Thread: Airline News

^
At a guess, is it because fewer will travel via Japan so the other airlines are picking up the extra business creating higher fares through greater demand? This doesn't include fuel surchages or tax by the way.

Kung fu training for flight attendants to deal with unruly passengers
April 18, 2011 - 10:13AM

A Hong Kong airline is making all its cabin crew take kung fu lessons to help them to deal with drunk and unruly passengers.

Hong Kong Airlines said all staff had been invited to undergo training in wing chun - a form of kung fu used in close-range combat - but it was only compulsory for cabin crew, the Sunday Morning Post reported.

The airline had around three incidents involving disruptive passengers every week, said Eva Chan, the carrier's deputy general manager of corporate communication.

Two weeks ago a crew member had to put her martial arts training into practice on a flight from Beijing to Hong Kong.

"One of the passengers was sick but he was probably drunk and felt unwell. The crew member attended to him and she realised her fitness was helping her, especially because the guy was quite heavy," Chan told the newspaper.

"Normally, a female cabin crew can't handle a fat guy, especially if he's drunk, but because of the training, she can handle it quite easily."

New recruit Lumpy Tang, 22, said she never imagined kung fu would be part of the job.

"We were surprised in the beginning, but after a few lessons we really liked wing chun," Tang told the Post.

"You cannot predict what will happen on the plane, so wing chun is good because it's so fast," she said.

"I feel safer because I can defend myself and I'm really happy to be one of the first cabin crew to learn wing chun in the world."

Wing chun instructor Katherine Cheung said the martial art was ideal for airline crews.

"Wing chun can be used in small, confined spaces so it's suited for an airplane," Cheung said. "It's easy to learn but difficult to master."

AFP

Originally Posted by Tom Sawyer

Originally Posted by aging one

Sure glad I got my kids tickets 4 months ago. BKK/SFO for under 40,000 even with the unaccompanied minor charges.

You sure are. Look at his Screen Shot from Cathay. Cheapest ticket return economy is over 110,000 THB for mid May.



st round-trip fares from Bangkok to San Francisc

Change Returning Fri 27 May Returning Sat 28 May Returning Sun 29 May Returning Mon 30 May Returning Tue 31 May Returning Wed 01 Jun Returning Thu 02 Jun Departing Fri 13 May THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 Departing Sat 14 May THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 Departing Sun 15 May THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 Departing Mon 16 May THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 Departing Tue 17 May THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 Departing Wed 18 May THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 Departing Thu 19 May THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00 THB110,130.00
Legend: Lowest prices available


Note: Price displayed is for 1 adult only and excludes charges/taxes. Total price for all passengers will be displayed on the Fare Details page.

Prices shown on the calendar above are for reference only. The actual available fare will be confirmed on the next page.

China Eastern is still about 35000 baht for a round/return ticket to LAX or SFO. Even though I've read many bad comments about them, I flew them to the USA in October and was quite impressed. Not as good as Eva or JAL, but better than any western carrier.

Where is their connection? Was it economy or business class you were in?

Originally Posted by Tom Sawyer

Where is their connection? Was it economy or business class you were in?

Orbitz, and I was looking at prices for October 2011. Economy class, I cannot justify the extra expense just to be more comfortable on a flight, as tempting as it is.

Had to change planes in Shanghai.

who that is a shocker!! Didnt even know you could fly China Eastern, thanks for the tip

Anyone else having trouble accessing PPRune for the last couple of days?

Thai Airways cleared to pursue $15 billion fleet renewal plan
Geoffrey Thomas
April 25, 2011


Computer-generated drawing of a 777-300ER in Thai Airways’ livery.
Photo: Courtesy, Boeing.

The Thai government gave Thai Airways the right to decide how it acquires aircraft, clearing the way for the carrier to move forward with a plan to buy or lease up to 75 aircraft over a 12-year period. Thai previously could only acquire aircraft under the direction of Thailand's Transport Ministry, which had pushed for all new acquisitions to be purchases rather than leases. Thai Airways President Piyasvasti Amranand believes the carrier should acquire aircraft through a mix of purchases and leases.

According to the Bangkok Post, the government's decision allows Thai to move forward with a plan to purchase or lease up to 75 aircraft over a 12-year period under a THB457.12 billion ($15.3 billion) budget. Piyasvasti said the airline will acquire new aircraft through a variety of means depending on its cash flow and debt.

The Bangkok Post reported that the aircraft will be acquired in two batches: 37 between now and 2017 and 38 from 2018-2022.

In a related development, the Thai board endorsed the leasing of two Boeing 777-300ERs from India's Jet Airways for two years with deliveries scheduled in October and November. The airline said it will also convert two 747-400s to freighters.

atwonline.com

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Anyone else having trouble accessing PPRune for the last couple of days?

Not recently, occasionally if you stay logged on for a time, you do get a message "database error" when you try to refresh.

Cheers, TP

Airline grounds flyer with valid documents
Bipin Kumar Singh
2011-04-25

Air Asia terms visa invalid, though it has been approved by Thai Embassy, ruins Delhi family's holiday plan

An airlines company debarred a passenger with valid documents from boarding a Bangkok-bound flight as the carrier deemed that her passport was "invalid". Ratula Halder, daughter of senior banking official Suvashis Halder from Delhi, was issued a visa on April 5, six months and five days before her passport expires on October 10. But Air Asia refused to give her a boarding pass, counting six-month validity of her passport -- a must for procuring visa -- from the date of journey instead of the issuance of visa.


Messy affair: A scanned copy of the passport of Ratula Halder, who
was debarred from boarding an Air Asia flight (below), as the carrier
thought her papers were not valid

The Thai visa on her passport (no.F9198970) clearly reads that her visa is issued on April 5 and she can enter Thailand before July 4, 2011. According to experts, issuance and refusal of visa is the jurisdiction of the country concerned and its embassy, an airlines has no authority to debar people from boarding a flight on the ground of visa issues. Even the embassy officials were taken aback by this move of Air Asia. Ratula was stopped from boarding the Air Asia Delhi-Bangkok flight (FD3797) on April 13, ruining her family's holiday plans in Thailand.

"How can the airline refuse to give boarding pass on the ground of visa issues?" said a furious Haldar. "Prior to making bookings, I knew that my daughter's passport was expiring on October 10. I approached the visa issuing authority of Thai Embassy in New Delhi -- VFS Global -- which promptly reverted in writing that the 6-month validity applies from the date of application of the visa and requested us to take the visa by April 5-6.

Accordingly, I received my visa on April 5." So, how is the airline at fault? Two letters (copy with MiD DAY) mailed to Halder by VFS Global, the visa issuing authority of Thai Embassy in New Delhi, confirm the visa to be legal and blame the airline for the mess.

First letter (dated April 18) stated, "According to The Royal Thai Embassy guidelines, a passport should be valid for six months at the date of its submission at VFS. Further I would like to inform you that we have forwarded your email to The Royal Thai Embassy and discussed this matter with them as well. We are just waiting for a reply from The Royal Thai Embassy; as soon as we receive any update from them, we will let you know."

Second letter (dated April 20) stated, "The Royal Thai Embassy and VFS have nothing to do with this; since the Thai Embassy had already verified that your daughter's documents were valid to travel to Thailand and by issuance of visa it shows that Embassy had approved her travel. "The airlines must be responsible for this as it's only their discretion to stop her from boarding the airplane without any clear reason. As suggested by The Royal Thai Embassy, you should file a complaint directly to the airline and CC that letter to the Embassy and VFS, too."

Will move the court

"The incident has not only robbed me of a long cherished family holiday, but also significant financial losses. It also has traumatized my family by canceling a valid trip. Till date, I have not got any confirmation from the airline. I have decided to file a civil suit against the airline demanding compensation," Halder added.

The Other Side

An Air Asia spokesperson said, "The matter is in our knowledge. We are verifying all the aspects in the case and if the airline is at fault we will definitely compensate the passengers."

Did you know?

Most countries, including the United States and Japan, issue a visa only if the passport is valid for another six months, while for some other countries such as New Zealand, it is three months.

mid-day.com

According to experts, issuance and refusal of visa is the jurisdiction of the country concerned and its embassy, an airlines has no authority to debar people from boarding a flight on the ground of visa issues.

Actually, that's horse shit. Airlines are responsible for flying back passengers who are denied entry, so they have every right to do what they like. In this case though, they obviously fucked up, and one hopes they'd go out of their way to make it up to the poor kid.

Having said that I got my lad a month visa for Thailand when his passport only had 22 weeks left on it, simply by going to the local Thai Embassy and asking them. They could not have been more helpful.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Actually, that's horse shit. Airlines are responsible for flying back passengers who are denied entry, so they have every right to do what they like.

Correct "arry" correct and airlines not only have to fly em back they can be fined in some countries for flying them in! So they can simply refuse to let you board.

I understand visa restrictions for Thailand have been (or should have been) eased of late for some visitors namely the Japanese, saying that TIT and matters may be understood differently by some Thais.

Oh, and BA and the witless BASSA union look like they have agreed to end the strike.

They're putting a proposal to the branches today and hopefully will ballot all members in due course.

Not much choice really, if they called a strike now, BA could legally sack the lot of them.

Thai Air Q1 Net Profit Slumps 94 Percent
May 12, 2011

Thai Airways posted a 94 percent drop in first-quarter net profit on Thursday, lower than market forecasts, hit by surging fuel costs and losses from foreign exchange.

The national carrier made a net profit of THB618.5 million baht (USD$20.5 million) in the January-March quarter, down 94 percent from a revised THB10.6 billion baht a year earlier.

The airline has said its first-quarter cabin factor fell 6.1 points to 76.1 percent due to flight cancellations after Japan's earthquake and tsunami, which were costing it THB600 million baht per month in revenue.

Surging oil prices, lower traffic because of the Japanese crisis and a weakening in the baht against the euro would continue to hit profitability this year, and analysts have cut their 2011 earnings forecasts by more than 40 percent.

news.airwise.com

Breaking News: Cathay Pacific A330 makes emergency landing at Singapore after an engine fire.

^
Was heading to Jakarta and had to turn around.

I bet their were some wet seats

Originally Posted by Mid

Thai Air Q1 Net Profit Slumps 94 Percent
May 12, 2011

Thai Airways posted a 94 percent drop in first-quarter net profit on Thursday, lower than market forecasts, hit by surging fuel costs and losses from foreign exchange.

The national carrier made a net profit of THB618.5 million baht (USD$20.5 million) in the January-March quarter, down 94 percent from a revised THB10.6 billion baht a year earlier.

The airline has said its first-quarter cabin factor fell 6.1 points to 76.1 percent due to flight cancellations after Japan's earthquake and tsunami, which were costing it THB600 million baht per month in revenue.

Surging oil prices, lower traffic because of the Japanese crisis and a weakening in the baht against the euro would continue to hit profitability this year, and analysts have cut their 2011 earnings forecasts by more than 40 percent.

news.airwise.com

Interesting - other airlines with hubs in East Asia pushed their prices higher after the Japanese disasters. I guess the idea was that travelers would search for other routes to avoid changing planes in Tokyo. Cathay's prices surged some 50% by my reckoning.

Hapless THAI Air has only one North American destination (LA), so it didn't benefit - just lost out on the general but enormous slump in demand for flights to Japan as final destination.

Originally Posted by sabaii sabaii

^
Was heading to Jakarta and had to turn around.

I bet their were some wet seats

I was on a 737 short hop flight from Orange County to San Francisco once when the pilot had to shut down an engine and return to Orange County - it was a 20 minute nervous flight - but uneventful. Fire trucks lining the runway though with the guys in flame-retardent suits - not too encouranging.

THAI launching low-cost airline next year

THAI launching low-cost airline next year

วันศุกร์ ที่ 20 พ.ค. 2554



BANGKOK, May 20 - Thailand's national flag carrier Thai Airways International (THAI) will launch its own low-cost airline in April next year, according to THAI board of director's chairman Ampon Kittiampon.

The chairman make the announcement after a board meeting had agreed to set up the new business unit.

THAI's board of directors has the authority to approve the process directly without proposing its plan to the Transport Ministry or to the Cabinet for approval, according to the company's legal team.

Managed according to the earlier announced strategy plan for 2011-2017, the new business unit aims to reclaim market share of passengers opting for other low-cost airlines and to support additional market expansion in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) so-called Single Aviation Market in the future.

The new airline has not yet been given a name. "Thai Silk", "Thai Wings" and "Thai Fly" were initially offered for selection by the public and THAI staff.

The payback or break even point is considered to be in 2-3 years, Mr Ampon said, with 70-80 per cent of passenger capacity per flight expected with the new airline.

Flights of no more than three hours will be operated for domestic and international routes. Seven aircraft will be used at the initial phase. Five of them are Boeing 737, which THAI already owns, while another two will have a150-seat capacity rented through a bidding process. The new airline will have 11 aircraft within three years.

This business unit will be 100-per cent owned by THAI and operated as a full airline. Customers using the service will receive benefits such as luggage allowances and mileage credit accumulation as when they fly with THAI.

The new airline will focus on the speed of its service by offering a high frequency of flight schedules and a ticket issuance online.

Retired THAI pilots no more than 65 years old will be considered for employment as captains, while flight attendants will be outsourced.

Mr Ampon added that the board, meanwhile, approved the extension period of THAI and Singapore's Tiger Airways contract for another three months. If by then Thai Tiger Aiways, earlier planned to be operated by both airlines, cannot yet be set up, Thai Airways International will cancel its joint venture with the Singaporean counterpart. (MCOT online news)

I thought Nok Air was their low-cost sister airline.

Air China to provide daily flight services between Lhasa and KatmanduMay 19, 2011

Air China is expected to start daily international service between Lhasa in the Tibet Autonomous Region and Katmandu, Nepal on Aug. 1, said an official with the company on Thursday.

Air China, the country's flagship carrier, adjusted its service plan by increasing from four flights per week to daily service based on the preferences of previous passengers surveyed and predictions in this year's tourism market, said Zhang Ping, director of the marketing department for the Air China Tibet Branch.

Air China initiated the Lhasa-Katmandu route in 1987. It currently provides services every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. The flight duration is one hour and ten minutes.

Source:Xinhua

english.people.com.cn

PARIS (Reuters) - A French airliner plunged out of control for four minutes before crashing into the Atlantic in 2009, investigators said, in a report raising questions about how crew handled a "stall alarm" blaring out in the cabin.
Information gleaned from black boxes, and recovered almost two years after the disaster killed 228 people, confirmed that speed readings in the Airbus cockpit had gone haywire, believed to be linked to the icing of speed sensors outside the jet.
As Air France pilots fought for control, the doomed A330 dropped 38,000 feet, rolling left to right, its engines flat out but its wings unable to grab enough air to keep flying.
The plane crashed on June 1, 2009, en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. Black boxes stopped recording at 3:14 a.m. British time.
France's BEA crash investigation agency said in a detailed chronology of the crash that commands from the controls of the 32-year-old junior pilot on board had pulled the nose up as the aircraft became unstable and generated an audible stall warning.
Aviation industry sources told Reuters that this action went against the normal procedures which call for the nose to be lowered in response to an alert that the plane was about to lose lift or, in technical parlance, 'stall'.
This type of aerodynamic stall is nothing to do with a stall in the engines, both of which kept working as crew requested.
"A stall is the moment at which a plane stops flying and starts falling," said David Learmount, operations and safety editor at the British aviation publication Flight International.
A top aircraft industry safety consultant said the standard guidance in the Airbus pilot manual called in this event for the pilot to lower the nose by pushing the control stick forward.
"The BEA is now going to have to analyse and get to bottom of how crew handled this event," said Paul Hayes, safety director at Ascend Aviation, a UK-based aviation consultancy.
"The big question in my mind is why did the pilot flying (the aircraft) appear to continue to pull the nose up," he said.
French investigators said the emergency began with the autopilot disengaging itself two and a half hours into the flight and the junior pilot, who had been in control at take-off, picked up manually and saying "I have control."
The autopilot appears to have responded to a loss of reliable airspeed information. This was accompanied moments later by the disembodied voice of a recorded "stall" alert.
It is what happened next that is likely to fuel most theories on what preceded the crash, but Air France and its main pilots union insisted faulty speed probes were the root cause.
In a passage likely to attract particular scrutiny, the BEA said the pilot "maintained" the nose-up command despite fresh stall warnings 46 seconds into the four-minute emergency.
"The inputs made by the pilot flying were mainly nose-up," the report added.
The Airbus jet climbed 3,000 feet to 38,000 feet despite the crew having decided earlier against a climb, and then began a dramatic descent, with the youngest pilot handing control to the second most senior pilot a minute before impact.
The captain returned after "several attempts" to call him back to the cockpit but was not at the controls in the final moments, according to information gleaned from black boxes.
By the time the 58-year-old returned, just over a minute into the emergency, the aircraft was in serious trouble: plunging at 10,000 feet a minute with its nose pointing up 15 degrees and at too high an angle to the air to recapture lift.
The BEA did not provide extracts of the transcript for the last minute before the jet hit the water with its nose up.
It promised a fuller interim report which could say more about the causes of the crash in July.
SLIGHT TURBULENCE AHEAD
Relatives of victims had waited long for the report.
"It's very emotional to see the unrolling minute by minute or second by second at some points of what happened," said John Clemes, vice president of the families' support group.
"You automatically think of your family member and how they were living through this. It's the events that caused the deaths of 228 people so it's traumatic and moving."
The BEA report put to rest speculation that the pilots recklessly flew into the centre of an equatorial storm cell.
Pilots had decided calmly to alter course slightly to avoid turbulence shortly before the crisis. But the pilot did tell flight attendants to prepare for a "little bit of turbulence."
"In two minutes we should enter an area where it'll move about more than at the moment; you should watch out," he told cabin staff. "I'll call you back as soon as we're out of it."
Air France said the crew had displayed a "totally professional attitude" and stayed committed to the end.
The crew's response to stall warnings contrasts with advice to pilots contained in an Airbus training seminar in October last year, according to a document obtained by Reuters.
In large red capital letters, the slide presentation says that in the event of a stall warning, pilots should "APPLY NOSE DOWN PITCH CONTROL TO REDUCE AOA (ANGLE OF ATTACK)."
Two aviation industry sources said the drill in force at the time of the accident was to apply full thrust and reduce the pitch attitude of the aircraft, which means lowering the nose.
Later guidance calls for pilots to push the nose down and adjust thrust as necessary, they said, asking not to be named.
Despite the apparent anomaly, aviation experts said it was early and most probably far-fetched to blame the miscommands -- so basic one compared it to hitting the accelerator instead of the brake when facing a car collision -- on a conscious error.
"One of the weird things about this is that the aircraft was definitely stalled, because the crew had had a stall warning, but they were not doing anything to recover from the stall," Learmount said. "It was almost as if they didn't know the aircraft was stalled, because they could have recovered."
The report and a more detailed follow-up are eagerly awaited by lawyers representing victims' families, but cannot be used in many courts. A separate French criminal probe is also under way.
(Editing by Ralph Boulton)

Kingfisher Airlines plane makes emergency landing
Kolkata, May 29 (PTI)

A Delhi-Bangkok Kingfisher Airlines flight made an emergency landing at the N S C Bose International Airport here today due to a technical snag, officials said.

The plane made a safe landing at around 4 a.m, they said.

The passengers will be accommodated in another plane of the airline as engineers are inspecting the aircraft to detect the problem, officials said.

deccanherald.com