Max Starkov and co are running a Hospitality website called WIWIH. http://www.wiwih.com/
Fairly typical of different hotel discussion groups. However one debate caught my eye - UI.
The topic is: WIWIH Poll - Do you think that One-Screen/Flash booking engines (e.g. iStay-iHotelier) are better than the traditional step-by-step booking engines (e.g. Expedia's, Marriott's, SynXis')? I have a passionate belief that the end of the life cycle of the current explicit User Experience is in sight. Whether of course it is adopted remains to be seen. Sadly the whole advent of Mashups and Web2.0 technologies (if you can call them that) has actually done a dis-service to the market by prolonging the lifespan of the current metaphors. IE you can get away with continuing with the same old clunky back ends because there is a few bolt on extras and some nice lipstick for the old pigs. Check out the debate. (Sorry you have to sign up)
http://www.wiwih.com/topic/36000539.html
I do hope that people are listening/reading - because this is something that is the pachyderm on the table. We do need new engines and the current UI/UE metaphor is going to go away. Of course I don’t have to pay for this - but doesn’t mean I am not going to push for it.
Cheers
Timothy
07 July 2007
02 July 2007
Tear Down the Wall: IATA Block Exemption is cancelled
The EC in its infinite wisdom has chosen not to renew the Block Exemption it gave last year to the IATA Passenger Tariff Conference.
For once this is a good thing as it slowly breaks down the barriers to normal behavior by the airlines. For many years the IATA carriers (now numbering approx 250) have benefitted from operating under supra national rules. In the years before GATT and with certain strange legal mechanisms that actively worked against global trade this was understandable. With GATT and better legal frameworks for international trade, these protections are not nearly as relevant. Perhaps the biggest most telling argument is that there is now a significantly larger non-IATA component to air travel - at least regionally within each Traffic Conference. The second component of this is the alliances which means a single ticket and carrier listing even if the metal is from another airline. According to the EC now less than 5% of travel within EU (defined as EC to non-EC countries) is interlined. This therefore negates the need for the exemption.
We are encouraged by this move to make the airline world more competitive. Perhaps now IATA can go back to being an association of talkers.
For once this is a good thing as it slowly breaks down the barriers to normal behavior by the airlines. For many years the IATA carriers (now numbering approx 250) have benefitted from operating under supra national rules. In the years before GATT and with certain strange legal mechanisms that actively worked against global trade this was understandable. With GATT and better legal frameworks for international trade, these protections are not nearly as relevant. Perhaps the biggest most telling argument is that there is now a significantly larger non-IATA component to air travel - at least regionally within each Traffic Conference. The second component of this is the alliances which means a single ticket and carrier listing even if the metal is from another airline. According to the EC now less than 5% of travel within EU (defined as EC to non-EC countries) is interlined. This therefore negates the need for the exemption.
We are encouraged by this move to make the airline world more competitive. Perhaps now IATA can go back to being an association of talkers.
01 July 2007
Man of the (half) Year 2007
Now we have 6 months under our belts - we would like to nominate the person who we believe exemplifies the best there is in the Aviation, Travel and Tourism sectors. Our nominee from a large field of possible candidates rose head and shoulders above everyone.
Gerald Grinstein deserves the title.
Successfully piloting Delta into, through and now out of Chapter 11 he managed to turn the oil tanker around without creating too much disturbance and disruption amongst the key stakeholders - Customers, Staff and the financial community.
Specifically he tried much harder than his counterparts at UAL and NWA to preserve the base before finally stepping into Chapter 11 when there was no real option but to do it. He is to be commended for trying not to destroy too much of the shareholders equity.
He managed to fend off the unwitting advances of AWA/US Airways which despite looking good on paper would have been a complete disaster. At the same time he also managed to hold off TPG's advances.
While in Chapter 11 his team reformed the airline from the inside out. Not only shedding costs but also changing business practices and processes for better customer experience at a lower cost. While the pillow removal may have galvanized a lot of attention underneath DL really did change the way it did business and has emerged much more competitive.
Finally from a personal integrity point of view while he fellow CEOs were gouging themselves in stock and cash incentives (for doing their job) Jerry took home a modest $300K for his efforts.
Time will be the ultimate judge of his legacy at Delta. As the article in the WSJ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118307487060552233-search.html?KEYWORDS=United+Airlines+UAL&COLLECTION=wsjie/6month on UAL's progress shows that it can stall pretty quickly DL has a long road ahead. We believe that UAL and NWA remain pretty sick and have many issues to contend with. DL itself has some significant customer service issues (as my forced overnight in the ATL airport last week attests). Lets hope they keep getting it right.
His long service at both Western and Delta should be recognized. We believe he is a solid example to which many of us should aspire.
To Jerry - we salute you
Gerald Grinstein deserves the title.
Successfully piloting Delta into, through and now out of Chapter 11 he managed to turn the oil tanker around without creating too much disturbance and disruption amongst the key stakeholders - Customers, Staff and the financial community.
Specifically he tried much harder than his counterparts at UAL and NWA to preserve the base before finally stepping into Chapter 11 when there was no real option but to do it. He is to be commended for trying not to destroy too much of the shareholders equity.
He managed to fend off the unwitting advances of AWA/US Airways which despite looking good on paper would have been a complete disaster. At the same time he also managed to hold off TPG's advances.
While in Chapter 11 his team reformed the airline from the inside out. Not only shedding costs but also changing business practices and processes for better customer experience at a lower cost. While the pillow removal may have galvanized a lot of attention underneath DL really did change the way it did business and has emerged much more competitive.
Finally from a personal integrity point of view while he fellow CEOs were gouging themselves in stock and cash incentives (for doing their job) Jerry took home a modest $300K for his efforts.
Time will be the ultimate judge of his legacy at Delta. As the article in the WSJ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118307487060552233-search.html?KEYWORDS=United+Airlines+UAL&COLLECTION=wsjie/6month on UAL's progress shows that it can stall pretty quickly DL has a long road ahead. We believe that UAL and NWA remain pretty sick and have many issues to contend with. DL itself has some significant customer service issues (as my forced overnight in the ATL airport last week attests). Lets hope they keep getting it right.
His long service at both Western and Delta should be recognized. We believe he is a solid example to which many of us should aspire.
To Jerry - we salute you
30 June 2007
TravelClick 2006 Stats show wide variance in Hotel Yield by Channel
Sorry folks i have had this one to write for some time now. Finally getting round to it.
The TravelClick 2006 stats show a huge discrepancy between bookings made via GDS backed web sites and those via GDS/Travel Agencies. For 2006 the number is 41%. This variance has existed for some time. For example in 2004 the ADR difference was a similar 26%. In order to understand the difference you have to consider the source. We consider the TravelClick numbers to be skewed due to the source of the tracking and the lack of broad reach of the numbers. Its based on GDS based sales. Thus there is always a higher skew of bookings from Travel Agents as is clear. Since this occurs the comparison is fair but it is like comparing apples from the same tree rather than between trees or even different varieties.
Formally they are issuing a caution that this discrepancy is unsustainable. DUH!!!! The web is about transparency. The next gen hotel systems currently being designed (such as 2nd Travel and Pegasus GuestClick) will remove much of the need for a discrepancy.
Here is the full PR release but you can get it off the TravelClick website
Cheers
PR Release Follows:
Press Releases
Worldwide Electronic Hotel Revenue Up 19.3 Percent in Q4 2006
TravelCLICK's eMonitor Reports Annual Growth for Room Nights at 8.4 Percent, ADR at 7.4 Percent
PRNewswireCHICAGO
CHICAGO, April 25 /PRNewswire/ -- TravelCLICK's quarterly eMonitor results indicate continued robust health for the hotel industry based on electronic distribution performance for the fourth quarter of 2006. The data shows that worldwide electronic hotel revenue from the Global Distribution Systems (GDS) and key Internet sites increased 19.3 percent over the fourth quarter of 2005. The number of electronic room nights booked for the fourth quarter increased 7.7 percent over the same time last year, while the Average Daily Rate (ADR) increased by 10.8 percent. The average length of stay for the fourth quarter 2006 was 2.06 nights, nearly the same as last year.
eMonitor results are compiled from TravelCLICK's comprehensive proprietary database, which is the exclusive source of hotel industry electronic distribution data from the Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre and Worldspan GDS. The database of electronic distribution performance provides a comprehensive foundation for data analysis and trend forecasting that is used by the global hospitality industry in the development of integrated distribution strategy.
Observations for the market based on this latest data include:
-- Hotel bookings through the GDS continue steady sustainable growth on a
large base of more than 50MM.
-- In 2006, ADR for room nights booked through travel agents was
41 percent higher than ADR booked through consumer Internet.
-- In nearly every segment and top destination market, ADR continues its
strong year-over-year growth.
"Within the GDS, there is a sustainable trend of much higher ADR business opportunity when compared to other online distribution channels," said John Hach, Vice President of eMarketing Products at TravelCLICK. "The ADR variance of 41 percent provides compelling evidence regarding the need for hoteliers to reach travel agents during their primary point of customer interaction."
Travel Agent Component
Travel agent bookings represented 79.3 percent of total room nights. The travel agent component of GDS bookings had an 11.5 percent increase in ADR and an 18.5 percent increase in revenue versus the fourth quarter of 2005. Travel agents also continued to be a key source of higher rate business for hotels. The average rate for room nights booked through travel agents for the fourth quarter of 2006 was 43.6 percent higher than the average rate for room nights booked via the Internet for the same period last year.
Year-to-date for 2006, travel agent hotel room nights via the GDS were up 6.3 percent, driving an 8.4 percent growth in ADR from the same period in 2005.
Internet Component
Internet room nights, sourced from consumer online transactions on third-party websites powered by the GDS and Online Distribution Database (ODD), showed a gain of 13.6 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2005. ADR was up 9.2 percent for Internet bookings; revenue was up 24.1 percent compared to the same period last year.
Fourth Quarter 2006
Room Nights %Change ADR %Change
Total GDS and ODD Hotel eCommerce 31,786,682 7.7% $149.52 10.8%
Travel Agent Component 25,200,589 6.3% $159.56 11.5%
Consumer Internet Component 6,586,093 13.6% $111.08 9.2%
Year-to-Date 2006
Room Nights %Change ADR %Change
Total GDS and ODD Hotel eCommerce 131,127,784 8.4% $142.83 7.4%
Travel Agent Component 103,468,230 6.3% $152.17 8.4%
Consumer Internet Component 27,659,554 17.2% $107.89 5.5%
GDS Performance by Market Segment
Results for the fourth quarter of 2006 by market segment are shown below for GDS bookings only. All market segments showed increases in both room nights and ADR compared to the fourth quarter of 2005.
Fourth Quarter 2006
Market Segment Room Nights %Change ADR %Change
Luxury 927,508 13.6% $363.66 12.4%
Upscale 9,887,664 4.2% $191.08 11.1%
Mid-Scale 11,160,152 6.1% $121.67 11.9%
Economy 2,135,983 6.9% $81.51 8.9%
Year-to-Date 2006
Market Segment Room Nights %Change ADR %Change
Luxury 3,636,512 12.2% $345.94 8.6%
Upscale 40,244,398 2.4% $181.79 8.6%
Mid-Scale 46,615,608 5.2% $117.94 8.9%
Economy 9,453,732 7.8% $81.46 7.9%
Top Destination Markets
The top 10 worldwide destination markets in room nights for GDS and ODD-powered third-party websites, in order, were:
Fourth Quarter 2006
Top Destination Markets Room Nights %Change ADR %Change
New York 1,481,273 6.3% $299.00 10.2%
London 1,471,575 27.7% $213.04 12.5%
Los Angeles 1,015,225 4.2% $149.49 9.5%
San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose 941,533 7.7% $154.34 9.0%
Washington/Baltimore 870,787 -1.0% $177.92 7.6%
Chicago 804,459 6.5% $164.28 11.7%
Dallas 558,285 0.4% $119.26 10.1%
Atlanta 495,656 -1.7% $122.27 6.7%
Boston 465,155 3.3% $168.68 8.4%
Houston 437,893 4.0% $124.37 7.4%
To receive a free listing of fourth quarter results by top 50 cities worldwide in electronic bookings, please email emonitor@travelclick.net. GDS hotel booking summaries by individual local market also are available at http://www.travelclick.net/.
Sign up to receive TravelCLICK news by email or through RSS distribution at http://travelclick.mediaroom.com/.
About TravelCLICK
TravelCLICK (http://www.travelclick.net/) is the leading provider of hotel business process management (BPM) solutions that drive long-term profitability. TravelCLICK helps hotels maximize asset ROI by combining innovative market analysis and proven industry best practices with advanced technology to develop and implement high-return strategies. The company offers a full set of solutions including reservations and distribution management, market intelligence-based decision support, and marketing services. Serving the hospitality industry since 1996 and headquartered in the Chicago area, TravelCLICK has more than 12,000 customers in 140 countries.
SOURCE: TravelCLICK
The TravelClick 2006 stats show a huge discrepancy between bookings made via GDS backed web sites and those via GDS/Travel Agencies. For 2006 the number is 41%. This variance has existed for some time. For example in 2004 the ADR difference was a similar 26%. In order to understand the difference you have to consider the source. We consider the TravelClick numbers to be skewed due to the source of the tracking and the lack of broad reach of the numbers. Its based on GDS based sales. Thus there is always a higher skew of bookings from Travel Agents as is clear. Since this occurs the comparison is fair but it is like comparing apples from the same tree rather than between trees or even different varieties.
Formally they are issuing a caution that this discrepancy is unsustainable. DUH!!!! The web is about transparency. The next gen hotel systems currently being designed (such as 2nd Travel and Pegasus GuestClick) will remove much of the need for a discrepancy.
Here is the full PR release but you can get it off the TravelClick website
Cheers
PR Release Follows:
Press Releases
Worldwide Electronic Hotel Revenue Up 19.3 Percent in Q4 2006
TravelCLICK's eMonitor Reports Annual Growth for Room Nights at 8.4 Percent, ADR at 7.4 Percent
PRNewswireCHICAGO
CHICAGO, April 25 /PRNewswire/ -- TravelCLICK's quarterly eMonitor results indicate continued robust health for the hotel industry based on electronic distribution performance for the fourth quarter of 2006. The data shows that worldwide electronic hotel revenue from the Global Distribution Systems (GDS) and key Internet sites increased 19.3 percent over the fourth quarter of 2005. The number of electronic room nights booked for the fourth quarter increased 7.7 percent over the same time last year, while the Average Daily Rate (ADR) increased by 10.8 percent. The average length of stay for the fourth quarter 2006 was 2.06 nights, nearly the same as last year.
eMonitor results are compiled from TravelCLICK's comprehensive proprietary database, which is the exclusive source of hotel industry electronic distribution data from the Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre and Worldspan GDS. The database of electronic distribution performance provides a comprehensive foundation for data analysis and trend forecasting that is used by the global hospitality industry in the development of integrated distribution strategy.
Observations for the market based on this latest data include:
-- Hotel bookings through the GDS continue steady sustainable growth on a
large base of more than 50MM.
-- In 2006, ADR for room nights booked through travel agents was
41 percent higher than ADR booked through consumer Internet.
-- In nearly every segment and top destination market, ADR continues its
strong year-over-year growth.
"Within the GDS, there is a sustainable trend of much higher ADR business opportunity when compared to other online distribution channels," said John Hach, Vice President of eMarketing Products at TravelCLICK. "The ADR variance of 41 percent provides compelling evidence regarding the need for hoteliers to reach travel agents during their primary point of customer interaction."
Travel Agent Component
Travel agent bookings represented 79.3 percent of total room nights. The travel agent component of GDS bookings had an 11.5 percent increase in ADR and an 18.5 percent increase in revenue versus the fourth quarter of 2005. Travel agents also continued to be a key source of higher rate business for hotels. The average rate for room nights booked through travel agents for the fourth quarter of 2006 was 43.6 percent higher than the average rate for room nights booked via the Internet for the same period last year.
Year-to-date for 2006, travel agent hotel room nights via the GDS were up 6.3 percent, driving an 8.4 percent growth in ADR from the same period in 2005.
Internet Component
Internet room nights, sourced from consumer online transactions on third-party websites powered by the GDS and Online Distribution Database (ODD), showed a gain of 13.6 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2005. ADR was up 9.2 percent for Internet bookings; revenue was up 24.1 percent compared to the same period last year.
Fourth Quarter 2006
Room Nights %Change ADR %Change
Total GDS and ODD Hotel eCommerce 31,786,682 7.7% $149.52 10.8%
Travel Agent Component 25,200,589 6.3% $159.56 11.5%
Consumer Internet Component 6,586,093 13.6% $111.08 9.2%
Year-to-Date 2006
Room Nights %Change ADR %Change
Total GDS and ODD Hotel eCommerce 131,127,784 8.4% $142.83 7.4%
Travel Agent Component 103,468,230 6.3% $152.17 8.4%
Consumer Internet Component 27,659,554 17.2% $107.89 5.5%
GDS Performance by Market Segment
Results for the fourth quarter of 2006 by market segment are shown below for GDS bookings only. All market segments showed increases in both room nights and ADR compared to the fourth quarter of 2005.
Fourth Quarter 2006
Market Segment Room Nights %Change ADR %Change
Luxury 927,508 13.6% $363.66 12.4%
Upscale 9,887,664 4.2% $191.08 11.1%
Mid-Scale 11,160,152 6.1% $121.67 11.9%
Economy 2,135,983 6.9% $81.51 8.9%
Year-to-Date 2006
Market Segment Room Nights %Change ADR %Change
Luxury 3,636,512 12.2% $345.94 8.6%
Upscale 40,244,398 2.4% $181.79 8.6%
Mid-Scale 46,615,608 5.2% $117.94 8.9%
Economy 9,453,732 7.8% $81.46 7.9%
Top Destination Markets
The top 10 worldwide destination markets in room nights for GDS and ODD-powered third-party websites, in order, were:
Fourth Quarter 2006
Top Destination Markets Room Nights %Change ADR %Change
New York 1,481,273 6.3% $299.00 10.2%
London 1,471,575 27.7% $213.04 12.5%
Los Angeles 1,015,225 4.2% $149.49 9.5%
San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose 941,533 7.7% $154.34 9.0%
Washington/Baltimore 870,787 -1.0% $177.92 7.6%
Chicago 804,459 6.5% $164.28 11.7%
Dallas 558,285 0.4% $119.26 10.1%
Atlanta 495,656 -1.7% $122.27 6.7%
Boston 465,155 3.3% $168.68 8.4%
Houston 437,893 4.0% $124.37 7.4%
To receive a free listing of fourth quarter results by top 50 cities worldwide in electronic bookings, please email emonitor@travelclick.net. GDS hotel booking summaries by individual local market also are available at http://www.travelclick.net/.
Sign up to receive TravelCLICK news by email or through RSS distribution at http://travelclick.mediaroom.com/.
About TravelCLICK
TravelCLICK (http://www.travelclick.net/) is the leading provider of hotel business process management (BPM) solutions that drive long-term profitability. TravelCLICK helps hotels maximize asset ROI by combining innovative market analysis and proven industry best practices with advanced technology to develop and implement high-return strategies. The company offers a full set of solutions including reservations and distribution management, market intelligence-based decision support, and marketing services. Serving the hospitality industry since 1996 and headquartered in the Chicago area, TravelCLICK has more than 12,000 customers in 140 countries.
SOURCE: TravelCLICK
Insane TSA proposal for Biometrics run by the airlines
Those wonderful mad cap keystone cops (aka the Dept of Homeland Security) are at it again. This time they are demanding that the Airlines install and manage the biometrics System.
This one will definitely run for a while. Given the current fiasco over passports – the TSA/DHS boffins have no clue about people processing. I think this stems from the last time they had to seriously think about it IE Ellis Island.
A brief aside here. I go through Security on average 2x a week. I can assure you the TSA is behind almost any other service in the world.
So considering all things that the airline have to deal with today for security – it is understandable why the TSA would like to shift the responsibility of the biometric tracking to the airlines for handling. But the TSA wants its cake and eat it. They wont share the results nor will they provide an instant alert scheme for the airlines.
Here is the full article. You be the judge – but one thing is for sure – this issue will not be going away.
Despite protests, DHS biometric data plan moving forward (06/07/2007)
VANCOUVER -- The U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security is sticking to its proposal to require airlines to collect fingerprints at check-in from departing travelers on international flights, in spite of vehement protests from U.S. carriers that the mandate would be costly and time-consuming and create longer check-in lines, and should instead be handled by the Transportation Security Administration.
Michael Jackson, the DHS' deputy secretary, attending the International Air Transport Association's Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit here June 5, said the department still plans to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking with the requirement soon.
"It's the only model that we can figure out that will work," he said, while insisting it would not create long check-in lines.
"People's dwell time at a check-in point is vastly longer than the one or two seconds it will take to simply put your finger on a fingerprint reader," he said. "I think it's going to be easy, iteratively, over time, to integrate this into the business model that the aviation industry has for doing its work, which is to make it easy for passengers to come through an airport and not have a burdensome delay."
Jackson, who wants the process in place by 2008, did make one concession: he said the DHS is willing to provide airlines with fingerprint readers for use at the check-in counters, and help them connect it to their passport card readers. He also said the department is willing to let airlines move the process to self-service check-in kiosks equipped with fingerprint readers and passport readers.
The proposed requirement stems from a DHS effort to beef up a 3-year-old pilot program called US-VISIT, which collects biometric data from foreign visitors.
Under that program, inbound visitors at U.S. airports and other points of entry are digitally photographed and fingerprinted at special kiosks. The resulting data are later matched against DHS' own database to verify international travelers' identity. Digital fingerprints are also collected when the traveler exits the U.S.
However, travelers are asked to provide the data on a volunteer basis.
Consequently, the DHS said, while the US-VISIT biometric technology "works," there has been a "low traveler-compliance" rate. It believes integrating the process into check-in would boost the rate.
This one will definitely run for a while. Given the current fiasco over passports – the TSA/DHS boffins have no clue about people processing. I think this stems from the last time they had to seriously think about it IE Ellis Island.
A brief aside here. I go through Security on average 2x a week. I can assure you the TSA is behind almost any other service in the world.
So considering all things that the airline have to deal with today for security – it is understandable why the TSA would like to shift the responsibility of the biometric tracking to the airlines for handling. But the TSA wants its cake and eat it. They wont share the results nor will they provide an instant alert scheme for the airlines.
Here is the full article. You be the judge – but one thing is for sure – this issue will not be going away.
Despite protests, DHS biometric data plan moving forward (06/07/2007)
VANCOUVER -- The U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security is sticking to its proposal to require airlines to collect fingerprints at check-in from departing travelers on international flights, in spite of vehement protests from U.S. carriers that the mandate would be costly and time-consuming and create longer check-in lines, and should instead be handled by the Transportation Security Administration.
Michael Jackson, the DHS' deputy secretary, attending the International Air Transport Association's Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit here June 5, said the department still plans to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking with the requirement soon.
"It's the only model that we can figure out that will work," he said, while insisting it would not create long check-in lines.
"People's dwell time at a check-in point is vastly longer than the one or two seconds it will take to simply put your finger on a fingerprint reader," he said. "I think it's going to be easy, iteratively, over time, to integrate this into the business model that the aviation industry has for doing its work, which is to make it easy for passengers to come through an airport and not have a burdensome delay."
Jackson, who wants the process in place by 2008, did make one concession: he said the DHS is willing to provide airlines with fingerprint readers for use at the check-in counters, and help them connect it to their passport card readers. He also said the department is willing to let airlines move the process to self-service check-in kiosks equipped with fingerprint readers and passport readers.
The proposed requirement stems from a DHS effort to beef up a 3-year-old pilot program called US-VISIT, which collects biometric data from foreign visitors.
Under that program, inbound visitors at U.S. airports and other points of entry are digitally photographed and fingerprinted at special kiosks. The resulting data are later matched against DHS' own database to verify international travelers' identity. Digital fingerprints are also collected when the traveler exits the U.S.
However, travelers are asked to provide the data on a volunteer basis.
Consequently, the DHS said, while the US-VISIT biometric technology "works," there has been a "low traveler-compliance" rate. It believes integrating the process into check-in would boost the rate.
29 June 2007
Shock Horror, LHR Owner admits its "Old and Dirty"
In a by line from the Gaurdian Newspaper of today - 29 Jun 2007
Ferrovial, the Spanish construction group that owns BAA, claims the Civil Aviation Authority is not doing enough to incentivise it to invest in Heathrow Airport.
Those of you who follow some of our personal trials and tribulations of travel through the world's busiest international gateway, know full well what we think of LHR. It is a disgrace. Check out this clip on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwB4G7XxyRI
Attempting to deflect the mounting customer and user criticsm the new owner of LHR operator BAA is trying to push the blame onto the HM Government. Sorry - but no dice here. BAA you have milked this cash cow for way too long. Now you have to pay the price.
There is a great article in this month's ATW on the subject: http://www.atwonline.com/magazine/article.html?articleID=1959
Having an Airport Operators License doesnt mean you can rape the customers.
Perhaps Mr O'Leary will get a little credit for his battle with Aer Rianta (operator of Dublin's airport).
Cheers
Timothy
Ferrovial, the Spanish construction group that owns BAA, claims the Civil Aviation Authority is not doing enough to incentivise it to invest in Heathrow Airport.
Those of you who follow some of our personal trials and tribulations of travel through the world's busiest international gateway, know full well what we think of LHR. It is a disgrace. Check out this clip on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwB4G7XxyRI
Attempting to deflect the mounting customer and user criticsm the new owner of LHR operator BAA is trying to push the blame onto the HM Government. Sorry - but no dice here. BAA you have milked this cash cow for way too long. Now you have to pay the price.
There is a great article in this month's ATW on the subject: http://www.atwonline.com/magazine/article.html?articleID=1959
Having an Airport Operators License doesnt mean you can rape the customers.
Perhaps Mr O'Leary will get a little credit for his battle with Aer Rianta (operator of Dublin's airport).
Cheers
Timothy
NWA - First to cross the barrier wi9th Paypal
Not that we are against the credit card companies in any way - but we have been a long believer that the next major cost battle in airline distribution cost reduction would come in credit card fees. With Google Checkout our dark horse bet - we believe that the airlines stand to gain significant bottom line benefits in enabling non-credit card financial fulfilment from such players as Paypal and Google.
NWA finally becomes the first airline (by our understanding) to announce such a deal. It is even offering bonus worldperks miles to anyone who uses the service.
The leverage that this gains as well as the additional customers it enables is a win win for the airline. We are particularly encouraged about the impact in non-traditional (and therefore emerging) financial markets such as across Asia Africa and Latin America.
Pay attention boys and girls - this is a big shift
NWA finally becomes the first airline (by our understanding) to announce such a deal. It is even offering bonus worldperks miles to anyone who uses the service.
The leverage that this gains as well as the additional customers it enables is a win win for the airline. We are particularly encouraged about the impact in non-traditional (and therefore emerging) financial markets such as across Asia Africa and Latin America.
Pay attention boys and girls - this is a big shift
Now is the summer of our discontent...
Well our worst nightmare has actually come to pass. This summer - the US domestic air transportation system (if you can call it that) will grind to a halt or at least a series of significant outages.
I can attest to this personally. During the past week (W/C June 25 2007) I have been to the airport everyday. Each time I have been there the flights that i was involved in - picking people up, dropping them off or flying was at least 2 hours late. On Thursday a delay of 3 hours bumped me in Atlanta. But it gets better. There were no more hotel rooms available. To get to someone to actually talk too takes hours. All of the airlines have been similarly affected and while some handle it better than others it is clear that the massive cutbacks in staff are now beginning to bite. They are just unprepared for even minor problems. The system is SO fragile that it breaks at the slightest provocation.
I have seen families waiting for 24hours plus. People in Wheelchairs abandoned. Groups displaced and split up.
It is unpleasant and will only get worse during the summer.
I do believe (changing my position) that a passengers' Bill of Rights is now a must. I strongly urge the US to adopt the European model. But govern this and tie it to the role of the TSA so that there is a clear shared sense of responsibility with Government and Private Enterprise.
I can attest to this personally. During the past week (W/C June 25 2007) I have been to the airport everyday. Each time I have been there the flights that i was involved in - picking people up, dropping them off or flying was at least 2 hours late. On Thursday a delay of 3 hours bumped me in Atlanta. But it gets better. There were no more hotel rooms available. To get to someone to actually talk too takes hours. All of the airlines have been similarly affected and while some handle it better than others it is clear that the massive cutbacks in staff are now beginning to bite. They are just unprepared for even minor problems. The system is SO fragile that it breaks at the slightest provocation.
I have seen families waiting for 24hours plus. People in Wheelchairs abandoned. Groups displaced and split up.
It is unpleasant and will only get worse during the summer.
I do believe (changing my position) that a passengers' Bill of Rights is now a must. I strongly urge the US to adopt the European model. But govern this and tie it to the role of the TSA so that there is a clear shared sense of responsibility with Government and Private Enterprise.
Southwest Hits Wall, Ryanair Next?
For some time we have been saying to our investor clients that the problem of growth would eventually reach the point of good old diminishing marginal returns. Southwest has finally admitted that this has happened to them. The core problem is one faced by other sectors – such as Microsoft – in that the ROI starts to decline over time due to effective saturation. For WN this means that they will now have to address the issue head on.
What we find curious is that WN doesn’t want to hit the competition head on. So the slowdown in growth is an acknowledgement of this. However WN has one ace up its sleeve. That is its planes. WN can fly the longest commercial routes in the county (eg SEA-MIA) with its 737-700s.
For WN we shall see them looking hard at Revenue opportunities and only dealing with the ones that make sense.
There is a lesson here for other LCCs. Chaps – sooner or later you will hit the wall. AirTran and JetBlue – I hope you are listening. Fortunately for Mr O’Leary – this problem is several years away. Long after he has left the CEO slot at FR.
Cheers
Timothy
What we find curious is that WN doesn’t want to hit the competition head on. So the slowdown in growth is an acknowledgement of this. However WN has one ace up its sleeve. That is its planes. WN can fly the longest commercial routes in the county (eg SEA-MIA) with its 737-700s.
For WN we shall see them looking hard at Revenue opportunities and only dealing with the ones that make sense.
There is a lesson here for other LCCs. Chaps – sooner or later you will hit the wall. AirTran and JetBlue – I hope you are listening. Fortunately for Mr O’Leary – this problem is several years away. Long after he has left the CEO slot at FR.
Cheers
Timothy
Aeroflot drops out of AZ Bidding
Sounding the deathknell of the current auction - SU has dropped out leaving only the local Italian Airline left. Aeroflot said it was withdrawing because its advisers had not been given access to what it called critical information on Alitalia’s business. Almost identical to the owrds that Joint bidders Mattelin Patterson and TPG used. This leaves a single bidder that will hardly wash with the government. So once more the sickest airline in Europe is back on the deathwatch list
20 June 2007
Airlines - So you think you are doing OK - 2006 Numbers
Accoding to ICAO the airlines FINALLY made a profit in 2006. $2.7Bn give or take the odd lost bag. Well how does that stack up against hotels? No so good... about 11% of hotels' profits give or take the odd missing bathrobe. For hotels; revenues increased by 8.7% from the $122.7 billion generated in 2005 and profits increased 17.9%, up from $22.6 billion last year.
For exact details see:
ICAO - http://www.icao.int/cgi/goto_m.pl?icao/en/nr/2007/pio200703_e.pdf
For STR - http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article28028.html
TSK... TSK... there needs to be a better ROI.
Cheers
Timothy
For exact details see:
ICAO - http://www.icao.int/cgi/goto_m.pl?icao/en/nr/2007/pio200703_e.pdf
For STR - http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article28028.html
TSK... TSK... there needs to be a better ROI.
Cheers
Timothy
18 June 2007
Expedia's Stock at 52 week high
So Expedia's stock is riding high. Should you buy in or is this the peak.
Here is our take on the current run-up. Given how bad things have been lately over there in Bellevue - we were wondering for some time how long Dara would last. But since he has the confidence of Chairman Barry he will be around for a while. Having been caught off guard by the TPG/Sabre and then Blackstone/Travelport, Expedia should be making solid progress on a wide variety of fronts in order to show it is maintaining momentum. And there has been progress. Probably more of the "not-so-bad" variety rather than than a great performance.
Expedia just might go private. The current price is too high. But if there is a significant dip in the price over the next few months I think we can see more buybacks or an offer to take it private.
The long tail wont affect Expedia for a few years yet. The critical metrics are to look at the performance of the international divisions - particularly China, Germany and UK - and the value of TripAdvisor which could probably be hived off at a premium. Especially given certain analysts hype of Travel 2.0.
The suppliers are sitting pretty. The Hotel Industry just reported another record year with profits that probably exceed the total profits ever recorded by the airline industry. As long as this is the situation - then Expedia will be constrained. If (as we expect) we see a softening of the market in 2008/9, then Expedia's yields should pick up. So now would be a good time to go private IF the prices was right.
Stay tuned folks
Cheers
Here is our take on the current run-up. Given how bad things have been lately over there in Bellevue - we were wondering for some time how long Dara would last. But since he has the confidence of Chairman Barry he will be around for a while. Having been caught off guard by the TPG/Sabre and then Blackstone/Travelport, Expedia should be making solid progress on a wide variety of fronts in order to show it is maintaining momentum. And there has been progress. Probably more of the "not-so-bad" variety rather than than a great performance.
Expedia just might go private. The current price is too high. But if there is a significant dip in the price over the next few months I think we can see more buybacks or an offer to take it private.
The long tail wont affect Expedia for a few years yet. The critical metrics are to look at the performance of the international divisions - particularly China, Germany and UK - and the value of TripAdvisor which could probably be hived off at a premium. Especially given certain analysts hype of Travel 2.0.
The suppliers are sitting pretty. The Hotel Industry just reported another record year with profits that probably exceed the total profits ever recorded by the airline industry. As long as this is the situation - then Expedia will be constrained. If (as we expect) we see a softening of the market in 2008/9, then Expedia's yields should pick up. So now would be a good time to go private IF the prices was right.
Stay tuned folks
Cheers
05 June 2007
DL and CO - Do you REALLY want LHR? Check this out.
For some time now this blog has ranted about the 3rd world nature of LHR and its symbiotic partner BA. Both of whom are providing a pretty piss-poor service. With Open Skies now a reality and many US carriers climbing over themselves to get slots at LHR. Here is something to make you pause and wonder.
This summer - I really do not recommend you even setting foot in the place.
Check this blog entry from Tim Hughes at THE BOOT. http://tims-boot.blogspot.com/2007/06/500-miles-of-security-queue-at-london.html
I know LHR pretty well from both the in/out as well as the changing planes there. With T5 still 10 months away this is just appalling. This is for T2 passengers. Trust me it isnt much better for T1, 3 or 4.
Cheers
This summer - I really do not recommend you even setting foot in the place.
Check this blog entry from Tim Hughes at THE BOOT. http://tims-boot.blogspot.com/2007/06/500-miles-of-security-queue-at-london.html
I know LHR pretty well from both the in/out as well as the changing planes there. With T5 still 10 months away this is just appalling. This is for T2 passengers. Trust me it isnt much better for T1, 3 or 4.
Cheers
03 June 2007
BA not for sale... probably with good reason.
Service deteriorates at World's Favourite Airline
BA's Willie Walsh has put the NOT FOR SALE sign up outside Waterside. Despite his buddies over at Goldman Sachs wanting to make another packet now is probably not quite the right time. There just isn’t enough support although there are (as we have noted before) some great numbers to look at - not least of which is the free cash flow.
Now the reason for the run up in stock (for those talking it up) was the great numbers in the front cabin. well so far so good but that is not a long term thing. Having just experienced again the airline's less than stellar service I hope you will indulge my rant here.
BA's premium traffic has increased but not the staff to handle them. As a result LHR is a giant mess - both in and out bound. This week inbound traffic to Terminal 4 suffered yet another baggage meltdown due to "...Insufficient Allocation of Resources", and no I am not making this stuff up. this was the official reason given by BA over the Tannoy (they don’t use a more modern PA system trust me on this) why bags were "15 mins later than normal baggage wait times". I checked with several other passengers especially Flight BA 288 (from PHX) and BA242 (from MEX) both of whom endured waits for over 2 hours. My flight BA52 from Seattle had bags show up 90 minutes late.
Leaving on Sunday to go from Terminal 1 to Moscow I witnessed yet another example of how bad things are: the Zone R (premium travellers) area took over 40 minutes to go through to "Bag Drop". Zone R vs Qatar Airways Premium Terminal in Doha. No contest. I do hope someone from BA has actually TAKEN one of these flights.
Couple this significant fall off in service with BAA/UK government's crippled one on board bag policy and you get a recipe for meltdown's like this. But BA must shoulder the lion's share of the blame. For some time I have been hyper-critical of their baggage policy and handling at LHR. This is a management problem caused by the ill-fated decision to outsource baggage management to a thoroughly incompetent group.
BA may be taking advantage of an increase in premium traffic but it will be short lived. When the US airlines start arriving at LHR in greater numbers expect to see real competition. With significantly better service from the GCC based airlines allowing you to bypass LHR AND with easier connection services in AMS, CDG even MAD you can easily see that things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. Having flown BA's new Club Class service, I can attest to its improvement over the existing 1st generation service. But VS has nothing to fear and the plans by AA and in particular DL to offer premium C/J services will be a real fight. BA could easily lose its self adopted crown.
Are you listening Mr Walsh?
I hope so...
Cheers
Timothy
www.t2impact.com
BA's Willie Walsh has put the NOT FOR SALE sign up outside Waterside. Despite his buddies over at Goldman Sachs wanting to make another packet now is probably not quite the right time. There just isn’t enough support although there are (as we have noted before) some great numbers to look at - not least of which is the free cash flow.
Now the reason for the run up in stock (for those talking it up) was the great numbers in the front cabin. well so far so good but that is not a long term thing. Having just experienced again the airline's less than stellar service I hope you will indulge my rant here.
BA's premium traffic has increased but not the staff to handle them. As a result LHR is a giant mess - both in and out bound. This week inbound traffic to Terminal 4 suffered yet another baggage meltdown due to "...Insufficient Allocation of Resources", and no I am not making this stuff up. this was the official reason given by BA over the Tannoy (they don’t use a more modern PA system trust me on this) why bags were "15 mins later than normal baggage wait times". I checked with several other passengers especially Flight BA 288 (from PHX) and BA242 (from MEX) both of whom endured waits for over 2 hours. My flight BA52 from Seattle had bags show up 90 minutes late.
Leaving on Sunday to go from Terminal 1 to Moscow I witnessed yet another example of how bad things are: the Zone R (premium travellers) area took over 40 minutes to go through to "Bag Drop". Zone R vs Qatar Airways Premium Terminal in Doha. No contest. I do hope someone from BA has actually TAKEN one of these flights.
Couple this significant fall off in service with BAA/UK government's crippled one on board bag policy and you get a recipe for meltdown's like this. But BA must shoulder the lion's share of the blame. For some time I have been hyper-critical of their baggage policy and handling at LHR. This is a management problem caused by the ill-fated decision to outsource baggage management to a thoroughly incompetent group.
BA may be taking advantage of an increase in premium traffic but it will be short lived. When the US airlines start arriving at LHR in greater numbers expect to see real competition. With significantly better service from the GCC based airlines allowing you to bypass LHR AND with easier connection services in AMS, CDG even MAD you can easily see that things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. Having flown BA's new Club Class service, I can attest to its improvement over the existing 1st generation service. But VS has nothing to fear and the plans by AA and in particular DL to offer premium C/J services will be a real fight. BA could easily lose its self adopted crown.
Are you listening Mr Walsh?
I hope so...
Cheers
Timothy
www.t2impact.com
Delta Quietly Dumps Expedia
Delta has quietly dumped its most recent hotel and car partner Expedia WWTC.
It is now directing traffic to its "friends".
Car rental for Avis and Budget go to www.carrental.com (the joint booking engine for Avis group) and Hotels go to Hiltons master reservations sites.
The search for additional revenues via the website are become more intense and the competition for traffic has once again become a hot topic.
I am sure there will be more changes. If you are not currently evaluating your options you are likely to be loosing out in this intense battle for customers.
Cheers
Timothy
It is now directing traffic to its "friends".
Car rental for Avis and Budget go to www.carrental.com (the joint booking engine for Avis group) and Hotels go to Hiltons master reservations sites.
The search for additional revenues via the website are become more intense and the competition for traffic has once again become a hot topic.
I am sure there will be more changes. If you are not currently evaluating your options you are likely to be loosing out in this intense battle for customers.
Cheers
Timothy
30 May 2007
Expedia has largest share by far of online hotels in South Florida
According to Travel Weekly's Travel Technology Newsletter MIAMI-DADE COUNTY QUIETLY NOTIFIED ONLINE TRAVEL COMPANIES in February that it would commence tax audits related to unremitted 6% hotel bed taxes. In March it sent them estimated tax assessments totaling almost $10 million for the past five years.
What is interesting is the market share of each of these players.
If we just use the tax numbers and assume an equal average daily rate then the share of business for hotels in South Florida is quite startling.
Expedia: 60.1%
Travelport: 14.1%
Priceline: 11.1%
Travelocity 8.3%
Others 5.8%
After 5 years activity this represents quite a significant share. However the total numbers are not that great. if we assume about $120 per ADR then it only represents a total of approx 800 rooms per night occupied and sourced by the OTAs' guests in South Florida. Just about enough to fill the Fontainbleu twice over.
So still lots of room for growth.
Now I wonder if the hotels are also feeling the heat from offering some of their stuff online.
Any clues anyone?
Cheers
Timothy
What is interesting is the market share of each of these players.
If we just use the tax numbers and assume an equal average daily rate then the share of business for hotels in South Florida is quite startling.
Expedia: 60.1%
Travelport: 14.1%
Priceline: 11.1%
Travelocity 8.3%
Others 5.8%
After 5 years activity this represents quite a significant share. However the total numbers are not that great. if we assume about $120 per ADR then it only represents a total of approx 800 rooms per night occupied and sourced by the OTAs' guests in South Florida. Just about enough to fill the Fontainbleu twice over.
So still lots of room for growth.
Now I wonder if the hotels are also feeling the heat from offering some of their stuff online.
Any clues anyone?
Cheers
Timothy
SQ Biting off more than it can chew with China Eastern?
Already the industry analysts are wagging tongues at the SQ investment into MU. One of the weakest of the big China Airline companies MU has not had a great track record since it became one of the designated major National and International carriers from China.
SQ has had a good record as a passive investor (think Tamasek) in Silk Air (its own subsidiary) and Tiger Airways. That is close to home. However its forays further afield have been somewhat of a mixed bag. It has its significant holding in Virgin Atlantic (not any of the other Virgin group airlines) which has not shown a significant impact although both parties are happy with the deal. But then we can look at the Air New Zealand episode that frankly many at SINHQ would rather forget. Much has been speculated as to what MIGHT have happened if SQ had followed through and bailed out Ansett. My wouldn't the world be a different place!
So its going to be worth following to see what role SQ management takes in the running of MU. There is clearly potential value on both sides. Similarly Air China is doing all it can to fuse some knowledge learned from CX in improving its product and bottom line. China Southern has not yet seen much out of its DL match up.
But the night as they say is yet young and we all know China plays for the long haul - and for keeps. As long time China watchers - we recommend paying attention to how this shakes out for the long game. China is determined not to allow any embarrassment occur prior to the 2008 Games. After that we see a loosening of the reins and a significant expansionist pursuit by many of the players. There is room for many victors.
Cheers
SQ has had a good record as a passive investor (think Tamasek) in Silk Air (its own subsidiary) and Tiger Airways. That is close to home. However its forays further afield have been somewhat of a mixed bag. It has its significant holding in Virgin Atlantic (not any of the other Virgin group airlines) which has not shown a significant impact although both parties are happy with the deal. But then we can look at the Air New Zealand episode that frankly many at SINHQ would rather forget. Much has been speculated as to what MIGHT have happened if SQ had followed through and bailed out Ansett. My wouldn't the world be a different place!
So its going to be worth following to see what role SQ management takes in the running of MU. There is clearly potential value on both sides. Similarly Air China is doing all it can to fuse some knowledge learned from CX in improving its product and bottom line. China Southern has not yet seen much out of its DL match up.
But the night as they say is yet young and we all know China plays for the long haul - and for keeps. As long time China watchers - we recommend paying attention to how this shakes out for the long game. China is determined not to allow any embarrassment occur prior to the 2008 Games. After that we see a loosening of the reins and a significant expansionist pursuit by many of the players. There is room for many victors.
Cheers
Don't worry - Be happy apart. Galileo and Worldspan to remain Seperate
Forget synergies - its all about making a buck. So what if you have 2 sets of infrastructure to support the "Full service" suites of both now isolated systems, Blackstone led Travelport has announced that it will keep the 2 GDS apart rather than go through the enormous pain and cost of a single platform.
On the one hand we applaud the rationality of the argument not to go through with the very painful exercise (Ed: I have done it twice!). However we believe that there will be a significant amount of confusion amongst the respective customer bases. we just hope that Travelport has some good integration strategies up its sleeve or else the sheer cost of supporting 2 data centers and two product lines has got to be a Controller's nightmare.
Rest assured your trusty team at ITK will be on the case watching the situation and reporting back from the field including customer reaction and some insider news.
Travelport - we wish you success. Please make it clear what you are really going to be doing. We would like to have a clear story to present to the world.
Cheers
ITK Team
On the one hand we applaud the rationality of the argument not to go through with the very painful exercise (Ed: I have done it twice!). However we believe that there will be a significant amount of confusion amongst the respective customer bases. we just hope that Travelport has some good integration strategies up its sleeve or else the sheer cost of supporting 2 data centers and two product lines has got to be a Controller's nightmare.
Rest assured your trusty team at ITK will be on the case watching the situation and reporting back from the field including customer reaction and some insider news.
Travelport - we wish you success. Please make it clear what you are really going to be doing. We would like to have a clear story to present to the world.
Cheers
ITK Team
29 May 2007
Did BA put itself in play? Goldman Sachs thinks so or...
Talk about a tangled web. So follow the story if you can. BA owns about 10% of Iberia. BA used to own a sizable chunk of Qantas. TPG has failed in its bid as APA to get control of Qantas. BA joined the TPG based consortium bidding for IB. IB's advisers are Goldman Sachs. Goldman raised its ownership in BA to over 5% making it the 4th largest shareholder in BA.
Got it?
OK so if we read the tealeaves (something we love to do at T2 although personally I think hot caffeine based drinks are over-rated) then there is something going on.
BA has been the target of some speculation of a PE based bid (in the old days we used to call these LBOs). Why? its that juicy cash flow - GBP 800 million a year. (That's $1.6 Billion in greenbacks). With Private Equity cash chasing just about anything that moves - BA is a good target. However its institutional investors in the City would likely harrumph a lot at this.
But you have to think that that there is some truth in all of this to BA being really in play.
Cheers
Timothy
Got it?
OK so if we read the tealeaves (something we love to do at T2 although personally I think hot caffeine based drinks are over-rated) then there is something going on.
BA has been the target of some speculation of a PE based bid (in the old days we used to call these LBOs). Why? its that juicy cash flow - GBP 800 million a year. (That's $1.6 Billion in greenbacks). With Private Equity cash chasing just about anything that moves - BA is a good target. However its institutional investors in the City would likely harrumph a lot at this.
But you have to think that that there is some truth in all of this to BA being really in play.
Cheers
Timothy
28 May 2007
Virgin Oz - Splits 4 ways
Following in the footsteps of its arch rival Qantas - Virgin Blue is now the uber-brand for the Ozzie carrier. As it has slowly and relentlessly moved upmarket with its primary brand going after the corporate market - Virgin has seen its low cost roots (and routes) usurped by the upstart part of the Qantas group - Jetstar. With Tiger airways a mere few months away from starting domestic Oz routes - Virgin is not sitting still.
The company will now have 4 main brands:
Virgin Blue will be the premium branded service for Domestic routes.
Pacific Blue will be APAC regional routes including TransTasman services already in operation. The two newcomers will be the Long Haul (initially Trans Pacific) 777 service and the even sooner to be launched LCC player.
Commenting to Travel Weekly Australia at the Australia Tourism Exchange on Monday May 29th, Brett Godfrey, Virgin Blue CEO said "As we already have an Aircraft Operators Certificate (AOC), we can be up and running almost immediately". This pits Virgin Blue firmly against its rival. With some variation!
We believe that now the ownership issue is long resolved the company has been planning this expansion strategy for some time.
With Qantas itself in somewhat disarray following the recent debacle of the APA aborted tender and the subsequent resignation of 2 board members, we can see that there is life in the old dogs yet. Now why didn’t Ansett do this???? Answers on a postcard or email to me asap....
Cheers
Timothy
timothyo@t2impact.com
The company will now have 4 main brands:
Virgin Blue will be the premium branded service for Domestic routes.
Pacific Blue will be APAC regional routes including TransTasman services already in operation. The two newcomers will be the Long Haul (initially Trans Pacific) 777 service and the even sooner to be launched LCC player.
Commenting to Travel Weekly Australia at the Australia Tourism Exchange on Monday May 29th, Brett Godfrey, Virgin Blue CEO said "As we already have an Aircraft Operators Certificate (AOC), we can be up and running almost immediately". This pits Virgin Blue firmly against its rival. With some variation!
We believe that now the ownership issue is long resolved the company has been planning this expansion strategy for some time.
With Qantas itself in somewhat disarray following the recent debacle of the APA aborted tender and the subsequent resignation of 2 board members, we can see that there is life in the old dogs yet. Now why didn’t Ansett do this???? Answers on a postcard or email to me asap....
Cheers
Timothy
timothyo@t2impact.com
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