2014 ....what a year for Malaysia's air sector

Two air disasters was bad enough for the Malaysian's airline industry, but a third has sent shivers down the spine for some.

MAS lost MH370 on March 8 when it disappeared enroute Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, while MH17 which was on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over Ukraine on July 17. A total of 537 lives were lost in both the incidents. 

After the two incidents, MAS has since been taken private and will be restructured. The idea is to reset its business model and cost structures in order to be truly sustainable. There has been several past restructurings but failed to ensure sustainable profitably. That is why the government wants the job re-done.

The airline will welcome a new CEO in Christoph Mueller this month and hopefully he will do the magic that all stakeholders are counting on. 

And just two weeks before we say goodbye to 2014, AirAsia's Indonesia unit, Indonesia AirAsia (majority owned by Indonesian interests) flight QZ8501 carrying 162 passengers plunged into Java Sea less than an hour after leaving Surabaya for Singapore on Dec 28. The search for bodies continue and my heart goes to the families who lost their loved ones.

There has been many air disasters over the past decade, but never has an airline (MAS) suffered two major ones in a year, and in a span of four months. It is truly unprecedented. AirAsia also has a accident free record until  It is unfortunate that both the biggest airlines in Malaysia in size and capacity, were involved in the air tragedies in 2014. 

BUT they are certainly very safe airlines to fly with.

Lets hope for a better flying experience in 2015!

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Some of 2014's aviation disasters ...(first appeared in Malay Mail on Dec 29, 2014)

Feb 16 — Nepal Airlines Flight 183 crashes near Khidim, Nepal, killing all 18 people on board

March 8 — Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board, disappears from radar over the Gulf of Thailand. The aircraft has yet to be found
July 17 — Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur is shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board. It is the deadliest civilian airliner shooting incident
July 23 — TransAsia Airways Flight 222 from Kaohsiung to Penghu, Taiwan, crashes, killing 48 of the 58 people on board
July 24 — Air Algerie Flight 5017, en route from Burkina Faso to Algiers, crashes in the northern Mali desert after disappearing from radar approximately 50 minutes after takeoff. All 112 passengers and six crew members on board are killed
Aug 10 — Sépahan Airlines Flight 5915 crashes shortly after takeoff from Mehrabad International Airport, Iran, killing 39 of the 48 people on board
Dec 28 — AirAsia Indonesia Flight 8501, an Airbus A320 en route from Surabaya to Singapore with 155 passengers and seven crew on board, loses contact over the Java Sea 
 

Pictures and terrible tweets in the airline world

Skimpy pics and terrible tweets: Biggest airline fails of 2014

By Sid Lipsey

Published December 31, 2014

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  Vietjet Air

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Let’s face it: We air passengers weren’t at our best in 2014. We got into fights over reclining seats. In retrospect, we did kinda overreact to Ebola. And once again our hopes that this would be the year that people finally realized it’s not cool to take your shoes off on an airplane were dashed.

And yet, airlines managed to be even worse than their passengers, inventing new and innovative ways to demonstrate apathy and incompetence. Sure, some of big flops this year weren’t entirely the fault of the airlines. Still, they put airlines in the headlines for all the wrong reasons — and made us shake our heads and say, “This crap doesn’t happen on trains.”

1. VietJet’s sexy photo shoot

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  Vietjet Air
  It was bad enough that VietJet did a photo shoot that revived that unfortunate sexy-flight-attendant trope, which we thought had gone out with Pan Am. What really got us was that once the airline started getting called out for its sexist campaign, it tried to claim that the photos were just a “trial shoot” for a proposed campaign — an undress rehearsal? — that, oh my gosh, one of their models accidentally posted on her popular Facebook page.
  Sorry, we didn’t buy your story, VietJet. Guess years of reading airlines’ fictional departure/arrival times have made us skeptical.

2. Virgin Australia bathroom leak

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  A Virgin Australia flight from Los Angeles to Sydney had to turn around after liquid spilled from the bathroom into the aisle. Despite claims from the passengers that the toilets had backed up and there was human waste streaming through the aisles, Virgin had to clarify that it was the sink that was leaking and that there was no human waste in the leak. When you have to issue a statement clarifying that a smelly onboard spill on your plane did not contain feces, you’ve had a fail.

3. The puke plane

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  Also from the smelly-flight file, an Israel-to-Philadelphia US Airways flight had to make an emergency landing after a puking epidemic broke out. Apparently a strange odor on the plane caused more than a dozen passengers and crew members to begin vomiting. Something similar happened in the 1980s comedy Airplane, except this wasn’t funny. And this flight didn’t serve fish.

4. United Airlines’ lame apology

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  You know how “Sorry if I offended you” is a lame apology? This is even lamer. United Airlines sent a laughably impersonal form letter to a Reddit user named “lyndy.” It was addressed to “Mrs. ——” and included such sentences as “Your comments regarding (SPECIFIC EVENT) will be used for coaching and training our employees” and ”(CUSTOMER NAME), I ask that you allow us another opportunity to serve you.” The only possible response: “Dear (LAME AIRLINE): Please go (ANATOMICALLY IMPOSSIBLE PHYSICAL ACT) yourself.”

5. Malaysia Airlines’ bad timing

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  Malaysia Airlines
  No airline had a worse year than Malaysia Airlines. One of its planes, Flight 370, vanished with 239 people on board in March. And another of its planes, Flight 17, was shot down in Ukraine with 298 on board. With the circumstances behind both tragedies still somewhat mysterious, it probably was not the best time for not one but two Malaysia Airlines faux pas: having a “bucket list” contest asking passengers to come up with places they want to go before they die, and sending out a tweet for another promotion that read, “Want to go somewhere but don’t know where?” This was a pair of devastating unforced errors that this airline did not need.

6. Southwest tweet

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  Someone needs to tell Southwest Airlines that sticks and stones may break your bones but tweets will never hurt you — unless you overreact to them. The airline was savagely criticized this summer after its gate agents in Denver pulled a passenger and his kids off a flight. The reason for that draconian action: The passenger, Duff Watson, had posted a complaint about a gate agent on Twitter. Watson said he hadn’t been allowed to reboard until he deleted the tweet. He said that Southwest later apologized and offered him flight vouchers, but that failed to fix the damage. Southwest may have a reputation for low fares, but the incident also gave them a rep for having a thin skin.

7. Delta loses dog

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  A heartbreaking fail on the part of Delta Airlines. Passenger Frank Ramano says Delta lost his dog. The 6-year-old pit rescue, Ty, apparently had chewed through his crate and escaped. Ramano very publicly shared his story of losing his best friend and the runaround he says he got from the airline, causing countless dog lovers to join him in sympathy — and in anger at Delta.

8. Lost grandma

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  This story of a lost loved one has a much happier ending. A sick 85-year-old grandmother attempting to fly from Newark to Denver on Southwest Airlines missed her flight, and people feared she was lost. Turns out she wasn’t lost at all; a skycap had wheeled her to the gate and didn’t tell the gate agents she was there. This was hardly Southwest’s fault; the skycap worked for the airport, not the airline, and it was Southwest employees who fixed the situation. Still, “Airline Loses Sick Grandma” is not a headline you want.

9. Lufthansa strikes

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  AP Photo
  Lufthansa embarked on a series of cost-cutting measures to save money. But the resulting walkouts by its pilots this year have cost the airline a pretty penny — an estimated $250 million, to be exact. The walkouts, staged by pilots angered by the airline’s proposed changes to retirement benefits, forced the cancellations of hundreds of flights and disrupted the travel plans of tens of thousands of people worldwide.

10. Korean Air nutroversy

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  AP Photo
  This end-of-year story is tops because it has all the classic elements of a farcical airline flop: an innocuous incident (the daughter of Korean Air’s chairman is served macadamia nuts improperly on a flight out of JFK); a ridiculous overreaction (the daughter, who’s also an exec at the airline, angrily orders the plane to return to the gate to kick off the offending flight attendant); a public apology (by not only the airline exec but her father too) followed by an international nut storm (the exec faces a criminal investigation, the entire airline faces fines and suspension, and South Korea’s family-owned conglomerates face public backlash); complete with a delicious cherry-on-top epilogue (South Korea’s macadamia nut sales are exploding). Nicely — or should we say, badly — played, Korean Air.
• (first appeared in Fox News on Dec 31, 2014)

Qatar Airways flies from the new Hamad International Airport in Doha

 

Here's the release from the Qatar:

03 June 2014, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Qatar Airways has officially commenced its flight operations from Hamad International Airport as of 27 May at 09:00 Doha time. This historic move has enabled Qatar Airways’ passengers to enjoy a comprehensive Qatar Airways’ five-star experience both in the air and on the ground at the world’s newest international gateway.

The move means that as 27 May, all commercial passenger airlines operating into Qatar are now arriving and departing from Hamad International Airport.

“Europe, the Middle East and the Americas are among the most popular destinations for Malaysians traveling on Qatar Airways. Now all Malaysians connecting to these, and many more destinations, through our hub in Qatar will enjoy the state-of-the-art Hamad International Airport that matches our inflight service”, said Emmanuel Oswald, Country Manager, Malaysia and Brunei, Qatar Airways.

Hamad International Airport has the capacity to handle 8,700 customers per hour, providing a seamless, hassle-free experience for passengers, from check-in to passport control and boarding. Qatar Airways passengers will enjoy the comfort and functional design of HIA, including the outstanding choices in dining and shopping outlets.

Airline Fare Surcharges - the misrepresentation

 Harvard Researchers: Airlines Misrepresenting Fare Surcharges as 'Taxes'

Have you ever wondered why the taxes on airline tickets are so high that the taxes far exceed the advertised fare? According to HBS professor Ben Edelman and Harvard student Xiaoxiao Wu, it’s because sometimes the “taxes” aren’t actually taxes. In a new post on Edelman’s blog, the researchers chastise several airlines for their ticket pricing practices:

In one round trip New York-Paris ticket we quoted in January 2012, the fare was listed as $230 while “tax” was listed as $598.14 — fully 72% of the listed total. If government taxes were actually as large as Air France claims, many passengers might want to complain to responsible politicians and regulators. And passengers might have a different view of cramped seating, unpalatable food, or other service shortfalls on a $230 ticket versus a $828.14 ticket. But in fact, specifically contrary to Air France’s characterization of $598.14 as “tax,” the majority of the “tax” was not charged by any government, airport, or similar authority, and rather was retained by Air France to defray its ordinary operating expenses.

The researchers go on to cite several airlines for violating Department of Transportation rules regarding ticket price advertising, including Air France ( “False characterization of ‘tax’ on web site prior to purchase”), American Airlines (“False listing of ‘tax’ on web site prior to purchase), and British Airways (“Fuel surcharge of an amount impermissible under DOT rules”).  They include both screenshots of fare advertisements on the Web and transcripts of phone calls with ticket agents.
Edelman has filed multiple complaints with the Department of Transportation regarding the pricing practices of American Airlines, British Airways, and Cathy Pacific.  To read the complaints in full, see “Misrepresentation of Fare Surcharges in Airline Price Advertising.” 

(This articles appeared in Forbes on February 7, 2013)

The fight for a slice of Indonesia's air passenger market

Boom or bust: Competition heats up for Indonesia's budget airlines

 

SINGAPORE/JAKARTA | Wed Feb 6, 2013 8:41pm EST

(Reuters) - Indonesia's economic boom should be a bonanza for airlines clamoring for a slice of the world's fourth-most populous country. But the bankruptcy of its No. 4 airline, Batavia Air, shows how smaller operators are finding it hard to survive.
 Batavia became the second budget carrier to run into debt problems in Indonesia in the past two years - a victim of the extremely tight operating margins that exist in what is a crowded market.And more are likely to go bust.
Transportation ministry data shows there are 22 active local commercial airlines, not including cargo and charter airlines.
In one of the world's fastest growing but most competitive aviation markets, Lion Air, Malaysia's AirAsia Bhd, flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia, and PT Mandala Airlines, part-owned by Tiger Airways Ltd, are all expanding capacity.
But smaller operators such as 11-year-old, loss-making Batavia, a nascent international carrier that was declared bankrupt by a court last week after struggling to repay its debts, are feeling the strain.
 The low-cost carriers are being forced into selling tickets at a price far below break-even.
"Competition has intensified and the weak will be weeded out," said Shukor Yusof, Singapore-based aviation analyst at Standard & Poor's Capital IQ division. "Smaller players will find it increasingly tough to stay solvent."
Yet, Indonesia presents clear opportunities: by 2030, a further 90 million people will have entered its consumer class, more than any other country except China and India, according to research by consultants McKinsey & Co.
Lion Air controls a little less than half of the market, followed by Garuda with about a quarter, Sriwijaya Air with nearly 12 percent and Merpati Nusantara 3 percent.
However, smaller airlines lack the huge cash flow required to sustain loss-making fares, stump up money to acquire coveted landing slots and fund new aircraft.
"The market is very fragmented and highly competitive in Indonesia, so you can also say that if there is one less carrier, that is actually healthy for the industry," said Brendan Sobie, the Singapore-based chief analyst at the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, an industry consultancy.
"Just because one of the smaller airlines goes bankrupt, it doesn't mean that there's not going to be growth."

COMPETITION IS JUST TOO TOUGH

Both Lion Air and AirAsia have placed record plane orders worth billions of dollars with Boeing Co and Airbus EADS.PA over the last two years.
On the surface, Batavia was full of promise, operating 34 planes in a country with a booming economy and 240 million people spread over 17,000 islands. In July, Southeast Asia's top budget carrier, AirAsia, announced plans to buy Batavia for $80 million.
But by October, AirAsia pulled out, citing risks to the acquisition.
What went wrong?
"The main problem for us is that the competition is too tough," said Sukirno Sukarna, the former commercial director at Batavia. "Our fleets were old, so we can't really sell our tickets at the top-end price limit set by the government while other airlines have newer planes and set the higher prices."
Its books revealed an airline under enormous stress. Although its load factor, the proportion of seats occupied by paying passengers, was between 70 and 80 percent, near the industry average, it was unable to cover costs and sold tickets at prices far below break-even, Sukarna said.
On its busy three-hour route from Jakarta to Ambon in eastern Indonesia, Batavia needed to sell tickets for at least 1.5 million rupiah ($155) each to turn a profit. But facing cut-throat rivals, tickets sold for under 1 million rupiah ($100).
Losses piled up, reaching 310 billion rupiah ($32 million) on revenue of 4.2 trillion rupiah ($434 million) last year, Sukarna added. Total debts swelled to 1.2 trillion rupiah ($124 million), according to a bankruptcy lawyer who handled its assets and declined to be identified by name.
"This (Batavia's bankruptcy) indicates how tough the market is now, but the growth is there," Arif Wibowo, chief executive of Garuda's low-cost carrier Citilink said on the sidelines of an industry event in Singapore. "The growth is always followed by fierce competition."
Batavia, which captured 11 percent of Indonesia's total market in 2011, mainly served local routes with some international destinations including Guangzhou in China and Singapore.
Mandala suspended flights in early 2011 as it struggled with debt. It was taken over by private equity firm Saratoga Capital and Tiger Airways and is flying again.
"This current environment basically allows bigger airlines to get bigger, while smaller airlines will go bust," said Toto Nursatyo, chief commercial officer at Sriwijaya Air. "Those who have bigger capital and bigger market share will thrive while those who just come in and try their luck will struggle."

(The article first appeared in Reuters on February 6, 2013)

 

IndiGo - fastest expanding airline in the world

IndiGo among the fastest expanding airlines globally

A list of top-50 airlines by CAPA has Jet Airways down by 7 spots

Jet Airways has slipped seven places to the 46th rank, while IndiGo has emerged as one of the fastest growing airlines in the list of biggest airlines of 2012 compiled by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation ( Capa). The report, released yesterday, determines the top-50 airlines based on deployed capacity.
The Naresh Goyal-led Jet Airways has been reducing capacity on both domestic and international sectors. It pulled out of two long-haul sectors, Johannesburg and New York, to cut losses. The airline has not launched any new international routes in the past few months and is yet to take a call on starting flights to Munich. Its plans to start flights to Manila, too, did not take wings.

 To read more:
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/indigo-amongfastest-expanding-airlines-globally/497496/

(first published in Business Standard on January 2, 2013)

Kingfisher - no cause for concern?

India's Kingfisher Airlines loses licence to fly

India's troubled Kingfisher Airlines has lost its permit to fly after a deadline to renew its suspended licence expired, the national aviation regulator said on Tuesday. The news is a fresh blow for the debt-laden carrier whose operations have been grounded since October after employees went on strike over unpaid wages.
"Kingfisher's flying permit has lapsed," Directorate-General of Civil Aviation chief Arun Mishra said.
"They failed to provide additional details on the funding of operations," Mishra added, referring to Kingfisher's revival plan submitted to the DGCA last month.

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But the airline said there is no "cause for concern" as the rules allow for the renewal of a permit within two years of expiry.
"Kingfisher is confident of securing approval from the regulator on the restart plan, licence approval and reinstatement of its operating permit," its spokesman Prakash Mirpuri said in a statement late Monday.

To read more: 

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/indias-kingfisher-airlines-loses-licence-to-fly-20130102-2c4ua.html#ixzz2Gmmb8cdn

(first published in The Sydney Morning Hearald on January 2, 2013)