UK Shuts Down, EU next. Icelandic Revenge

In revenge for the devastation of their banking system... the tiny country of Iceland has exacted its revenge across Europe starting with the UK

Have a look - real time..

http://www.radarvirtuel.com/#

Wow!

It's called Eyjafjallajoekull!

Cheers

The End Of The PC As We Know It

Apple quietly unveiled a new tool as part of iPhone OS4. It is its new ad targeting delivery vehicle. iAd.

Thanks to Professor Ben for alerting me to this.

Clearly I missed the whole hoopla and was just happy that Apple recognizes that people actually can chew gum and walk at the same time (aka multi-tasking). What is somewhat scary though is that the new platform has an area of secure functions that the user has no control over.

Within the new OS4 - a number of functions will now operate independent of the owner/user. Some of these are valuable features to improve the quality of the User Experience (UE). For example the geolocation services will not require apps that use them to be turned on. the apps can be off and the geolocation service will update/sync as necessary. Indeed the OS will now wake up an app if there is something interesting going on. Think of Facebook staying constantly on and being aware of where you are at all time. To me the scary thing is that the user has no control over it. Rules of use and access will be controlled by some geeks in Cupertino.

Thus iAd will become the standard for the delivery of geo-targeted ads. Indeed in Ben's Opinion and I concur - this will challenge the whole notion of ad targeting. Move over Google here comes Apple. I think I am losing track of who has control over the real Death Star

This will create a whole new class of always on services that stay with you. Indeed the initiative will make mobile the pre-eminent interface between the user and the eworld. Thus in my opinion the PC will decline as the primary interface to the web.

Wait did I say that???

Yes - this is a challenge to the PC centric world that we know and love. We are headed towards the world of the Star Trek Communicator. However the device will not be tied to a Ship's Computer it will tied to the web with all its idiosyncrasies.

So going back to my theory. We have a new world emerging. 5 years ago who would have thought that the innovation to drive a sea change in mobile would have come from Apple. But they have managed to do it. I would have put money on Blackberry and would not have lost any (I did back their stock by the way). But now the convergence that we have heard for so long will likely come from the house of Steve. Thus I nominate Ocelot for the next named Apple OS X software. I think they should skip the whole 10.x and go to 11. OS X-11 Ocelot will be the slimmer version of the OS that merges all the OS4 of the iPhone with the Mac OS. Combine that with a clamshell tablet and then I would be very interested. (I just can't bring myself to say I would purchase an iPad).

Hello Redmond, Santa Clara, Mountain View - anyone home?

Cheers

Riding the Rails - Simplifying the Experience.

IATA has had an initiative for some time called SPT - simplifying passenger travel.

BOW DO WE NEED THIS!

This past week - the Professor has been riding the rails. Given the different and varied number of trips I took - I almost felt like this was I was John L Sullivan (of Travels fame).

So here is what I actually undertook:

18 Separate Train Journeys

Heathrow Express (UK)
London Underground (4)
Gatwick Express (UK)
Zurich Tram (2)
SBB Train (2)
Munich S-Bahn
Munich U-Bahn
Deutche Bahn ICE (2)
SNCF TGV
DB IC
DB Regional
Stuttgart S-Bahn

Interestingly the service is good and reliable. But it really opened my eyes to one key fact - Air Travel has become WAY too complicated and therefore of less and less value as a form of transportation.

I believe that we in the industry need to start working hard to reduce the complexity of the travel experience.

So who is going to take on my challenge? It really needs to be a crusade.

Cheers

UA and US Chatting

Somewhat rebuffed by a stable CO - UA has turned to US as a potential merger partner.

This seems to have the rather rancid smell of 2 bad airline models (despite improvement) trying to get to scale. (Hello doesn't anyone look at history?).

So let's hope that UA sees the error of its ways and goes back to nesting with CO.

Still they just might actually do it - after 2 prior attempts in 2008 and previously in 2000 - this just could happen. Not sure that would be good.

Cheers

Mega Airlines Inc - aka BA+IB

The 2 airlines have finally sealed their deal. Newly emboldened BA (despite some heavy losses during the 2 strikes over the Easter Holidays) has signed on its definitive agreement with Spanish airline Iberia.

The share ownership will be 55/45 in favour of BA. There is still one get out of jail free card - this is if BA fails by June 30th to conclude their agreements to resolve the somewhat large pension deficit issue. Despite securing agreements with the unions this is by no means a sure thing. There is a small issue of the amount of cash that the fund is deficient by....

So things are looking up for the new airline group. Let's see what the EU regulators say to the deal. They still have to rule.

The merger should be completed officially by the end of the year and full integration (except for the brands) is targeted for about 5 years.

Cheers

Do You Really Care About Your Customer?

So let's see if you pass the Professor's test criteria:

1. Do you put your 800 Number/access telephone in the work flow before he/she purchases?
2. Do you answer your phone and have metrics for acceptable performance
3. Is your service consistent no matter which channel your customer reaches you.
4. Do you reward your staff based on number of calls rather than quality of calls?
5. Do you give your agents the ability to solve the customer's issue including paying compensation
6. Do you have more than 2 layers of escalation from the first call touch point.
7. Do you actually answer emails?

I think you get my point. I cannot think of any one Travel Business that has the right characteristics. And before you throw lots of rotten eggs at me - look inward first. Is it really a question of money?

So let me ask you if you understand what are the two things that the customer wants you to care about?

1. Don't treat me like an idiot
2. Remember that my time is more precious than yours.

If your philosophy enables your customer to feel that you actually are treating them with respect - firstly cut out that trashed old script. Throw out the efficiency paradigm. Efficiency is not the only metric. And take the time to understand his issue. And cardinal rule according to the professor is to let the customer take control of the conversation even if it is to allow him to rant.

One of my favorite writers about the Web is Gerry McGovern and his weekly piece is usually a tooth jarring reminder about our obligations and trust - sacred that it is - to the customer. The current arrogant behavior that many travel companies take to their user community is shameful.

In fact I try and stop using the word customer at all.

So let me leave you with the end comment on Gerry's blog: "What's the best attribute your web team can have? Caring about your customers time. Treat their time as a truly precious thing. Treat them as intelligent. Focus on service. Focus on what the customer wants to do, not what you want the customer to do. Solve their problem, not yours. It's a shift in thinking but it's where the future lies."

Cheers

An iPad for $499? How about $1170!

OK so I will admit I am biased because I really do dislike the "ancillary" revenues that an iPhone extracts from its seemingly (in other moments) sane and rational people.

So I went to Best Buy and looked at a fully functioning netbook from HP mini 210-1010nr Black netbook featuring an Intel N450 Processor with 1GB Memory and 160GB Hard drive. $299.99. Add an extended warranty ($45) Shipping (free but lets add $25) A case (it comes with a slip case) $0. I could extend the memory. But it's a multi tasking machine. So far I have a comparable machine but no 3G wireless support. The iPad requires a 2 year 3G data plan....

So I left Best Buy and wandered over to the AT&T Wireless store. I can buy a Netbook (the same machine) for only $199. it comes with Wifi and 3G built in. Ah ha! A comparable machine.

So the numbers are $199+protection $99. and? Well nothing else. Total including tax $317.58 (tax included). Shipping was free. Add back some additional accessories - add another $49 - making a total $371.40.

So how did I come up with the $1170 price? Go check out this article.

So will I pay - lets be kind $800 for an extra 20% of screen real estate and a REALLY COOL device? Oh yes and remember the iPad is a single tasking machine.

And that data plan price? Standard pricing is $35 for 200MB/month or $60 for 5GB per month. Roaming internationally? It is $19.50 PER MEGABYTE. To put that in perspective. The average web page size is 60KB or $1.17 PER WEB PAGE.

So if its all the same to you - I think I will pass on the iPad.

Cheers


Cheers

Amadeus Announces Abolition of GDS Segment Overrides and More

In what must be one of his last acts as CEO - David Jones told a packed audience of Travel Agents in London this morning (April 1st) that he was finally acknowledging the immorality of paying agents to use the Amadeus system. Dressed like Clement Atlee with a shorn head and wearing a 1930s top coat against the spring showers, Jones stunned the audience but there were further shocks in order as he had more to add.

To cheers from the suppliers in the audience (who had paid for the rally event) and jeers and thrown shrimp from the agents, the British CEO who is known for his gentility didn't mince any of his words.

"I have long believed that the practice of paying a travel agent to use our system was a disservice to our real paymasters the airlines." Continuing on - he challenged the leaders of both Sabre and Travelport to join him in his holy crusade to rid the industry of outdated business models and a return to as he put it "a normalized state" of affairs.

The encouraging words of wisdom to the assembled audience of suppliers however were short lived when the other shoe fell.

"Effective immediately, we are also abolishing the differential in all booking fees irrespective of whether the booking comes from online or off line or from an agent or a supplier.

Commenting on the announcements, one agent was overheard to say "Blimey, what will happen next Willie Walsh as a Flight Attendant". An airline executive who was within earshot was heard to mutter and describe the acts as "robbing Peter to pay Paul."

A small group of people in the audience at the rear of the crowd were suitably glum and looked remarkably unhappy. It is rumoured these people were Amadeus Agency Sales staffers.

jetBlue Completes Migration To Legacy Carrier

In the recent years - airlines have fallen in love with the Low Cost Carrier model - LCC. But more recently as the strictures of the model start to constrain the growth of the business - the startup LCCs are started to adopt more hybrid like characteristics. At the same time the legacy full service network airlines have adopted many of the LCC characteristics. This dual trend - big airlines becoming hybrid and LCCs becoming hybrid has now passed a formal milestone. The first LCC to become a full service legacy carrier.

Welcome to the old boy club JetBlue.

In the past 3 years jetBlue has undergone a radical transformation. Here are some of the things it now does:

1. Participates in ARC
2. Participates in GDSs
3. Interlines
4. Hosted in Sabre
5. Is partially owned by LH

Etc etc

So as you can now see - jetBlue has become a full service network carrier just like all the others. Voila - completing its transition.

Seems like the LCCs are the dying breed despite their greater profitability.

Hmmm food for thought.

Cheers

EC Updates Banned Airlines List

The 13th update is now out

Interestingly a few airlines got clean bills of health but in general the list was expanded. The latest airline to get "restricted" is Iran Air.

All carriers from 17 countries – 278 companies in total – are banned: Angola, Benin, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, (with the exception of three carriers which operate under restrictions and conditions), Indonesia, Kazakhstan (with the exception of one carrier which operates under restrictions and conditions), the Kyrgyz Republic, Liberia, Philippines, Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Sao Tome and Principe, Sudan, Swaziland and Zambia. 10 air carriers are allowed to operate under restrictions and conditions - Air Koryo from the Democratic People Republic of Korea, TAAG Angola Airlines, Air Astana from Kazakhstan, Iran Air from Iran Gabon Airlines, Afrijet and SN2AG from Gabon, Air Bangladesh, Air Service Comores and Ukrainian Mediterranean Airlines from Ukraine. A further few airlines are also included outside this list.

For the full list go here:

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/air-ban/doc/list_en.pdf

Many companies ban their employees from flying on these airlines irrespective of where they fly. So it is important to note this airline list. There are a few players here who are commonly used carriers readily available in GDSs or other distribution tools. It is important therefore to check your current company policy compliance if you are a flyer. For a company HR and/or risk assessment company providing insurance coverage for staff - it would be important to remind people of the necessity of compliance to existing conditions.

Cheers

Timothy

Behavioural Targeting Effectiveness

A great study sponsored by NAI and conducted by Howard Beales looked at Behavioural Targeting in 2009.

As the subject has become somewhat contentious of late - I was very interested to see this report. It covered a lot of territory and has good source data.

I highly recommend that you read the whole report (25 pages not that long) if you are interested in this type of targeting and its effectiveness vs that of regular run of network online CPM based advertising.



I wanted to see if there is a consistent advantage to using this from a pure cost perspective - well approx 10% and its pretty consistent across the year.

So irrespective of the issue of privacy concerns it seems that BT has some value. In Travel this may be even more important given the higher CPMs that accrue to the vertical vs other product segments.

It may also have - and this is pure speculation on my part but let's call it an educated hunch - that Social Media based media coupled with BT may prove to be even more effective. That may result in too small a target but an interesting idea nonetheless.

Just call me an old CPM geek

Cheers

With thanks to the AdTorque network for the image

U cnt txt on Rynr

Sorry - no more texting on Ryanair any more.

OnAir and Ryanair decided not to carry on working together and have terminated their agreement.

Seems that only a year ago Michael O'Leary was saying:

"Nobody is flying on Ryanair because it is a bastion of solitude where you can contemplate life."

Read more:

So now your Low Cost Flights can be quiet again.

Cheers

Phot courtesy of Eurocheapo.com

KLM Retires Last F50 Ending 50 Years of Propeller Fokkers

After More than 50 years of faithful service the last propeller driven Dutch produced aircraft will leave the KLM fleet. Much has changed. KLM is now part of the French based group Air France Group, and Fokker no longer makes any plane.


Here is to those fine planes and to Anton Fokker's vision.

Cheers

Acknowledgment to Airliners.net and Aerofavourites.nl for these fine images.

Alliances - Good or Bad. DoT vs DoJ Debates

I am not a strong advocate of cartels and oligopolies - they do distort competition and harm the consumers.

I also don't buy the big is always beautiful argument. Small and Nimble are things I admire.

I was very interested to read the Editorial Piece "Taking Sides" in Travel Weekly analyzing the DoT vs DoJ argument on Alliances and the new inner Alliances of the big 3 players mostly on the Transatlantic and now coming to the Transpacific.

In the current versions of the US House of Representatives bill on the FAA Authorization for 2010 and 2011 - there is a provision to sunset these agreements within 3 years. The Senate's version does not agree and this more radical provision has been left out.

I do believe that there is a strong sense of empathy from both Houses for the consumer protection. With the airlines clearly on the mend and fares rising, the sense of worrying about the health of the airlines is waning and the greater focus on main street and the downtrodden consumer will see the DoJ Consumer Protection view be the ascendant one. Will the Senate version prevail will be an interesting debate?

At this time - I would put it at even money. Come April when the bills head for conference - much will depend on the current economic climate and the anti-big establishment sentiment that seems to be rising in Congress.

Cheers

Some Light Fun For Friday

So you think airlines are boring?

Think again.

Have a look at the dueling Youtube videos from a pair of US based Low Cost Airlines.

This is funny..............

http://www.iagblog.com/

If its not on the home page type "US LCCs are fun!" in the search box.

Cheers

S1451 - Less the HR915 But Still With Interesting Quirks

Huh?

These are the Senate and the House bills for the FAA Authorization for the next 2 years. For Travel there are a mountain of things in here. In the House version for example there was a provision that would have sunset anti trust immunity for Airline Alliances. And a provision that would have given extra powers to Flight Attendants. The Senate version passed this week (23 March) and now goes for conference with the House version that passed way back last May 2009.

One interesting amendment to the bill would require the airlines to offer an opt in option of having flight delays provided to users by text or email.

However what is interesting to me - given my current interest in Ancillary Revenues is the requirement as outlined in an Amendment by Sen Menendez the Junior Senator from New Jersey which would require full disclosure on fees.

This disclosure requirement would create of course more bureaucracy for everyone. But doesn't the government just love that anyway.

So stay tuned - this bill is due for its final reconciliation next month.

We shall be watching!

Cheers

EU and US Agree on OpenSkies2

After several months of sometimes tense negotiations - the USA and the European Community have reached agreement on the framework of OpenSkies 2 according to Reuters.

This is healthy for everyone.

The basics include expanded ownership on both sides. Open Market access has been expanded, however the thorny issue of cabotage has not been resolved and will have to wait for another round.

Cheers

NEWS FLASH: Iberia to Hold Off Signing Final Merger Docs

I am not one to normally put out a news story - preferring to comment. But this is a fresh off the wires story that I have been following for some time.

According to Aviator.Aero the board at Iberia has decided to hold off "indefinitely" their final merger approval with British Airways.

In the Aviator.Aero news letter of today March 25th 2010 the following story appears.

"Iberia (Spain) board of directors to hold off signing merger agreement with British Airways indefinitely."

More details (or a retraction) as this story progresses. So far it has not appeared on their website either and no one else has picked it up

Cheers

Should US Airways Be Given Exemption At PHL?

Hoping to slide in the request for an exemption for their operations in the heavily congested north east USA, US Airways is hoping to be exempted from the upcoming performance based customer charter due to arrive next month.

So the question is should the airline (based in sunny Arizona) be excused the delay rules. Remember that several airlines including American Delta and Jetblue have requested exemptions for JFK and Continental has requested the same for EWR based on the current situation (one runway is out at JFK) and in general for the ATC congestion there.

The new DOT rule states that if domestic flights sit on the tarmac for more than three hours with passengers aboard, airlines face a fine of up to $27,500 per passenger. Thus airlines will be more likely to cancel a flight rather than paying heavy fines.

Note that at the present time the US DoT has not ruled on these requests. The new regs come into force next month.

In my opinion there is a case to be made for the current JFK situation until the runway resurfacing project is complete. But whether the others are eligible - that is a different matter.

Cheers

E Clear Assets - just US$100K

In what must be a shock to a lot of people the UK based bankruptcy administrators for failed credit card processing firm E-Clear have uncovered just £72,000 after months of investigations into the controversial credit card processing firm and said the situation was “looking bleak”.

Remember this is the company that in effect brought down 2 major players in the UK - the Globespan Group at the end of last year and previously in September 2008 XL Leisure.

For an industry as heavily regulated as the travel business is and supposedly the UK banking regulations are tight - this is really quite shocking.

Let's just hope that there is something positive that comes out of this. For now - it would behoove any transaction based player to check into your credit card processor. There could still be some scary stuff out there and let's hope you are not caught out like the hundreds of employees who lost their livelihood and those who lost real money - investors and creditors alike.