US Airways... Are You Insane?

OK so let me see if I can get this right. I am an airline who is in trouble because my costs are too high. Costs are too high for many reasons such as from bad contracts, bloated staffing etc etc.

 I enter bankruptcy to correct this situation.

My largest cost base doesn't want me to cut his benefits and staffing levels. (Understandable on all sides).

An external suitor who still hasn't got his house (like sorting pilot seniority lists) in order, makes deal to keep said cost levels high. (At the same time screwing his own unions).

Did I miss something?

Just for clarification - I don't doubt the sincerity of all concerned. It just seems to be illogical. 

Cheers










(Picture taken from AA 757 over Lake Michigan)

Glass Ceilings, Women in Travel and Agism

I have been thinking about the way our industry is constituted - gender and age wise - and I am noticing something that should start to both worry and encourage me.

The trend is the composition of the personnel in distribution. A field I know pretty well.

Legacy distribution is populated by a pretty diverse group as one would expect for a mature business. I always felt it was a very good thing that the Distribution business had a good representation of diversity. Particularly in the male/female split. But one that didn't apply to the agism issue. There was never a real encouragement of young people into the fold.

With the emergence of the web and e-commerce particularly in Travel, it was good to see innovation coming from younger people with little or no historical connection to the traditional distribution businesses.

However the downside was that the number of females who emerged from this group was few and far between. Yes, there are good examples of women entrepeneurs who have made their mark but I am speaking in generalities.

One of the leading proponents of expanding our diversity in Travel and the web is Siew Hoon. And here she goes again. Next week she will have a conference dedicated to Women in Travel.

WITX Women+in+Travel

Sadly I cant attend but with an all star female cast - this will be a notable event.

Now if she could only do something for old folks maybe she could include the old Professor!

Cheers
 

OTA transactions shoot up in January

After experiencing a constant under-performance for all of 2011 - the OTA market in the USA came alive in January 2012.

As post Christmas blues were banished with excitement for the summer and already seeing tightening of supply, consumers shopped till the dropped ONLINE for airline tickets.

However given that discounts are going to be few and far between for the summer months as the impact of the United merger and the general tightening of supply becomes more apparent, the likelihood is that this is an aberration not a trend.

I could of course be wrong - but I doubt it.

Agree with me?

Only time will tell for sure

Cheers

The End of GDS Isolation. New Era of Openness?

Maybe its just me but I note a distinct change in the GDS rhetoric of late. And this is good for everyone.

The latest moves by the Legacy GDS players follows years of isolation by each of the GDSs who had developed different protocols for each user interaction from the basic IBM TPF/ALC command set. There has been a lot of prior art involved in the GDS interaction commands. I believe there is even a patent or two out there concerning how interaction with the GDS takes place. In 1988 I led a team that developed PARS Manager an application that allowed screen highlighting it was originally developed for any GDS but was implemented for PARS. IBM’s PC Travel was actually a neutral application with different command sets for each airline and GDS. PC Travel was replaced by ACSA (here is a reference to it http://www-01.ibm.com/software/htp/tpf/news/archive/v6n2a08.htm )

So this is not new. What is new is that the GDSs themselves are now promoting their “Open”ness. The GDSs are coming into the market joining LUTE’s CommandPRO (sm) in offering flexible command sets inbound any host direct or indirect based on Farelogix’s Hawkeye Opensource licensed product.

First up is Tripcase from Sabre http://www.tripcase.com/travelsmarter/. This will take in ANY itinerary object in the same way as Tripit and others already do. Sabre is promoting this and has already signed several agents to work with this. At the Travel Technolog Europe/Business Travel joint shows in London HRG revealed that they were a customer of Tripcase. Over on the other side of the hall, Travelport was not to be outdone. It was out there calling a spade a spade. Damn the torpedoes full speed ahead. The Smartpoint App now offers any GDS input talking to the Travelport Hosts. http://www.travelportsmartpointapp.com/ An yes.. they still have 3 of their own that need to be spoken to. These are Worldspan, Apollo (US) and Galileo (Rest of the World).

So far no word from Amadeus but Amadeus One could easily be adapted with a neutral set of command inputs.

Perhaps we should have Kirk and Spock as the spokepersons for these new apps . I think we can have the universal desktop/api - er I mean - communicator!

Let’s hope that this results in a better service for agents and thereby a better service for the consumer at large?

Am I optimistic? I dont think actually that this will happen. It takes a VERY LONG TIME for a Leopard to change his spots.

Cheers

The Professor's 2012 Wish List

OK so you have had my predictions and my Grinch list. I have even done my top 10 secular holiday season songs. 

Now what would I REALLY like to see happen in 2012? I have reached into my file of things that I really want to change. I want to solve world peace but don't have the time or the temerity to deal with this. But I do have a few ideas. So here is my list of changes I want to see implemented in 2012.

1. The Cookie Tax – the ultimate solution to equitable wealth redistribution. Facebook, Google and Apple (as well as just about everyone else) get hit with a Cookie tax. For every cookie loaded the cookie placer has to pay a tax of 5 cents per cookie. The Cookie tax can be avoided if the provider gets a cookie free certificate. This would certify that the company does not use Cookies.
2. Ending Abuse of Surveys. Survey Monkey (and all survey questions) comes with a university or college degree in how to ask questions. No one can use Survey Monkey without a degree in Applied Research or Statistics. Websites are allowed to ask one survey a year. If they want to do more they have to pay their users $10 per survey completed.
3.  A “Do Not Abuse My Data” Registry. This enables you as a consumer to register the company that you do not want them to control or use your data in any way other than for the company itself you signed up with. IE no advertisers can share or use the data. Also the registry will tell you HOW you can see all the data that any company has on you. All breaches are punishable by death or $1 billion per instance whichever is less convenient for the company concerned.
4. A control spam application. This is a freely available app that lets me choose who sends things to my email. Anyone caught abusing this is liable for a life time of being hung upside down from the Space Needle in Seattle.
5. Fixed price mobile phone service. No advertising – a public utility service – that can be provided by any player with no long distance changes, no caps on data and no caps on text or call minutes. All for less than $50 per month. A surcharge of $20 per month for international roaming.
6. Guaranteed QoS service mark that can be appended to any online or offline service. If the QoS metrics are breeched then the provider has to refund any service fees attached to it. For example if you have to pay for a bag and it arrives damaged or late you pay a fine.
7. The Guaranteed Service bundle. Every provider of a service is required to offer a full bundled service offering (as well as the unbundled pricing). For example an airline would be required to offer a bundled fare not to exceed the lowest fare by 50% which allows me to select a seat (other than middle ones please) check a bag and get from A to B without paying anything else.
8. Revised Do Not Call Registry. A true “Do not call”  registry that includes – “thanking me for my service”, political ads, robo calls of any time, charitable causes and annoying neighbours who are bored. As part of this service the true name and contact details for the person calling you will be displayed or available after the call to you.
9. The anti Bovine Law. Regulation that says any airline that exceeds 80% load factor must provide extra flights until the numbers reach 80% again. Same for hotels etc etc.
10.  A new Bill of Rights. A new United Nations citizen charter of rights. This includes banning of all lies by politicians. A pain tax – however much pain is inflicted by the politicians on their electorate they have to pay out of their own pocket this includes banning all influence peddling. Enforcing existing anti-competitive regulations etc etc. … there are many more like this!

With that I wish you an excellent 2012. If you like this spread the word and share with your friends (and enemies alike). Send to your favourite politician. There are a few others I would like to see. Like breaking up of Google but that will keep for another day.

Peace, Love and Understanding

Cheers

The Professor. 

The New Top 10 Secular Season Songs

Since we are not allowed to use the "C" word in our new politically correct world, a whole new crop of seasonal songs have come out. Adapting classic favorites and launching Yuletide cheer for all Geeks and their families everywhere

 

White Facebook – Mark “Bing” Zuckerberg

The perrenial favorite from the movie of the same name

The Google Song – The Acolytes

The lovable rascal animated characters in their season stomping romp.

Rudolph, the Windows 8 Reindeer – Steve Gene Balmer

A newcomer to the chart, Steve's song delights children everywhere

I saw Mommy kissing Larry Ellison – Weird Al Yankovic

While the thought might be repugnant to many - Weird Al makes it feel oh so PC.

The Timeline Song – Time’s Awasting

Another newcomer to the chart, Nat Zuch Cole's old favorite replaces many useless songs.

Googleplex Rock – Sergey and Larry

Those real hipsters Sergey and Larry deck the halls

Snoopy’s iPod (soon to be re-released as Snoopy’s iPhone) - Steve Jobs

Sadly Steve did not live to see his own creation become a timeless season's classic

Here Come’s iPad Claws – Tim Cook and the SFGMC

This not terribly dynamic song just creeps up and grips you

Little Mapper Boy – Visteon vs Garmin

Two warring factions put aside their differences and tell a solid tale in song

Rockin’ Around The HP Tree – Meg “Brenda” Whitman

The base maybe a little shakey but Meg and the boys are putting on a revival.

And to all - a GOOD NIGHT

Happy Holidays!

Thanks to Jay Allbritton for his image.

The Professor's Top 3 Posts of 2011... and a Thank you

2011 was a really interesting year.During the time we have had the Arab Spring. We have had a host of difficulties and triumphs personal and public.

But for the Professor's blog which were the top stories of 2011?

While I try to stick close to my roots on this one - I tend to comment on Travel in general, Airlines, Distribution matters and Customer service (or rather frequently lack thereof).

So for those of you who are interested here are the top 3 posts of 2011.

By far the most popular is the impact of IATA Resolution 302. 

Number 2 was a rather esoteric piece on aircraft boarding.

Number 3 was my nostalgic piece on Dr Who, and the passing of the actress who played Sarah.

Thank you readers... you are a weird lot but I am really grateful that you do actually read my work. I commit to try and do better in 2012. My day job keeps getting in the way but well I will endeavor to do better. I would like to thank all those who have contributed ideas for the Blog. Those who have given me fodder for my writing - thanks to you too.

And in the best tradition may I wish all the ABSOLUTE BEST to each and everyone of you all this holiday season. I hope that you are close to your loved ones. If not then I hope that you will be reunited soon. May Peace and Love reign over all of us.

Cheers

Delta and Air France joint partners yes in form, integrated in service no.

Not a pretty sight.

Many of the airline JVs are touting their seamless service. Sadly this is not the case. It is important to consider that as a user the expressions and impressions you use and leave behind permeate. By now we should be long past trying to hoodwink your customers. Airlines however have yet to learn this lesson. Some have – others keep stubbing their toes. Qantas and its various unsuccessful attempts at Social Media prowess would seem to be a case in point. Airlines need to step up their game across the board.

And this is where I want to pick on someone who should be my favorite airlines. I am elite on many airlines. With Delta for the first time I have reached Diamond status. Delta is currently running lots of ads extolling the virtues of people. Delta people.

Delta people are good. Sure not everyone can be perfect all the time. But they try pretty darn hard. But Delta people are the only ones servicing Delta customers.

Let me describe an issue which illustrates that this is more of a structural problem. While on a long distance international business trip.  I received a phone call to say that my waitlist on a DL flight had cleared I was told to call my “local” DL res office. When I called DL Reservations in UK it was answered by a rather obnoxious Air France representative. (BTW this is the usual way AF deals with DL pax. They are generally arrogant and rude even when dealing with AF passengers. I really don’t know where they get them from but AF really does seem to go out of their way to hire people who can best Ryanair for customer service skills). She insisted that there was no upgrade authorized in the reservation, therefore I must be lying. However gritting her teeth she did divulge that I was still listed as waitlisted. I told her that my DL account showed that the WL had cleared.  

The issue is three fold. Firstly DL should see that I am travelling and should use email as a way to communicate. Then there is no ambiguity. Secondly AF does not have access to the full system. As there are no longer any DL full service personnel answering the phones this represents a huge problem. Particularly for frequent travellers such as myself. Thirdly, the AF agent (a much nicer person!) at the airport was unable to get to Skymiles to confirm the information necessary (certificate number). If my flight had departed before say 0930 that would have meant the agent did not have access to the information nor could they obtain it. Recommendation is that there should be an automatic roll over back to Atlanta Skymiles desk when the local desk is not occupied.

A general observation. The so called seamless service of DL/AF/KL is flawed in many ways. A process team should be looking carefully at the whole manner of integration. As I noted above Delta's advertising talks about "Delta People". I am sure that Delta people would have handled it. However Air France people attempting to behave like Delta people are unsatisfactory. So much for the fiction of seamless. And just in case the other airlines want to have a quiet snigger about this. DL’s experience is not unique. The other global alliances and the inner JVs are just as bad. In some cases WAY worse.

C’mon guys. You need to put some meat behind that service. Otherwise then regulators should be looking hard at penalties for failure to deliver on your promises to them when these programs – mergers in all but name – were approved.

Cheers

The Professor’s Grinch List for Travel and Technology 2011

While everyone is doing nice best of and worst of lists, I thought I would do my Grinch list. These are companies or classes of company who have managed to make Travel and Technology as bad as it is. Yes I know it’s a long list there were a lot of special mentions of players who should be on the list but aren’t – but have a read. Remember this is tongue in cheek! (well partially anyway).

1.  (Joint) Travel Agents and Airlines for having no cojones to complain and fight back when presented with outrageous GDS contracts (see #8). Note this is not addressed to every single airline nor agency but the majority of these classes who have already either accepted or are guilty of the sin of rolling over their contracts and not reading the small print – true there is a lot of it. You know who you are, shame on you!
2. Airlines (and other product sellers) – for not openly compensating intermediaries for the work that they do. Oh yes and airlines for calling their alliances SEAMLESS service. Stop telling porky pies
3. Apple – For wasting my time and also for making products that only work their way. (They get a special dispensation for making very cool products). For allowing a whole raft of bad Apps to appear and not worry that they either don’t work or are actually bad for the consume
4. Facebook – for wasting time and creating an addictive product . OK but their real sin is in destroying several good words in the language. These include Friend, Like etc. Also for turning nouns into verbs. For destroying the ancient art of Biography,  Teacher is not amused.
5. (Joint) Oracle and Microsoft - For screwing up the  JAVA product,  not fixing the bugs in the latest version that doesn’t work with Windows. And they don’t know why (I do – you are too lazy to fix it). I could go on about Larry Ellison but I am keeping this to companies.
6. DiscoveryMedia (and all the silly people who are in the sordid American Muslim affair) The whole issue is an insult to decency and common sense. There is guaranteed freedom of worship in the USA. This whole episode is an affront to everyone not least of which are Muslims. No need to sensationalize it. What next American Mormons? American Unitarians? American Nuwaubians?
7. Travelport (in particular) - For their Agility Program – Way to go boys for screwing the travel agents especially the little ones. Let’s see you dig yourself out of this hole! I really pity the spin meisters at Travelport who have to justify this.
8. GDSs (in general) – Oh boy where do I start. Let me just pick on a few items. 
1.  For subscriber contracts which tie agencies to inefficient and restrictive agreements that prevents competition
2. For Airline FCA contracts ditto reason as 8.1
3. For failing to create an open model that allows ALL airlines to participate fairly. Thus in putting out an incomplete product they have made it harder for the consumer to shop. On the other hand the meta search companies love GDSs for creating their niche.
4.  Generally putting out bad products and telling the world how innovative they are. ‘Nuff said
5. For taking airlines money and putting it into the market and forgetting that this does create a skewed economic model.
6. And a special “Thank You” for making travel agents drug addicts who now can’t live without your incentive fee revenue.
9.  Lawyers (my perennial favorite) – For causing so much trouble. This year special mention to the 100 lawyers involved in the Sabre side vs AA. For 2012 I am keeping an eye on the lawyer teams in patent trolls who are going to make innovation WAY harder. And yes this is Travel and Technology I am discussing. 
10.  And this year’s winner the 2011 Grinch of Travel - Google – For so many things. For perpetuating the myth that they do no evil. I love their latest charm offensive.  For putting out products and calling them beta. For telling everyone that Google Flight Search is comprehensive. For wasting my time. For tracking my every move. For telling me that they have decided what I need to see (can you say censorship?). For Schemer (no comment but don’t be sucked in), for inaccuracy and failing to have a high enough quality standard and then expecting me and all the other consumers to fix their crap for them.

Bah Humbug! Ebenezer is really happy and thanks you.