Archive for March, 2010

Any change at British Airways?

Mar 30

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The British Airways cabin crew strike has entered its third day and this is in its second phase too. There are no signs that there could be any peace between the management and Unite. And it is not like the industrial action and inaction if you may, are ending. There could be a railway strike from the 6th of April and this has Brits worried as to how they could all be getting back to the 1970s when industrial action was all so common. While there is no headway on talks between BA and its union Unite, it seems BA is doing a good job of communicating with and informing its passengers of delays and cancellations. This means that most passengers are nursing their wounds and fuming at home and not in front of TV crews at the airport.

Unite is contemptuous of the efforts of the BA management to have cabin crew which are quite clearly the most expensive workforce in the world because of the contingency operations. It is ironical that BA is throwing money at this contingency cabin crew which is only adding to costs without coming to that table with Unite and getting the matter sorted out.

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Can Amtrak get high speed railway to the USA?

Mar 29

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There are ambitious plans of setting up high speed railway in the USA. For long we had heard that there is a good scope for getting high speed railway into the US, now that it has spread in Europe and also in China where its debut has been spectacular. With airline prices being sky high and people willing to travel on the ground too, there is a good chance that high speed railway options in the US will be viable. But when it comes to Amtrak, which seems to be getting its act together and reorganizing itself, there are serious doubts as to whether it can come up to the task. The concerns and the questions are valid as Amtrak has been ambling along for decades, rather aimlessly and without much ambition.

It is the economics of high speed railway that bring about great promise of profitability that has Amtrak interested. When the capital investment is going to be through grants and since the cost of setting up the tracks will be borne by the government, the profits will be quite high. This is something that has fired the imagination of Amtrak and while it is quite the new kid on the block with respect to high speed railway, it seems that it cannot go alone and need European or Japanese help to get it up and going.

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Hotel with ‘no tipping’ policy

Mar 28

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There are times when you go to a hotel or a resort and you have to contend with the issue of tipping bellboys, assistants and also perhaps stewards in restaurants. This can get cumbersome and also irritating, because it takes away from your hassle free experience. You have to keep worrying about whether you have enough change to tip these people and hence such an experience is not what you would want in your holiday. Now there is one hotel which has announced it’s no tipping policy, due to which it is getting good PR and free publicity. This is because of the fact that the hotel firmly believes that the aspect of tipping takes away from the luxurious and comfortable experience of guests.

This hotel may have a no tipping policy but it makes sure that hotel employees are made up for the loss in earnings in other legitimate ways. This works well for all concerned. The hotel gains as it can advertise this new policy as a luxury enabling policy, while guests can enjoy not having to fumble for loose change. At the same time, hotel employees also do not lose out on earnings in any way. This is a true win-win for all.

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The myth of expense cutting

Mar 27

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There are a lot of companies and also employees who seem to take a lot of pride in that they have engaged in serious expense cutting over the last couple of years or so. Since the global recession reared its ugly head, many companies have gone to town tom-tomming their cost cutting plans and also methods. But it seems that when it comes to actual expense cutting there is some disconnect between what was planned and what actually happened. In reality, it was seen that expense cutting has result in bills coming down on an average by just two pounds per invoice and nothing more.

In addition, the number of claims that were made remained quite steady; being around 30 in the number of years they have been surveyed. This means that there has been no real reduction in cost and expense cutting is more on paper than in reality. Lots of employees and also their bosses have mouthed platitudes about expense cutting while going about their business and their trips in a manner that is quite similar to what they had been doing last year or so. So the talk about expense cutting is more myth than anything else and if you look at all the circulars that have been bandied about, you will see that most have all been ignored practically.

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About airport security and time taken

Mar 26

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The next time you pass through airport security, try and analyze how much time is spent on queues ad you will get an idea of what seems quite wrong with such processes and transportation methods. Now it seems that the Transportation security Administration is also realizing that it needs to analyze the amount of time being taken in airport security, which could be a huge hindrance to passenger comfort and convenience. This is of big concern to passengers and airport security admin as well. This is why they are now using sensors to collect data and info on how to get the menace corrected, because sometimes it takes a huge amount of time to get into the plane.

Lots of people fear airport security time which is why they build up huge cushions when they get to the airport. This may actually be a good idea after all; as you do not know how much time the airport security will take ad you do not want to miss the flight. Any moves to reduce this cushion could be rather dangerous in a world where you d not know the rigors of airport security that seem to be increasing with every passing day.

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China Tourism to get many visitors

Mar 25

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There is an estimate according to which China tourism is likely to get so many visitors that by 2015; it will be the country that has the maximum tourists from around the globe. This is a rather surprising prediction that will catch many people by surprise if it ever comes true. This is a prediction made by Taleb Rifai who is the Secretary General of the UN World Tourism Organization. China is getting there as it is already the fourth largest tourism destination and when it comes to the rate of growth of tourism in this country it is quite true that the country will be able to reach the top spot by 2015. This is a prediction that has been made quite realistically and this is something that is likely to come true.

In 2009 China had almost 51 m arrivals and this was just behind Spain and the US, whereas it ass much less than France. France had as many as 78 m visitors. So there is quite some distance that China will have to cover, but this is feasible if the rate of growth gets sustained. China has a huge tourist potential because it has a rich and long history and also a track record of stellar economic growth to add to it.

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Airline Strikes are on in Europe

Mar 23

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It seems spring time in March is the time when a lot of Airline Strikes are the flavor of the season in Europe. First you had the BA cabin crew going on strike as an example of March Madness. These cabin crew strikes had been announced for quite some time now and there was nothing that could be done about it as the labor union struck down any conciliatory moves by the management. But BA has been seen t have been quite communicative about the kind of measures that it is taken to ensure that passengers are not too disadvantaged. Its CEO Willie Walsh has been seen to take to the media to brief and update passengers and stakeholders about the strike ad its repercussions.

It now appears that the Air France employees are also likely to go on strike from 28th – 31st March, 2010. But the Air France management seems to be suspiciously and irresponsibly quiet over the matter as it has not responded with any media briefings or plans to take on the crisis that will be unleashed by the strike. This is strange because while you have British Airways going out of its way to reassure passengers next door, Air France doesn’t seem to be learning any lessons.

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How to make friends in your hotel

Mar 22

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If you look at the average hotel, you will find that there is not too much on offer for guests who stay in the hotel, with most of the events and the offers being there for outsiders. It seems as if hotels are keener on getting people to come into the hotel to spend money and time than in taking good care of the guests who are already there. This is about to change though as hotels go out of their way to allure and attract guests to socialize while they are in staying in the hotel. One way is to have them make friends by indulging in some of the games and events that the hotels have now taken to initiating and inviting people for. This is quite a new but interesting trend which will go towards promoting more business for the hotel while it can ensure that there are more guests coming  from outside as well.

One of the events that some hotels bring to the table are Sudoku events or perhaps special do’s at the local disc, which ensures that there are lots of people who make friends as they mingle with people who come in from the outside.

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The strike at BA set to begin

Mar 21

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There are some things about labor unions that quite perplex and amuse you, if not make you downright angry. Well, the strike by BA labor unions of cabin crew is likely to begin soon and there have been efforts made by the management to put a lid to the strike which was turned down by Tony Woodley of Unite, the labor union earlier. Now that the BA management has refused to bring back the proposals that were set forth before Unite last week, Unite General Secretary Woodley is accusing the BA management of being inflexible.

What is maddening is that what could have changed in one week that the proposal that was turned down last week could now be acceptable after it has been withdrawn? The action of Unite seems to smack of mere posturing and malicious to say the least. The prospect of the strike actually happening becomes very real given the fact that wither side is not willing to back off and back down from their respective stands, the poor passengers are the ones who will suffer in the melee, which means that they will have to face up with cancelled flights and less than acceptable service levels. Wonder who will gain from this madness.

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Looking for a doctor onboard a flight

Mar 20

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There are some cases where looking for a Doctor onboard is quite a viable and a necessary option for flyers. But it also seems as if this is not always an option because some recalcitrant flight attendants do not seem to be too cooperative.  This is one of the cases that occurred when a passenger had to face a situation when one of his veins in the scrotal or genital area which caused bleeding to occur. He called for a male attendant as the problem was is his genital area. The attendant came but just passed him a couple of tissues instead of looking for a Doctor onboard.

The passenger was quite infuriated at the conduct of the attendant as he has to wait all the way till the flight landed in Mexico before he could get any medical help at all. While the case he filed was thrown out by the judge, it does bring to question as to whether the conduct of the attendant was proper. The attendant should have looked for a Doctor onboard in order to get help and treatment to the passenger who had become a medical patient while on board the flight. This is what humanity demanded.

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