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Airbus slows A380 output

Airbus unsurprisingly announced that it would lower the amount of A380 aircraft it produced this year to 14, down from 18. Originally, the company had planned to increase production this year compared with last (and still is expected to deliver 20 next year), but the weakened economy and recent scare over swine flu has had an impact on travel demand, causing airlines to defer/delay some aircraft deliveries. IATA has estimated that air traffic, which started declining back in September, fell by 11% in March. (The figures for April will be released soon.)

It's only the latest bump in the A380 program, which has not only seen cost overruns (development spending is now at $18 billion, up from the originally planned figure of $12 billion) but also substantial delays. Singapore Airlines, Qantas and Air France are expected to be among the airlines that take delivery of A380s this year. And Airbus is also scaling back production of other models, too - a move that competitors Boeing and Embraer have also followed.

AirTran's CEO says airline can remain profitable

Robert Fornaro, AirTran's CEO, was recently interviewed by the Associated Press. He mentioned how the airline had faced a troubling time last year when oil prices shot up. But in the first quarter of 2009, despite a weak economy and lowered travel demand, AirTran managed to post a profit. I'll post a clip from the interview at the end of this post, and more can be read in the original article, but here are some interesting points:

• He doesn't see further consolidation, at least for a while: " Clearly we've seen Northwest and Delta come together, but I'm not sure we're going to see another merger over the next two or three years. The financial condition of the carriers now is weak, and there's probably some real big issues that need to be resolved with the labor contracts."
• Even though AirTran attempted a hostile takeover of Midwest Airlines a few years ago, Fornaro (who has been in the top job for a year) is moving away from acquisitions: "We now feel that we can be much more successful going in on our own. Over the next two years, thinking about acquisitions will be very very low on our priority list."
• How did AirTran responded to the economic crisis? "We stepped back, we reassessed our operation, we adjusted our capacity and obviously managed our costs and have very quickly rebounded."

Canadian airlines create passenger bill of rights

Canadian carriers Air Canada, Air Canada Jazz, Air Transat, and WestJet have come up with new legally binding operating rules, or "airline tariffs," that give passengers more options if their flight is delayed or canceled. As part of the new set of rules, the four airlines must:

• Distribute meal vouchers for delays of four hours or longer
• Let passengers off the aircraft if the plane is delayed on the ground for more than 90 minutes
• Pay for hotel rooms for passengers affected by overnight delays or cancelations

Not bad - if I was a delayed or stranded passenger, I'd say that those rules are a pretty good improvement. But the four airlines, which have formed a lobby group known as the National Airlines Council of Canada, aren't exactly doing this unprovoked, however. A Canadian MP proposed a bill that would fine airlines $1200 per traveler who was bumped off of a flight longer than 3500km (about 2175 miles). Airlines would also have to start giving $500 an hour to passengers stuck on a plane on the ground for more than 60 minutes after the doors close.

Naturally, the airlines are keen to avoid having to pay such exorbitant fines, and are thus rolling out their own "bill of rights" in advance. And it's doubtful whether the proposed bill would actually pass; as the lobby group's president stated: "The compensation requirements are grossly punitive and do not recognize the cost/revenue environment that air carriers face today. In the current economic downturn, airlines are already struggling to provide service to their customers." The fines outlined in the proposed bill do seem rather "grossly punitive"; but at the same time, passengers who are stuck for hours on a plane on the tarmac should be compensated fairly. The National Airlines Council of Canada is proof that even if it takes the threat of a harsh bill to do it, airlines still have the capability to ensure that their customers are compensated in a fair manner.

AirLine Food Review

While most of the airlines we've contacted over the last six months claim that there has been no reduction in the quality of product or service, we've found that many of them downgraded their in-flight services last fall and have been restoring them only gradually since this spring. Passengers feel that airlines have indeed trimmed some of the luxury services: some airlines may no longer issue wine lists or limit the choice of wines, others may not provide amenity kits or will skip the appetizer in the meals, and the little things that passengers take for granted, like decaffeinated coffee or herbal tea, may be unavailable. Apparently, it's not so much the cost of these services, but the manpower, time and space required to provide them that's at issue. Certainly, First Class and Business Class are all about space, comfort and service, and -- the US excepted -- the smartest airlines are continuing to deliver on all three.

The following passenger reviews of airline meals in the past six months clearly show how customers are feeling about the food and service.

AER LINGUS
Business Class

Dublin to Los Angeles
Lunch: Shoyu of Salmon Marinated Japanese-Style with Thai dressing served with a mixed salad and breads. "The salmon was delicious, great flavor." Next they came around with some fried samoosa type hors d'oeuvres. "I've never been a big fan of fried food on planes since it doesn't heat up too well." this was followed by a canapé course: Some sort of berry, cheese on bread and veggies with salsa dip. The main course was a seafood pancake of prawns and lobster in a cognac sauce glazed with cheese served with asparagus. "A huge pieces of lobster and the incredible flavor. This was one of the best courses ever served on a plane!" Desert was chocolate cheesecake with chocolate sauce. "I chose this from a trolley of appetizing desserts. Once again the cake was very good. The food on the flight was top-notch."

AEROFLOT RUSSIAN AIRLINES
Economy Class

Moscow to Vladivostok
Lunch: Mystery meat, rice, fish appetizer?, dark bread, cookies. "I was hungry so I ate it. I think it looked worse than it was."

Moscow to Tomsk
Lunch: Sliced Ham, Boiled Chicken, Pickled Tomato, Black Bread, Roll and Butter, and Pastry

AEROMEXICO
Economy Class

Houston to Mexico City
Snack: Turkey sandwich, slice of tomato, and a custard/jello-type dessert. "Considering I expected the snack to be peanuts and a drink, this was pretty good. The sandwich and tomato slice were really good. The dessert was good, but after a few bites, it became overwhelming."
Breakfast: Omelette, fruit salad, blueberry muffin, and a soft roll. The meal also had sausage and hash brown-type things. "I didn't actually eat this, but I heard it was pretty good."
Breakfast: Pancakes with half of a canned peach, fruit salad, blueberry muffin, and soft roll. "It actually wasn't that bad. The pancakes were a little bit rubbery, but not completely inedible. I think the fruit salad, muffin, and soft roll saved it though."

AIR CANADA
Business Class

Toronto to Frankfurt
Dinner: Appetizer was salmon bruschetta with mixed salad greens and an olive oil dressing with Alsacian white wine. "Great appetizer. Main course was nicely grilled salmon with salad greens and onions, served with warm bread. "Herb roasted chicken breast on tomato and provencale sauce, Shanghai noodles with red peppers, oven-roasted carrots and buttered asparagus. "Chicken was quite plain (as can be seen in photo) and noodles that are "oriental" seem to be a weird combination for chicken that is "provencal". But not bad at all."

Toronto to London
Dinner: Appetizer was lobster medallions and Tiger shrimp on Nappa cabbage with Alsacian White Wine. "Excellent meal service." main course was Herb Roasted Mahi Mahi, Tomato Sauce, Rice Noodles, Baby Bok Choy, Roasted Butternut Squash with Alsacian White Wine "Good dinner, but I wish I had the Grilled Beef option." Dessert was Praline Mousse Cake. "It tasted a bit commercial, but the good grapes, crackers and cheese made up for it."
Pre arrival snack "High Tea": Assorted open faced sandwiches (this one is a sliced chicken breast with cream)scones, jams, and clotted cream; oatmeal and/or chocolate cookies with ice cream. "This was an excellent snack before landing and the ice cream was great!"

London to Toronto
Appetizer before Lunch: Mixed Salad with Smoked Salmon and Prawn Appetizer". Served with warm rolls, butter and Italian dressing with Alsacian White Wine. "Excellent meal service and the meal quality was much better coming out of England. Excellent lunch service."
Lunch: Baked Hake with Herb Crust, Tomato Sauce, Chateau Potatoes with Dill, Buttered Leaf Spinach, Fresh mixed vegetables with Alsacian White Wine. "Excellent meal service and the meal quality was much better coming out of England."

Los Angeles to Toronto
Dinner: "Two meals are featured since I asked for a second entree, because I am a pig. In the middle is a steak, which was a bit too rare and a bit stringy. It is served with mashed potatoes and some grilled zucchini and eggplant. The second entree that was available, it was a filet of salmon wrapped in a puff pastry. It was nice and moist and creamy inside and the pastry was not dry as I imagined. It is served with asparagus and rice. Great service, but so-so food."

AIR CANADA
Economy Class

Vancouver to Toronto
Dinner: Sliced roast beef with steamed baby carrots on a bed of egg noodles, house salad to start with slivers of red cabbage and cucumber and Kraft roasted garlic chive dressing. Dessert was a nut-based cake (hazelnut?) topped with cream and crumbled nuts and coconut flakes with white wine (Ile la forge 2001 Chardonnay). "Bland and dry. The Kraft salad dressing and nice fresh salad was the most enjoyable part of the meal. Dessert was also bland and dry. Free wine was due to a 2-hour delay. It was kind of flat and acidic but I didn't complain and they kept it coming!"

Vancouver to Hong Kong
Dinner: Baked fish and mashed potatoes, fresh fruit salad. "So-so, not bland but not great. fish is hard to get the texture right what with the airline reheating deal. I just came across this site and happened to have these pics from last year - I'm an avid fan of flying and flying paraphernalia. Keep this up!"

Toronto to Vancouver
Snack after lift-off: "Airline coffee has improved somewhat over the years, this example being of Air Canada's serving of (the Canadian rival to Starbucks) Second Cup coffee. Pretzels are dry. I like the traditional smoked almonds better."

Los Angeles to Calgary
Snack: "In 50 years of flying, this was by far the worst meal I've seen on an aircraft, and, (in an integrated concept), it was accompanied by a truly nasty "shove it" staff attitude."

St. John's to Toronto
Vegetarian meal: Tomato, lettuce and cucumber on whole wheat. Mustard in a package. Olives, sliced carrots and zucchini, and a small pickle. Eight grapes. "More interesting than the sandwich was the accompanying card on the left listing all of the special needs meals. People with ulcers can order a bland meal, there are multiple ethic vegetarian meals, too. As for the sandwich, it's disappointing to be served something you could easily have prepared for yourself.

Toronto to, St. John's
Vegetarian snack (dinner was expected): Whole wheat wrap filled with couscous, carrots, mushrooms and an unidentifiable green vegetable. "This wrap is slightly larger than a snack, yet not quite meal-sized. People throughout the plane asked for seconds, only to be denied. Much like the Canadian airline industry itself really; scaled down and a little dry (it was kind of tasty, though)."

Toronto to London LHR
Dinner: crackers, chocolate iced cake for desert, green salad [there is never enough dressing in those plastic containers], hunk of cheese, main course consisting of mashed potatoes, beef with gravy, veggies [broccoli, carrots and green beans], crusty roll. "The usual fare... not to good not to bad although the bread was exceptionally fresh on this trip."

Toronto to Vancouver
Dinner: Vegetarian lasagne with spinach, bun with butter and cheddar cheese, a bare salad with a hefty garlic dressing. Sesame crips and a nice cheesecake. "The flavour of the spinach was quite strong but it was all very tasty."

Amsterdam to Toronto
Snack (vegetarian): bread with cheese and power bar. "The advantage: you are the first that gets served. It all was a little soggy but tasted not too bad."
Dinner: Vegetarian lasagne with tomato cream sauce, bun with butter and gouda cheese, a tough salad with vinaigrette and a fruit mix of melon and something. "The advantage: you are the first that gets served. It all was a little soggy but tasted not too bad."

Toronto to London LHR
Breakfast: Orange juice, berry yoghurt, and a piece of sweet bread. "Not much of a meal, but not bad."
Dinner: "That dish is chicken on rice. Its a hot meal, tasty too. The sauce is on the sweet side but I enjoyed it."
Dinner: Beef, mashed potatoes, vegetables (carrot, broccoli, cauliflower), a roll, a piece of cheese, crackers, salad, and a dessert somewhat akin to tiramisu, shown with a bottle of Merlot. "It actually didn't taste bad, despite its appearance."

San Francisco to Toronto
Dinner: "That dish is actually a chicken salad. Chicken tasted pretty good, the pasta also tasted good with spices such as parsley and onion."

Montreal to Paris Charles-de-Gaulle
Digestive: Cheap red wine. "On a transatlantic flight, either you sleep, either you get drunk, the gentleman to my right and I chose the latter. I don't remember the food, so the plan worked well."

AIR FRANCE
Business Class

Los Angeles to Papeete
Supper: Gourmet Salad served with air dried beef and Parma ham with a glass of Côteaux du Languedoc "La Clape" 1999 Chateau l'Hospitalet Summum. "The balsamic and olive oil dressing was real nice, bread wasn't so good but starter was very filling." Main course was fillet of bass Dugléré, medley of white and wild rice with buttered broccoli Drink: Evian still water and Coteaux du Languedoc "La Clape" 1999 Chateau l'Hospitalet Summum. "Very moist fish and a creamy tasty sauce! " Desert was a strawberry mousse with a strawberry coulis and a finger cookie, "very nice and light."

Economy Class

Paris CDG to Edinburgh and return
Breakfast: Ham and cheese, jam, bread, butter, orange juice, cake. "Nice breakfast."
Dinner: 3 slices of something very well done and something spreadable with French wine. "Wine was good."
Paris to Lisbon
Lunch: "Looks horrible, the taste was not bad at all."

AIR JAMAICA
First Class

Manchester to Kingston
Dinner/Lunch: Chicken. "Was lucky enough to get same cabin crew as previous flight. Flight Purser was more than attentive and ran a 'tight ship'. I had the chicken (again) and was not let down. The soup & salad were very good."

Kingston to Manchester
Dinner: "Having flown many First Class long haul routes, Air Jamaica has to be number 1 in my opinion. Choice of meals covers every taste, and has never let me down. This new route keeps up the consistency. Salad was crisp, and dressing good. I only eat chicken, and this was excellent : Jamaican-style, but not too spicy. Desert was chocolate cake with orange sauce."

Economy Class

Montego Bay, Jamaica to Barbados
Lunch: Fish, pasta salad, green salad, bread roll, and a cup cake with complimentary champagne or wine or beer (Red Stripe). "The fish was OK. The drinks were nice."
Lunch: Chicken, Jamaica rice and peas, spinach, salad, bread roll, and a cup cake with complimentary champagne or wine or beer. "The food was pretty good. The complimentary drinks were very nice and unexpected since we were in economy."

AIR NEW ZEALAND
Economy Class

Auckland to Dunedin
Breakfast: Potato, Fruit, Yoghurt, Croissant. "So far so good, but the croissant is pretty cold!"

ALASKA AIRLINES
Economy Class

Seattle to Washington Dulles
Breakfast: Fruit plate and muffin, "This was the breakfast "appetizer." I still don't melon and Alaska still serves it without fail in First for breakfast. Muffin was delicious." Omelette with sausage, potatoes, fruit, muffin, orange juice came with it. "the flight attendant served us a very good meal for coach.

Seattle to Boston
Breakfast: "Cheese Blitz" with scrambled eggs and sausage - muffin - fruit - orange juice. "There was also a choice of an omelette, which I think most other people were getting. They made an announcement that both meals were really good and not be disappointed if they didn't have your first choice. Once I figured out that they were saying "Cheese Blitz" and not "Cheese Bits", the choice was clear. The "Cheese Blitz" was essentially a thin pancake wrapped around warm cottage cheese with raspberry sauce on top. It was actually pretty good. I can't say the same for the eggs which looked like a science project gone wrong."

Boston to Seattle
Dinner: "Asian Chicken" with carrots and rice - salad with lettuce, olives, cucumber slice, tomato slice - roll - apple cobbler. There was also a choice of "Beef Stroganoff". The chicken was a bit dry, but the cobbler was pretty good."

San Francisco to Seattle
Water, Nemo's cinnamon bun, coffee & 2% milk. "Note the complimentary copy of the Wall St. Journal...best part of breakfast!"

ALASKA AIRLINES
First Class

Washington Dulles to Seattle
Breakfast: Focaccia bread, cheese, salmon lox, salami, tomatoes, asparagus. "Lunch snack was quite good, the bread was awesome."
Breakfast: Omelette with asparagus, sausage and potatoes. "Good food, the sauce on the omelette was very interesting."
Dinner: Salmon, sugar snap peas, potatoes. Salmon was the best I've had on an airplane, very good. I had salmon at a wedding receptions 3 days before the flight, and this salmon was much better. The potatoes were really good. Pretty good for a salad, better than the salad in United's First Class. Good dressing."
Dinner: chicken, carrots, rice. "Tasty Chicken, standard carrots and rice."

Seattle to Washington Dulles
Breakfast: Fruit and a biscuit with jam. "I don't like cantaloupe; last time I took this flight we were served warm, fresh berry scones. This time it was a smaller biscuit with jam we had to spread on. I liked the scone much better."
Breakfast: Eggs, potatoes and ham. "Standard breakfast fare, nothing special. The potatoes were cooked an interesting way which were pretty good."
Breakfast: French toast and ham. "Nothing special, was able to get the syrup on the side and butter for the French toast."

ALITALIA
Business Class

Rome to Malta
Brunch/lunch: "Very tasty sour mozzarella cheese and excellent turkey. Tasty sweet croissant, roll and excellent apricot jam. Fresh fruit salad."

Rome to Geneva
Dinner: "Very good turkey, provolone cheese. Smoked salmon with pumpernickel bread but some lemon would have made it nicer. Desert: A custard sponge cake. Overall not bad. Quite tasty and sufficient. However we received the same meal for lunch on another flight. Alitalia should try and have some variations."

Rome to Malta
Cold lunch: "Prosciutto and provolone cheese. Cherry jam with delicious fresh crispy bread. Danish not so good. Fresh fruit salad."

Malta to Rome. Same meal Rome to Geneva
Cold lunch: "Tasty turkey with provolone cheese, horrible pizza, smoked salmon, custard sponge cake."

Economy Class

Milano to Barcelona
Lunch? "Frozen-no taste."

Athens to Milano
Lunch? "Frozen-no taste."

ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS
First Class

Los Angeles to Tokyo Narita
Lunch: Lobster and Japanese side dishes, sparkling water. "Beautiful service and great tasting food!"

AMERICA WEST AIRLINES
First Class

Boston to Phoenix
Brunch First Course: Spring greens w/grapes, Feta cheese, and walnuts w/Feta Greek dressing, toasted tortilla wedges with McGuigan Bin 3000, Merlot 2000, Iced Water with lemon. "Fresh salad with not enough dressing...overall acceptable."

Economy Class

Phoenix to New York JFK
Lunch/Hot Snack: Hot Italian meatball sandwich w/chocolate wafer cookies. "Needed is some fresh healthy food such as salad and veggies"

Washington to Phoenix
Meal: Hot Chicken Parmesan Cheese, Foccacia Sandwich, Salted Pretzels, Chocolate Flavored, Cookie Wafers. "The sandwich is very saucy and juicy, but I didn't eat it. (I'm a vegetarian) I gave it to someone else and they said it was scrumptious and tasty. I ate
the wafers which is totally delectable. The service was fabulous even though I didn't eat the entree."

Cleveland to Phoenix
Breakfast: A single club cracker and choice of beverage. "Triumph of the Bean-Counters. This was a five hour flight that left Cleveland at 7:10 AM. The accompanying photo shows the entirety of in-flight food service. Without a doubt the most cheap wad in-flight service I've ever experienced; the commuter flight from Phoenix to San Diego County had better snacks. Get food before I left? Just try finding an open food kiosk at Cleveland Hopkins before 8 AM.

AMERICAN AIRLINES
First Class

Dallas to Anchorage
Meal type: Salad before dinner - Wilted lettuce, fettucini with a sesame/peanut dressing, Chardonnay. "Barely edible."

London LHR to Chicago
Dinner: "This is a selection from the 'caviar cart', which I understand has sadly been eliminated due to cost-cutting measures. The appetizer includes caviar, blinis, toast triangle, focaccia bread, egg, onion, smoked salmon, and the blob of white stuff, which I'm not sure about. I don't recall what my main course was, the the drink was champagne. Heaven!"

Business Class

Dallas to Miami
Snack: Rold Gold Colossal Cheddar snack mix. "An unimpressive meal for an impressive seat."

Santiago to Miami
Dinner: Warm roasted nuts to start, Salmon Tartare Appetizer, Season Greens Salad garnished with herbed-dried tomatoes with choice of Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar or Creamy Onion Dressing, (pictured) Cream of Asparagus Soup garnished with chopped parsley. "Quite tasty."

Cancun, Mexico to St. Louis
Dinner: Roasted herb chicken served with some type of chicken flavored rice, a couple pieces of zucchini, creamed spinach in a tomato, and two pieces of fresh shrimp topping a salad with vinaigrette dressing.

AMERICAN AIRLINES
Economy Class

Los Angeles to Boston
Dinner: "Braised Beef" with carrots and potatoes, salad, roll, sweet bread, coke and cup of water. "Another flavorful meal from American Airlines. One wonders how much of the flavor is added and how much occurs naturally. The salad was a bit old and the roll was a bit dry."

Boston to Los Angeles
Lunch: Chicken with mystery sauce, salad, roll, coconut bread. "The chicken was actually very flavorful, though the flight attendants were unable to identify the type of sauce upon handing out the meals. There was also a choice of a pasta lunch. The roll was hard and the salad was so old it was turning brown. I didn't eat it."

Caracas to Miami
Lunch: Chicken, broccoli, tomato salad, cheese & crackers, bread, cake with soft drinks, juice, bottled water, and liquor for purchase. "Standard economy meal. Chicken was dry and overcooked."

Miami to Caracas
Dinner: Salmon, sliced potatoes, salad, cheese & crackers, bread, cake, soft drinks, juice, bottled water, and liquor for purchase. "One of the better economy meals I have had. The salmon was actually quite good despite being overcooked."

Miami to Denver
Snack: "Bistro" snack- Pastrami? sandwich; Bunni-Luv baby carrots; Ruffles potato chips; Pepperidge Farms Brussels cookies with soft drinks, juice, bottled water, and liquor for purchase. "Must be a definition of Bistro that I am not familiar with. The meat in the sandwich had very little flavor. The cookies, chips, and carrots were OK."

Aruba to Miami
Lunch; Some sort of vegetable+meat salad sandwich, plantain chip and a sugar cookie. "The sandwich was not even close to edible (for my standards). The plantain chips were tasty (from Venezuela) and the cookie was good. I give this meal a 4 just for the chips and cookie."

Honolulu to Dallas/Fort Worth
Dinner: Iceberg lettuce salad with Italian dressing, fresh pineapple, pasta bake, wheat dinner roll, and chocolate cake with soft drinks, juice, bottled water, and liquor for purchase. "Tasty. All plastic utensils and disposable plates."

Miami to Santiago
Lunch: Cheese Cannelloni, Salad, Breadstick, Crackers, and some type of cake. "Edible but nothing inspiring especially for international flight."
Snack: Only choice for our snack at 5:30 p.m. on an eight hour flight (can you think of a better time for a full dinner?) Grilled ham and cheese, cantaloupe, pretzel/chex mix and Milano cookies, with orange juice (came on tray), vodka and orange juice, coffee, and water. "Pretty good for a sandwich, but again, it was dinner time on international flight!"

Dallas/Ft. Worth DFW to San Francisco
Snack: "Bistro" snack, two thin slices of Purdue turkey breast with generic yellow cheese on bleached flour roll; one optional Hellmann's Dijonnaise packet; one bag Bunni-Luv baby carrots; one snack-size bag original Ruffles potato chips; and two Pepperidge Farms Brussels cookies. "Where's my special meal? Dijonnaise is nasty. Potato chips are nasty. I ate the turkey and cheese, but left the bun behind. The carrots and the cookies were the best part."

New York to Los Angeles
Breakfast: French toast, ham, yoghurt, melon and a beverage (orange juice and cranberry juice). "The toast was okay, made better by the Aunt Jemima syrup. No butter? Didn't try the ham ... The yoghurt was on the warm side, but the melon was fresh and tasty."

AMERICAN TRANS AIR
Economy Class

Chicago to Washington DC
Breakfast Snack: Fruit bar, some other cookie "thing."
Dinner Snack: Cookie bar and peanuts, with apple juice. "I pay $264 for a ticket, and all they can
afford is 15 peanuts and a cookie?"

Chicago to Los Angeles
Dinner: Peanuts, cookie and a beverage. "Mmmmm, real lavish dinner!."

ASIANA AIRLINES
Economy Class

New York JFK to Seoul
Lunch: "The main part was some sort of white fish in sauce with some veggies in there too, next to rice. Salad had one piece of shrimp and some sad iceberg lettuce and one cherry tomato. There was a roll with butter. The dessert was a really strange tasting strawberry "mousse" stuff with unidentified nuts sprinkled on top. Tasted a little like strawberry Quik. Polo mint. Also, they always give you a tube of chilli paste which helps the taste! I flew business class on the way back from Seoul the next week and that just totally ruined my perception of economy class food."

AUSTRIAN AIRLINES
Business Class

Thessaloniki, Greece to Vienna
Lunch: It was ham with melon, chicken breast with cracker with cheese, cake, mineral water. "I did not enjoy the ham, so I ask purser to bring me other thing and she gave me chicken breast with lemon sauce, it was excellent."

AUSTRIAN AIRLINES
Economy Class

Vienna to New York JFK
Snack: A micro-sandwich with either chicken or turkey and a garnish of lettuce and pickle slices. Dessert was a raspberry topped muffin. "After 6+ hours since lunch, I expected s bit more than a snack."
Lunch: A cheese lasagne with basil, served with a creamy coleslaw and a warm dinner roll. Dessert was a poppy seed cake and two pieces of chocolate. "The lasagne was quit good as was the dessert."

Vienna to Brussels
Snack: Sandwich cheese or ham. "OK"

New York JFK to Vienna
Breakfast: "A more typical Austrian/German breakfast of meat and cheese sandwiches. Served with a micro-muffin and a small cup of yoghurt. This meal was OK. The bread was fresh enough to stick to the roof of my mouth on the first bite."
Dinner: A mixed fish dinner that included a small piece white fish, salmon, and a shrimp. The side
dishes included mashed potatoes and grilled zucchini. A nice salad with Feta cheese, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, artichoke heart and lettuce. Warm dinner rolls accompanied the meal. The dessert was a light vanilla cake with a cream and strawberry filling. "I would have liked a bit more salmon with less mashed potatoes, but the grilled zucchini was very nice."

Thessaloniki, Greece to Vienna
Lunch: Chicken Breast Grill with Tsatsiki Greek yoghurt salad. "Chicken was too salty, not really edible for me."

AVIANCA
Business Class

Miami to Bogota
Lunch: Appetizer of seafood salad, Fedora pate was followed by marinated steak with mustard sauce, oriental vegetables, Anna potatoes with champagne. "Very good."

Economy Class

Bogota to Buenos Aires
Lunch: "Egg, jam, cheese, lettuce and tomato salad. Wheat bran cookies made in Argentina, port salut cheese, bread so dry perfect for old teeth, chicken a la Milanese (where was the chicken?), home made fries, steam vegetables, cheese, cake (age= unknown). Salad and wheat bran cookies were good. Don't ever try the chicken if you wanna live!."
Dinner: Fresh vegetables,with one olive, chicken a la vegetables sauce, zucchini and mash
potato, Colombian dessert: brevas with coconut and one chewy mint candy. "Was fine for economy class."

Best Airline

CATHAY PACIFIC WINS THE 2009 AIRLINE OF THE YEAR AWARD

or the 3rd time in 10 years, Cathay Pacific has been named World's Best Airline, winning the 2009 Airline of the Year title in the latest World Airline Awards - Cathay Pacific being a previous winner of this prestige global title in 2003 and 2005.

Edward Plaisted (CEO of Skytrax) said ... " the Cathay Pacific victory this year is the third occasion in the last ten years they have won this prestige title. A factor behind the Cathay Pacific win is clearly the consistency of product and service that they provide to their customers. Not only are Cathay Pacific satisfying their passengers onboard flights, but the ratings they achieved for their airport operations in Hong Kong also played a considerable part in this success. At a time of considerable difficulty across world economies and of course the airline industry itself, it is nice to have some truly good news to spread in announcing the 2009 World Airline Airline Awards. We extend our congratulations to Cathay Pacific Airways on their crowning as 2009 Airline of the Year. These Awards represent the voice and opinions of the travelling public, and bears great testimony to the quality of service being delivered in the front-line".

AIRLINE OF THE YEAR 2009
Rank	Airline	2008
1	Cathay Pacific Airways	2
2	Singapore Airlines	1
3	Asiana Airlines	5
4	Qatar Airways	7
5	Emirates	9
6	Qantas	3
7	Etihad Airways	10
8	Air New Zealand	8
9	Malaysia Airlines	6
10	Thai Airways	4
© Skytrax
Result publication allowed with prior consent of Skytrax SURVEY METHODOLOGY The survey was operated over an 8 month period (August 2008 to March 2009), during which time 16.2 million air travellers completed a wide range of survey nominations - for the Airline of the Year title, together with regional and other award categories. The Survey data is collated from a variety of input sources, including: Passenger Interviews completed online & via e-mail Business Research Group / Travel Panel Interviews Corporate Travel Questionnaire / Interviews Telephone Interviews Selective Passenger Interviews Product and Service factors ranked by customers in the survey included : GROUND / AIRPORT Standard of Airline web site Online Booking service Online check-in services Airport Ticket Counters Waiting times at Check-in Quality of Check-in service Self Check-in options Boarding Procedures Friendliness of Ground staff Efficiency of Ground Staff Transfer services Arrival services Baggage Delivery Handling Delays ONBOARD : PRODUCT Cabin Seat comfort Cabin Cleanliness Toilet Cleanliness Cabin Lighting / Ambience Cabin Temperatures Cabin Comfort amenities Reading Materials Airline magazine Inflight Entertainment standards Audio / Movie programming AVOD options Quality of Meals Quantity of Food served Meal Choices Selection of Drinks / Pay bar formats ONBOARD : STAFF SERVICE Assistance thru Boarding Friendliness of Staff Service Attentiveness / Efficiency Consistency of Service across different flights Staff Language skills Meal service efficiency Availability thru Flight / Cabin presence PA announcements Problem solving Skills General Staff Attitudes Staff Grooming

Whatever happened to flying the friendly skies?

Editor's note: This is the first in a series of articles contributed by readers of The Airline Blog. If you have an airline-related article that you've written and would like to see it on The Airline Blog, please email it and it might be published! Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are of the author, and not necessarily those of The Airline Blog.

Whatever Happened to Flying the Friendly Skies?

I have a confession: I’m a frequent traveler. By choice. Even in these days of predictable flight delays, less predictable baggage handling snafus, elimination of in-flight meals and snacks, and endless waits in long lines on the tarmac while flights takeoff or disembark passengers.

I make regular trips to the nation’s capital at least nine times a year. That’s a round trip air ticket, plus rental car for each visit (oh, and I’ve travelled to Washington, DC twice within the past three weeks). I’m a pretty regular customer for anyone whose paying attention.
Hertz is. Every time I bid on Priceline for a rental car at the airport in Washington Dulles, I get a nearly instantaneous reply from Hertz accepting my offer, virtually regardless of the amount bid. It’s turned me from an Enterprise-by-choice to a Hertz-by-choice customer. Not bad, considering how often I rent cars, including during holidays when they charge a premium.
I noted recently that Hertz’s Connect service offers hourly rentals in NY with rates as low as $8.50/hour, ala Zipcar and other competitors. Smart move, considering more and more consumers are reducing their carbon footprint through less reliance on cars, among other promising energy trends. For this, I applaud Hertz. Some brands get it. When the marketplace changes, and it always does, it’s critical to remain relevant and customer-focused. Innovation is essential, particularly these days.

Which is what makes me particularly baffled by the recent experience I had with Delta. Besides DC, I book at least another 5-6 trips annually; double that if you count travel by car. Recently, I bought round-trip air tickets on the Delta.com Website for the upcoming July 4th weekend. Only three days later, the fare was reduced by $100 total. On Orbitz and countless travel sites, for some time now, they guarantee your purchase at the lowest rate. They want to ensure you’re a satisfied customer; and they definitely want to provide a compelling reason to return and use their site the next time you’re booking travel. It’s a pretty simple formula for creating brand loyalty. What part of it does Delta not understand?

One might expect, as a customer, that you’d receive better treatment and select benefits by booking directly via a company’s Website over an aggregator site intended to sort and compare competing travel offers and rates by emphasizing lowest fees. It’s a market opportunity for airline brands to differentiate themselves and offer consumers advantages for choosing their brand over other options. Jet Blue gets it. They actually charge a $15 fee for booking on a site other than theirs. They also charge nothing to have an existing ticket re-issued at a lower available fare.

And like Hertz, Jet Blue is an innovator. Their Jet Blue Promise Program is a policy that refunds flights or vacation packages in full to anyone whose been laid off recently since making travel plans. How’s that for counteracting the “uncertain” for those unfortunate enough to experience difficulty during these uncertain times. You can call it recession marketing, as some have. Or, I prefer to attribute it to Jet Blue’s exceptional customer focus, which has always been core to its brand experience.

Despite the economic downturn, I’m planning to keep up my aggressive travel and flight schedule. I figure I’m a catch, and a keeper, by anyone’s standards for customers these days. I think I’ll pass on Delta from now on. Jet Blue...or anyone else, are you listening?

"Monster Monopoly"?

AA/BA alliance a "monster monopoly"?

Virgin Atlantic president Richard Branson has called upon the US Department of Transportation to reject a proposed alliance between American Airlines, British Airways and three other airlines, claiming that it would form a "monster monopoly" that would pose a serious threat to the survival of rival airlines and would mark the end of "red-hot competition."

In an address to the National Press Club in Washington last week, Branson warned that a tie-up would be "disastrous" for consumers, and highlighted the fact that American and British Airways, combined with their oneworld alliance partners, would control almost half of the takeoff and landing slots at London Heathrow. "It doesn’t make sense to encourage even less competition by allowing dominant carriers to increase their stranglehold by setting prices together and agreeing schedules," he said. "...Our arguments are as strong today as they were on the previous two occasions when BA and AA tried to merge. Their dominance has grown even further between then and now."

Under the proposed alliance, American, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, and Royal Jordanian Airlines would receive antitrust immunity on transatlantic flights - something that has already been granted by the DOT to carriers in the rival SkyTeam and Star alliances. "This permission or antitrust immunity has already been granted to 10 airlines in Star and six in SkyTeam - including the recently merged and now world's largest airline Delta," said an American spokesperson, in an email to AFP, adding that the proposed alliance was "simply seeking to level the playing field."

But Branson predictably did not agree with this logic, stating: "I understand that it is tempting for regulators to say, 'We’ve given dispensation to one alliance, we should do likewise for others' as they’ve done previously. But they must resist temptation. Each anti-trust application must be considered on its merits and it’s clear that the application for a merger between BA and AA must be rejected."

Branson has lobbied against proposed two AA/BA tie-ups in the past (1997 and 2001), both of which failed due to regulatory concerns. American's argument that 'it's only fair that we get this too' certainly has credit to it, but the sticking point is likely to be Heathrow - the AA/BA presence there is already enormous. The DOT has six months to issue a ruling, so we'll just have to wait and see if Branson is successful in putting down a proposed AA/BA alliance for a third time.

Last month, former American CEO Robert Crandall said that "any objective observer would have to look very hard to find a way in which alliances have benefited consumers." He also believes that "airline alliances have been far more beneficial for international airlines than for US carriers, and for that reason alone, I think they should be disallowed." Interestingly, he also noted that if Star Alliance and SkyTeam are allowed their own antitrust agreements, "AA-BA should be permitted as well."

Virgin America's top 10 requested cities

Virgin America recently released a list of the ten cities that are most requested for new VA service. The survey is still up, so if you don't see your preferred route listed below, you can still vote.

1. SFO- Chicago
2. SFO- Honolulu
3. SFO- Miami
4. LAX- Miami
5. SFO- Portland
6. LAX- Chicago
7. SFO- Phoenix
8. JFK- Miami
9. SFO- Denver
10. LAX- Portland

Many of these routes are currently flown only by a few legacy carriers. The San Francisco - Chicago and Los Angeles - Chicago routes, for example, are currently flown only by United and American. JFK - Miami is flown only by American and Delta, and American has a monopoly on the San Francisco - Miami and Los Angeles - Miami routes. Even though Virgin America would certainly be taking a risk by flying into the fortress hubs of legacy carriers (United in Chicago, American in Miami, etc.), their relatively premium product would probably attract quite a few unsatisfied AA and UA customers. Those are the routes (LAX-MIA, SFO-ORD) that would be best for Virgin America to fly, especially as they would avoid head-to-head competition with other low cost carriers (i.e. Frontier on SFO-DEN).

Lufthansa's bmi takeover drama continues

Although the takeover of British carrier bmi (formerly known as British Midland Airways) by German airline Lufthansa was approved on thurday by European Union antitrust authorities, the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung yesterday report dthat Lufthansa is backing out of the deal, apparently after taking a closer look at bmi's rather precarious financial situation and deciding that the price would be too high.

bmi, which lost $151m in 2008, was 30% (minus one share) owned by Lufthansa, 20% by Scandinavian Airlines, and 50% (plus one share) by former British Midland chairman Sir Michael Bishop. Last October, Lufthansa announced that it would be acquiring Bishop's stake in bmi, meaning that the German carrier would be effectively controlling bmi.

bmi is one of the latest of Lufthansa's potential acquisitions; it already wholly owns Italian carrier Air Dolomiti, German low-cost carrier Germanwings, Swiss International Air Lines, Lufthansa Italia, and regional carriers Eurowings and Lufthansa CityLine, among others (it will wholly control Austrian Airlines pending approval by the EU later this year). It also owns significant stakes in bmi, Luxembourg's national airline Luxair, Belgian carrier Brussels Airlines, and jetBlue.

UPS retiring DC-8

Another aircraft retirement took place recently as UPS operated its final DC-8 flight into Louisville, KY Tuesday morning, receiving a 'water cannon salute' from fire trucks. Last month, UPS decided to accelerate the retirement of its 44-strong DC-8 fleet as a cost-cutting measure; originally, the planes were due to be phased out by 2013. Most of the airline's DC-8s were around 40 years old, and it will certainly sad to see the type go. DC-8s have been absent from scheduled passenger aviation in the US for almost twenty years now; generally speaking, many older types of planes (DC-10s, 727s) often find new lives hauling packages after they're through hauling passengers.