Emirates accuses Transport Canada

In July 2009 the Toronto Star carried a report about the views Transport Canada has about Emirates Airline and the Emirates response which states that the department is making "slanderous" allegations. This story is being discussed in an aviation forum on Airliners.net. The Financial Post reported Emirates CEO Tim Clark as saying the the Canadian government's approach was "ludicrous" and "protectionism of the worst kind." The Star carried an earlier report about lobbying by Emirates on 28 February 2009.

My read of the situation is that my Canadian counterparts are grappling with one of the more fundamental aeropolitical dilemmas of the last decade - how should governments (it is governments that exchange the air rights on a reciprocal basis) respond the spectacular rise of airlines from the Gulf region? They are not alone.

The home countries of the Gulf carriers are putting together an impressive number of air services arrangements that the carriers can utilise, taking advantage of their geographic location between Europe, Asia and Africa, to exploit the sixth freedom opportunities that as a consequence become available.

Many of these Gulf carriers seem intent on gaining global market share at the expense of profitability, although financial information is simply not disclosed by airlines such as Qatar Airways and Etihad. Not having to pay tax and enjoying some of the cheapest landing fees in the world at their home airports no doubt helps, as does the fact that reciprocal rights for other airlines to serve the Gulf region are often of limited value.

Slam on Singapore Airlines Crew

Hi all,

I just have to confess something, otherwise I might do something bad to anyone that comes my way. Not so long ago I went on trip to JNB (Johannesburg - for the unfamiliar ones). Heavy load, difficult pax, long block time, quite risky destination (much like LOS - not Los Angeles, but Lagos, Nigeria). I held myself together thinking constantly of a nice dry glass of south african wine, one of those from the southern valleys - drooling -  The flight went better than I expected to go, the crew kept on joking around and having fun so time just flew faster than us. We finally parked the aircraft after spending another precious 45' taxiing - I was still drooling for my fav wine- disarmed doors, hide all our cabin trolleys, coz in Jo'burg theft is at it's highest peak, disembarked every living soul and headed to our "5*" luxury hotel somewhere far, far away from downtown, where safety seems comprehensive compared to prev. mentioned. We've all got our "chambres" following the strict chain of command, unlike Europe, where LADIES GO FIRST!!! As I mentioned, putting aside the lack of common sense and international social values, my crew was GREAT! Super fellas to hang with, funny, open minded and wine lovers - my favorite characteristic- .

I don't want to seem like a heavy drinker, but I told you, I was going thru a desire kinda' feeling for that hrrrrrr wine.

So we decided to meet in the hotel provided Crew Lounge, a nice suite, designed to accommodate even the grumpiest of any species. All good and done! Before heading to the suite we all went to Nelson Mandela Square supermarket, where everyone could find any kind of liquors, wines, brandies to satisfy their needs. I was truly impressed by the huge selection on the Wines department and I chose not less than 5 bottles, more than enough for the 3 days to spend there. After getting the drinks, the nuts and the snacks, we found ourselves rushing to the spacious accommodating suite, where by the way, the couch was hugging you literary!

When we entered the Lounge, we were surprised (they were a bit rejective, although on the entrance door was clearly written "Exclusive for "my airline") to find another set of crew lazing around and after a short conversation we learned that they're SIA F/A. Nothing wrong with that! A bit wrong was that they were smoking a "weedy smelling" kind of cigarettes in a designated NO SMOKING area. We passed over that issue as well, and we quietly and gently placed our drinks in the chiller and then passed in the other room (the lounge was a three rooms suite). After spending quality time with my friends I went to get a second bottle of wine from the pantry and SHOCK!!!!! They (SIA Elite) were comfortably serving our drinks (one of them being a 21 years aged single malt Glenfiddich Scotch - which in South Africa costs a bit of a fortune). I stood there still stunned, the previous bottle that I've served having no visible effect on my behavior. I couldn't believe my eyes!!! The rage was growing into me like a freaking volcano! It wasn't about the drinks! It wasn't about the money! It wasn't even the name: Glenfiddich! It was much more than that! It was the mannerism! The sneaky way they did it! I swear that should they asked us, we'd have had nothing against sharing! The things that followed don't worth posting, but since that day I stopped looking up to THEM....:(  It all ended up in disappointment..

I joined the rest of the crew after a few minutes of hard talk and the wine testing kept going on for hours! Nothing could spoil the mood of a great group! It's like flying, you make the flight or you break the flight!

What do you guys think? Post a comment to share your opinions.

Air India to table financial turnaround plan today

Cash-strapped Air India is likely to table a detailed financial turnaround plan at a meeting of the high-level Committee of Secretaries on Saturday, showing proposals to cut costs and enhance revenue generation over the next five years.

The plan, vetted by the Finance and Civil Aviation Ministries, is likely to include proposals relating to the nature of financial assistance it wants from the government, including equity infusion and soft loan.

While the government may make only a partial contribution as equity infusion to the airline, a major part of resource mobilisation is likely to be through options like partial divestment of government equity, issuance of initial public offer or infrastructure bonds, informed sources said.

Officials of the Finance and Civil Aviation Ministries and Air India have held series of discussion over the past few weeks to finalise these proposals, many of which had come up for discussion last month at the first meeting of the CoS, headed by Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekar.

The government had then asked the Petroleum Ministry to extend the credit limit on the purchase of jet fuel by Air India for at least three more months.

Once finalised, the proposals would be sent to the Union Cabinet for its approval, the sources said, adding that the much-needed funding for Air India would be released by the government only after the Cabinet nod.

The airline is suffering from a loss of about Rs 5,000 crore and has a debt of Rs 16,000 crore. It is negotiating with banks and financial institutions to turn its high-cost debt of Rs 10,000-11,000 crore into low-cost.

The CoS, which comprises Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister T K A Nair, Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla and Civil Aviation Secretary M Madhavan Nambiar, has made it clear that any assistance from the government would have to be matched by an "aggressive" cost reduction and a better revenue management by Air India's parent company NACIL.

In its bid to cut costs, the national carrier has been mulling cancellation of delivery of six Boeing 777s long-haul aircraft meant for delivery between 2010 and 2012.

The fleet renewal plan, including leased aircraft, is being reviewed by the carrier. As of now, it has 46 aircraft on lease including 17 on sale-and-lease back arrangement.

Another significant measure aimed at cutting costs and increasing revenue is the proposal to allow Air India Express, the low-cost entity, to launch domestic operations from next month by deploying 10 additional all-economy aircraft.

The national carrier was estimating an earning of Rs 180-200 crore through low-cost operations on the domestic sector and planning to gradually shift 70-75 per cent of its existing domestic flights to Air India Express.

A separate cost management and audit team has been set up to look at financial restructuring plan, including debt servicing, risk management and hedging on ATF.