poor orphan child that it inherited from its some times owners (big EU airlines) or its decided that Opodo needs a new home. At the least Amadeus might start to look more attractive to the big OTAs. It has recently beefed up its search offerings (Masterpricer et al).

Reports have been circulating for a few weeks of a "major OTA" on the block. Actually Opodo doesn't quite fit those shoes. Since the story is now out - I can comment on it.

Opodo has never quite lived up to its hype. It's books were made to look pretty good (ie that they were not losing money) in recent years - but it is not a business that will set the world on fire. Rather like its counterpart in Asia - Zuji that is a little more successful comparatively speaking.

The US based similar business - Orbitz - burst on the scene and became a monster success initially. It was hived off by the airlines (who started it under the code name of T2 after a popular Consulting firm of a similar name - or a movie that came out around that time with a then future Governor as its lead actor). It landed in the Blackstone stable of businesses. It seems to be getting a little more healthy under new CEO (and ex-Expedia man) Barney Harford.

Now that Amadeus has to submit to the discipline of the markets - it is taking a hard look at its stable of disparate businesses and clearly deciding that some of them belong elsewhere.

So probably time to put this dog out the door. Will Travelport now be looking to do the same on their side and dump their holding in Orbitz and some other products/services.

Hey this new found religion might actually be good for the market.

Cheers

Death By Personalization and Bad Cookies

For some unknown reason - I am now trapped in Spokane.

I have not been to GEG in many years - it is hope to Gonzaga University and is probably a nice place (except in the peak of winter).

But now I have been trying to test some new websites and many of them think I am in Spokane.

So to everyone who thinks I am in Spokane... I am not.

Thanks - you are now free to go about your business

Chill Out Everyone on Ryanair's FA/Pilot Idea...

OK so read on...

There is a huge hue and cry over the proposal from Mr O'Leary on replacing the second pilot in a 737.

So let's analyze the issue and be sure we all understand it.

Let's deal with the current regulations. Cockpit distraction is a problem. So there is indeed a regulation that covers this. In 1981 the FAA enacted FAR 121.542 and FAR 135.100 to help curb the number of accidents related to cockpit distraction or interference. Commonly known as the "sterile cockpit rule," these regulations specifically prohibit crew member performance of non-essential duties or activities while the aircraft is involved in taxi, takeoff, landing, and all other flight operations conducted below 10,000 feet MSL, except cruise flight. NASA has some interesting details on this.

The issue of cockpit distraction achieved a lot of attention after the two Northwest Pilots overflew their destination which chatting about non-flying issues. In the past few years other examples of distraction of a different sort has emerged with a video of 2 pilots on board a French Airliner interacting with a Stewardess. If you want to find it - go look at the Sun UK news paper.

The Ryanair's CEO perspective is that on short flights the need for the second pilot is not great and during the critical moments when a second pilot is required a flight attendant can perform that function.

In all hoopla people have not dealt with the issue which is that there is nothing to prevent this. IF.... the Flight Attendant is a fully qualified person to engage in cockpit activity and then is able to fulfill other functions - why not?

Of course it is a little silly as which pilot qualified and current rated person would ever want to be hired as a FA? However stranger things have happened, Just this past June such an incident happened when a pilot on board an AA flight became incapacitated. Just by chance a pilot trained (but not current) Flight Attendant was among the crew. 61 year old Patti De Luna assisted in the process of landing an AA 767 in Chicago O'Hare - not one of the easiest airports in the world.

The simplest an easiest way to view it - is that as long as safety is not compromised then there should be no commercial reason as to why this could not be the case.

But since that is neither practical nor commercially viable - the idea is not going anywhere. So people - just chill out!

Cheers

A Few Moments....The Worst Way To Fly?

I am going to start an occasional series on the Professor's blog. It will be entitled a Few Moments....

I will write about a number of things - mostly in a moment of whimsy.

I hope you will enjoy them. Feel free to contribute ideas for me to write on. Today's first one is about airline safety. As regular readers note I fly a lot. So this is a matter very close and dear to me.

According to data presented the worst case is if you fly on Aeroflot in August between the USA and Russia on a DC9. Since there has never been such a flight this makes the chances pretty remote. But what about survivability.


I love information. Data is also up there. I love looking for themes and trends in data sets.

I have been reading through some of the work of David McCandless.

So here is an interesting view of where the safest place is to sit on a plane based on survivor statistics.

Personally I always chose somewhere near the wingbox and hopefully where the fuselage is strongest. But if your time is up - its up!

I love this stuff....

Cheers



Here is the license terms location for the display of this image.

JetBlue to Slater - Later Dude....

Jetblue has confirmed that "Chute/Shoot" Slater is no longer employed with the airline. The "seperation" was completed last week, he had been taken off flying duty immediately after the incident and placed on what the Brits call "Gardening Leave".

Slater has pleaded not guilty to charges the charges filed so far of reckless endangerment and criminal mischief -- both felonies -- and criminal trespass. If convicted, he could face a maximum of seven years in prison. Slater has a court appearance scheduled for Tuesday.

He could still be charged with various offences under the jurisdiction of Homeland Security.

Search: Garbage In = Garbage Out Squared.

Do you ever wonder if the results you get from a Google Search or good or bad? I am probably very frustrated as a user and no different from others in that the way I get my results makes me have to work very hard to get to that nugget of data I am searching.

Anti "Gaming" the system for some is considered sport and a natural human behaviour, except it becomes necessary to do it to avoid getting junk results - or at the very least reducing the junk results to a manageable number. I long ago gave up trying to get great results. All of which takes up some of the most precious commodity I have available to me - namely time.

Since Google (and indeed others) who are engaged in search result delivery don't hold themselves up to a standard of providing the best possible results, we get what we pay for. IE we don't pay for it so we get garbage.

Google's results as well as the others - appear to be "good enough". For the billions of users.

However I come from a background of market research where you had to go and do a LOT of researching to get the right nugget of information. IE I am classically trained in research. This helps me get better results. What concerns me is that the newer users on the web have no such background. Probably can't use a classical reference book. Have no idea how to use a library etc etc.

And this is my point. Garbage in Garbage Squared out. Lord Help us if we have to use such a tool base for complex stuff like lowest fares.

Yuk..................

So How Do You Feel About Google Verizon Proposal?

I posted the poll a few weeks ago and the results were as expected given my audience.

Most people 83% who responded to the poll said they were against the Google Verizon, only a small group said they had no clue…

People are clearly pretty upset about it. As no one voted for either "Benign" or "Haven't got a clue", as options.

Cheers

How Media Treats Mexico

I consume a lot of media each day - we all do.

So I have always been struck by the way Travel Media - particularly traditional based media outlets - treat news.

A case in point is to see how Mexico has been faring lately. The reality of the situation is that Mexico experienced one of the more severe of the impacts of the GFC. This has been compounded by the current war on drugs being waged between the cartels and the Federal Government. Yesterday listening to the BBC News about Calderon's crusading anti drug war on my local NPR station in Seattle it struck me that media is always focusing on the extremes.

So today I looked at contrasting stories about Mexico. I found two that more than anything illustrate my point.

From USA Today the focus on the bar killings in Cancun. (BTW I am going there next week for a conference). Yet there is a much more upbeat message on Travel Daily News about how things are really looking up in Mexico.

The fact that Mexicana its largest airline just stopped flying and the tourism numbers are abysmal - you have to question why they would put out a story like this?

I like Mexico. The people and the locale are wonderful. But is everything in the garden so rosy?

Probably not.

For Old Fogies Like Me...

Social Networking stats show we are SLOWLY catching up to those youngsters.

Social Media usage amongst seniors is climbing - it has now reached about 1/3rd of the Millenials and Gen Yers. For Boomers (that includes me) the penetration (ouch) of social media usage is now approaching 50%.

So now we are all connected - what are we going to do with ourselves.

This is from emarketer... probably written by a bunch of less than aged folks who don't use scooters.

Cheers

Users As Beta Guinea Pigs - Now SKYPE

Taking a leaf out of Google's (bad) books - Skype has a new version of its software.

I quote directly from their email notification:

So that everyone in the beta program can participate in group video calling, we will require all users to upgrade to Beta 2 by Friday, 10 September; if you don't want to wait, you can download it right now.

If this is a commercial service why do we have to "upgrade" to a Beta piece of code?

The arrogance of these people astounds me...

And I love Skype and use it every day.

Cheers


Thanks to Intuitive Business for the appropriate image.

Personalization Loses It!

I have a story I love to tell about how personalization based on user interaction can be a bust.

I have a friend who is an absolute nut about Bonzai Trees. He buys books on Amazon on the subject all the time. He is also divorced and has a teenage daughter. He let her use his account to buy a book she desperately wanted. It was a book fan book on one of the latest Movie Stars.

Net result - now 6 years after the fact he still gets books on Cooking with several movie stars.

Let me provide another example. I love internet radio. My favorites are Rdio (sorry dont want to pay the fee so its turned off) Pandora (limited to 40 hours per month so I use them up and then move on) and LastFM. However I recently started to get a bunch of polish rock music in my mix. I didn't ask for it and constantly forbid it - but it comes back all the time.

I tracked back to when it happened and I think its because I (hearted) a French band - AIR.

Now I cannot get rid of all the Czech and Polish music - fine though I am sure it is to someone who speaks that language.


Grrrr..................

with thanks to SocialWrite for the use of the image.

Another MOL Story - Is He On The Charm Offensive?

The irrascible CEO of Ryanair is at it again.

This time in Bloomberg.

To most in the world - the treatment of passengers as a commodity - Bovine Air - is the fact but the fiction of travel as a sexy experience persists.

The reality of the process is that the actual flying portion of the trip has become the least offensive part. In days of yore there were flights from places that were close in. Today - the airport entrance to the airport exit point has become so long and complicated not to mention cattle like that the degrading of the human spirit is an accepted form of treatment.

Bless him - Michael O'Leary calls a spade a spade.

How many of us/them can actually say that - at the same driving their company to now the second most valuable airline in the world?

Cheers

First Official Green Tax Approved

For the first time a major country has implemented a Green tax. Germany introduces “green” air passenger tax for all departures from German airports as of January 1. Passengers will be forced to pay between US$10-57 depending on length of flight.

There will be a lot of ink spilled on this one

Is There A Perfect "What Next" Site/App?

I went to Southern California to hang out with family last weekend. It was really good to catch up.

One of my fellow bloggers Mr Boot (ably assisted by Madam Boot) is also on the hunt for this and I think he has a better handle on this than me. But here are some ramblings from my aged viewpoint.

I had some spare time to do things that are fun to do. I used to live in LA for 8 years in the 1980s. I really liked it! But to see what is there now is a little daunting - so much information.

Who can I trust and where do I go that doesn't require me to sift through dumpsters of useless information?

I love Daily Candy. Its a fun site filled with interesting stuff - but it is not really that useful as an "on demand" service. So I am delisting myself from there. TimeOut used to be my favorite for London - but it too has lost a lot of its sparkle and spunk. In Seattle "The Stranger" is the best local guide. In LA -LA Weekly is pretty good - but newsprint is loosing its lustre.

One of my favorite sources of information is BeDynamic. I love the work the Anne and her crew have done. Really useful stuff. if you are not from here - its a good place to start.

My new favourite site though for simplicity and value is Goby. It was good for LA. Not sure if it will work in other places.

So if you have any suggestions for the cities on my jaunt - I will be most grateful

The Professor will be in the following places over the coming months:

In random order...
Chicago
Cancun
Cologne
Toulouse
Edinburgh
Frankfurt
Berlin
Istanbul
Sofia
Manchester
London
Los Angeles
Sydney
Brisbane
Melbourne
Singapore
Bangkok
Mumbai

Suggestions welcomed.

Cheers

Mummy Do I Need An App For That?

I had a chance to see several people's iPhones and iTouches this past weekend. It is quite interesting to see what people have as Apps.

There is clearly no shortage of apps for the iOS family of products. I was roving around the iTunes store and looked under the category of travel.

Actually the way I navigated was via Facebook - so many imprecise ways to navigate - its scary. The top apps in all categories can be viewed on Facebook easily.

I am at least gratified that iFart is no longer the number one application for iPhone.

What is interesting is that the iPad apps are now diverging from the iPhone apps. I would have expected a certain degree of this driven by the form factor. However I would have expected people to have loaded all their favorite apps from the iPhone onto their iPads (I believe but cannot find hard evidence that the iPad users are mostly former/current iPhone users as early adopters).

And I am really grateful that so far no one has come up with an App that addresses Thumb Sucking.

(With special thanks to the Daily Telegraph for this fascinating subject). I am sure that before too long the clinic will have its own App.

Cheers

Are We Headed For Travel Industry Megalomania?

OK so we all know the Travel Industry has a few egos here and there. But are we headed for a lustful grab for power in many sectors?

It seems we may be headed for a major adjustment of the status quo. Let's look at the facts.

The airlines are coalescing around 3 global alliances. The US market has seen 2 major mergers in 3 years - DL+NW and CO+UA. In Europe LH is gobbling everyone up who wasn't AF, KL or BA, IB. In Australia the big players came down to 2. In Europe already dominated in leisure by TUI and Thos Cook. There are now only 3 major legacy international GDSs. There are really only 4 major global travel industry networks. There are four major online players....

I think you get my point.

The pyramid that used to be nice and flat is now getting pretty pointy looking

Cheers

Rabid IPad Owners

So no new news for iPads in Apples fun day today.

However buried deep inside was a bit of new news... iOS4.2. This should have the fixes you have all been waiting for - but wait a little longer it will be November before it sees the light of day(glo).

So what have you little iPad users been doing with your machines, what is your usage profile and well how sad are you really?

I did a little digging and found some research on the subject.

Firstly let's be real clear. Like the iPhone before it - an iPad is best used as a consumption device. it is better as a creation device than its smaller siblings but it follows Apple's very clear philosophy. Consumption devices and Creation devices are mostly separated. The MAC was always seen as a good content creation device. It became its role in life. As 1:Many content creation has become more important so to has the Mac's growth and adoption mirror'd the trend. This contrasts with Microsoft's philosophy of a 1:1 communication device with content consumption via the web browser. Apple made their hardware devices optimized for one or the other NOT BOTH. So thus the iPad is indeed a very cool consumption device.

This somewhat goes against the grain of an "all in one" device. But who knows. It comes down in my opinion to not form over function but a unique mix of both. For that Apple needs a good pat on the back.

And of all the failings that Microsoft has - this is perhaps their clearest one. They didn't understand that personal consumption is individual. The parallels in how Apple got this right and Microsoft got it wrong becomes so obvious with hindsight.

Another observation is that Apple understood - or its just happened that way - that the iPad is not really a device for toting around. It is just ideal as the device for the home. Because people don't like creating stuff at home - they like consuming.

The iPad in my view is personal TV. Its form factor really does a great job in that score. Again Apple got this right and everyone else got it wrong.

What is interesting is that this actually may be the saviour of general media. With the demand for short form content exceeding that of long form but not having to make the choice - traditional media should feel happy.

But this is not just my view. A study by cooper murphy webb shows how the device gets used. It shows a usage preference that mirrors print. But remember the audience who was asked... early adopters. In my view this will give some significant usage pointers for the future use of the device.



So maybe you are not so sad at all....

Does this mean the Professor will breakdown and get an iPad... not just yet... but maybe when they refresh the device.

Cheers

Er Excuse Me ... But Americans Are Really Stupid...

I guess that got your attention didn't it!

But it seems I am right. On this US Labor Day weekend when the country celebrates its workers - I thought I would have a look at what the rest of the world does.

First let's talk De Jure - by Law. Americans are just sad people. They don't get any holiday. The only OECD country to so be.
And no that is not a misprint the US has ZERO.

So what about in practice?

Americans get an average of 13 vacation days per year. This is comprised of 10-11 full actual "vacation" days and 2-3 days of "flex time".

However the AVERAGE American leaves 3 of these total days unused every year.

There is even an organization formed to help you (and presumably to selling books on the subject).

But have no fear... you are not the least or worst off.

According to Financial Calendar the worst off is in order:

Bosnia has only 2.8 days. Probably an aberration. But Cuba, Serbia, Mongolia and Uzbekistan are all around 6 days.

Clearly a workers paradise.

But for now I think I am heading to Nepal where you get on average 24 days.

For a good report - head over the the Harvard Law Review and check out their full report.

Cheers and TAKE THE DAY OFF... I am going to Bumbershoot in Seattle. Should be fun

Cheers

For Apple Lovers - This Is Your Day

So sorry pilgrims of the Black Turtle Necked one.

Today will see some fun things - a real refresh of the Nano - I think we can bank on that one.

But of the others... probably nothing on the iPad other than more features in the OSv4. So from today or the near future you might be actual able to get an iPhone that works. Even a white one! I was in the AT&T store yesterday and they said that now iPhones are available but still on "special" order. IE you have to formally order them and then they arrive and are handed out on a first come first served basis.

So if you have a Mac and Safari - then head on over to the Apple Website at about 1245 PST.

For the rest of us plebs - we can read about it later.

Cheers

Still Flying Bovine Air?

Like almost everyone else on the planet - I cannot afford first class fares nor private jet travel.

Occasionally the droppings from the airline table allow me to fly in a "premium" class. But its rare. On long haul I try to fly business class - the best deal is still the Round The World fares. Right now with the dollar reasonably strong the best place to buy them is in the UK. The best deal I find is the joint BA/QF fare. Its pretty cool if you can get it. It requires a lot of planning and being adaptive. But I can get from UK to Oz to Singapore, India and then Europe. if you pay a regular RTW then this adds 40% to the cost. But you get a heck of a lot of extra flexibility.

But what about the service?

Well in general despite my FF status - the flights on long haul biz class have declined in recent years.

Apparently though not for everyone. Here is a little piece from CNN you might find amusing

Dream on...

I wonder if Bristol Palin flies like this?

Cheers

Shameless Self Promotion

Normally I would not do this - so regard this as a plea request.

I am soliciting nomination for the following awards:

UK Travel Press Awards

if you could vote for the Professor in Categories 4 and 11 that would be great.

Now whether I qualify as a "Journalist" or whether the Professor's Blog is able to be categorized as a "Publication" would seem to be a moot point in this day and age.

Cheers

Sabre Retreating From Competing With Agents Or Could It Be Incentives Reach New Heights? Nexion 'Sale' to Tzell.

At one stage Sabre had two separate travel agent networks. Well it has just offloaded one of them. Nexion the netowrk focussed on larger agents with a more corporate focus has gone to New York Agent TZell. "Terms were not disclosed" caught my eye. So being a little curious I checked....

Interesting that this should occur now - Tzell's contract with Sabre is up next year so this could be that the sale makes several people happy. So if you are a large agency - it seems the incentives to stay with your GDS in the USA is getting pretty lucrative.

So Expedia will get Travelocity when it re-ups with Sabre for its primary US GDS!!!!
If you are a large Travelport agency - perhaps you can ask for Orbitz or GTA.

The possibilities are endless! Now there is a thought....

Cheers