Gulf Air Developments
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Well, never having sniffed a goat suffering from heavy vaginal discharge I wouldn't know - Chuck Y?? Might be healthier to take up running or golf or reading books!
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Go and Wash!!!!
No amount of cleaning will ever get rid of the smell as long as 90% of our pax get on-board un-washed
. They sit un-washed on on seats and skybeds. Touch everything onboard un-washed. Clean up the act of our pax and the airline is on the way to picking up it's game!!!!!
. They sit un-washed on on seats and skybeds. Touch everything onboard un-washed. Clean up the act of our pax and the airline is on the way to picking up it's game!!!!!
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To the mods
A little of the topic.
What is with all the PENIS advertisments on PPRUNE at the moment. I find it pathetic and extreamly stupid to have on a professional webpage. Remember Self Loading Freight look at this site as well as the media. If this is not going to stop can someone at least remove it from my profile, I do not want it there.
I know by posting this message I am opening myself up to some very childish PENIS joke's.
SO BRING IT ON LADS....... AND THOSE FEW ( TOKEN ) FEMALE PILOTS THAT WORK FOR US.
US.
What is with all the PENIS advertisments on PPRUNE at the moment. I find it pathetic and extreamly stupid to have on a professional webpage. Remember Self Loading Freight look at this site as well as the media. If this is not going to stop can someone at least remove it from my profile, I do not want it there.
I know by posting this message I am opening myself up to some very childish PENIS joke's.
SO BRING IT ON LADS....... AND THOSE FEW ( TOKEN ) FEMALE PILOTS THAT WORK FOR US.
US.
Join Date: Mar 2007
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GF No More
I can tell you guys after 6 yrs of exclusive GF F and J class flying and Gold for Life FF status I am not flying GF anymore.
GF recently downgraded my status to "Gold" from "Gold for Life" because I did not take the minimum of two GF flights in a year(with most civilised airlines once you attain life status it means just that - for life - GF still have a catch of needing two flighst per yr to maintain)..YET they have the hide to ask me why I have not been flying GF and if I have any issues I should write to them. I wrote the local head FF manager (Local Bahraini - AQ) saying I was not satisfied and all he replied saying was you did not meet minimum requirments so your status has changed with an exclaimation mark and question mark as though I was being unreasonable - did not even listen or offer to maintain my status to save my loyalty.
It will be EY for me now-they are still in a bit of a shambles with on board service and food not that great but they have the hard product and tyring.
I'll look GF up again in 3-4 yrs when they have new ac. When other carriers trip over themselves offering matched status for a switich in loyalty to them GF seriously need to rethink their strategy. No wonder Lesly Britton left.
Sorry I know you pilots work bloody hard with crap equipment but I'm not wasting my hard earned $ anymore cus from a premium pax perspective it aint premium no more-ac are abysmal!
& 
Oddy
GF recently downgraded my status to "Gold" from "Gold for Life" because I did not take the minimum of two GF flights in a year(with most civilised airlines once you attain life status it means just that - for life - GF still have a catch of needing two flighst per yr to maintain)..YET they have the hide to ask me why I have not been flying GF and if I have any issues I should write to them. I wrote the local head FF manager (Local Bahraini - AQ) saying I was not satisfied and all he replied saying was you did not meet minimum requirments so your status has changed with an exclaimation mark and question mark as though I was being unreasonable - did not even listen or offer to maintain my status to save my loyalty.
It will be EY for me now-they are still in a bit of a shambles with on board service and food not that great but they have the hard product and tyring.
I'll look GF up again in 3-4 yrs when they have new ac. When other carriers trip over themselves offering matched status for a switich in loyalty to them GF seriously need to rethink their strategy. No wonder Lesly Britton left.
Sorry I know you pilots work bloody hard with crap equipment but I'm not wasting my hard earned $ anymore cus from a premium pax perspective it aint premium no more-ac are abysmal!
& Oddy
Last edited by ODMEA; 20th Oct 2008 at 04:32.
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ODMEA, sad that you are not flying with us anymore but who can blame you? In fact if I didn't get free or cheap tickets with GF I wouldn't travel with us either. It's not just about the aircraft but the whole experience of first booking with us, then dealing with the ground staff & all the other stuff is just not acceptable from a service based airline. As usual our weak point, apart from the beautiful airplanes!, is our useless ground staff.
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Sorry to hear your story ODMEA and I am sure most of us feel the same way......sadly customer service is not among our strong points. Hope to see you back sometime in the future.
Chao
Chao
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With much due respect to locals - unfortunately 95% have NO idea of the industry its clear its just a job to most nothing more than a monthly income, wether the lazy male crew in the air or the rude abrupt staff on the ground. The only really good service was the chefs, most of the female expat crew and lounge ladies.
Im not sure how seriously the locals understand they just cant seem to cut it customer service wise and without the expats the airline would be another KU or syrian arab airlines. The Lebanese operate the only decent all arab airline - there is no doubting that and against all odds too! Why GF makes it so hard is beyond me. The enshalla attitude and the world owes me everything is what destroys any efforts at reviving GF. Some opportunistic expat managers too I guess.
I recall my first GF flight in 95 - I was So impressed I flet like royalty compared to being on Qantas. Its the service and hard product that immediately win premium pax..shedules and on time performance are important too.. GF only has the schedules. Everything else has just fallen apart. If they continue at this rate they may as well just resign to becomming a subcontinant charter / shuttle service. Of all the hype I heave heard and read nothing has disseminated to the first or business cabins...same ol same ol. The chefs have been the best thing GF ever did. The only 8 seats and two lavs in F will be sadly missed.
The rest I am glad to be rid of.
Good luck gents and see you maybe in 5yrs-heres hoping.
Oddy
Im not sure how seriously the locals understand they just cant seem to cut it customer service wise and without the expats the airline would be another KU or syrian arab airlines. The Lebanese operate the only decent all arab airline - there is no doubting that and against all odds too! Why GF makes it so hard is beyond me. The enshalla attitude and the world owes me everything is what destroys any efforts at reviving GF. Some opportunistic expat managers too I guess.
I recall my first GF flight in 95 - I was So impressed I flet like royalty compared to being on Qantas. Its the service and hard product that immediately win premium pax..shedules and on time performance are important too.. GF only has the schedules. Everything else has just fallen apart. If they continue at this rate they may as well just resign to becomming a subcontinant charter / shuttle service. Of all the hype I heave heard and read nothing has disseminated to the first or business cabins...same ol same ol. The chefs have been the best thing GF ever did. The only 8 seats and two lavs in F will be sadly missed.
The rest I am glad to be rid of.
Good luck gents and see you maybe in 5yrs-heres hoping.
Oddy
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Gulf Air's biggest service problem, let's face it, is that they have to employ male Bahraini cabin staff.
The vast majority of these guys (and there are some exceptions) are not service-oriented and although efficient, there is none of the friendliness that passengers enjoy with other airlines.
And trying to get a glass of wine!! Well, I know Bahrain is a Muslim country, but if they do not want to serve alcohol to pasengers then they shouldn't be doing the job.
The vast majority of these guys (and there are some exceptions) are not service-oriented and although efficient, there is none of the friendliness that passengers enjoy with other airlines.
And trying to get a glass of wine!! Well, I know Bahrain is a Muslim country, but if they do not want to serve alcohol to pasengers then they shouldn't be doing the job.
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with oil prices falling down to around 60 bucks a barrel (from $147), that should effectively mean a decrease in losses, unless the 'world economic slowdown' will be used as an excuse. if load factors remain the same..we should be seeing improvements. but then again i could be wrong
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The problem is now that the price of oil has dropped they can bring in even more 'friendly' managers so that our costs will increase even further & our losses will remain the same.
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Out of curiosity, does anyone here think the powers that be actually have a plan?
I know a number of us are very concerned at what appears to be the 'order of the day', lurching from crisis to crisis....and seemingly focussing on flight delays and other minor issues without showing any outward signs of dealing with the very real and important problems that must be dealt with if we are to survive.
I know a number of us are very concerned at what appears to be the 'order of the day', lurching from crisis to crisis....and seemingly focussing on flight delays and other minor issues without showing any outward signs of dealing with the very real and important problems that must be dealt with if we are to survive.
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Mideast passenger traffic drops for first time in years
Sunday, 26 October 2008
Air passenger traffic for Middle Eastern airlines has dropped for the first time in years as the global economic downturn took its toll on the aviation industry, according to new industry figures.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Friday passenger traffic dropped 2.8 percent in September after years of double-digit growth as international passenger traffic declined 2.9 percent.
"While the region’s oil-based economy remains strong, the large portion of transit traffic exposes the region’s carriers to the global economic weakness," IATA said in a statement.
The region's passenger traffic figures are a far cry from the 4.3 percent growth in August and 5.3 percent in July, and in complete contrast to the 10.6 percent increase recorded during the first six months of the year.
Giovanni Bisignani, IATA director general and CEO, said the drop in traffic is the worst since the outbreak of the SARS respiratory disease in 2003.
"The deterioration in traffic is alarmingly fast-paced and widespread. We have not seen such a decline in passenger traffic since SARS in 2003," Bisignani said in a statement.
"Even the good news that the oil price has fallen to half its July peak is not enough to offset the impact of the drop in demand."
Sunday, 26 October 2008
Air passenger traffic for Middle Eastern airlines has dropped for the first time in years as the global economic downturn took its toll on the aviation industry, according to new industry figures.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Friday passenger traffic dropped 2.8 percent in September after years of double-digit growth as international passenger traffic declined 2.9 percent.
"While the region’s oil-based economy remains strong, the large portion of transit traffic exposes the region’s carriers to the global economic weakness," IATA said in a statement.
The region's passenger traffic figures are a far cry from the 4.3 percent growth in August and 5.3 percent in July, and in complete contrast to the 10.6 percent increase recorded during the first six months of the year.
Giovanni Bisignani, IATA director general and CEO, said the drop in traffic is the worst since the outbreak of the SARS respiratory disease in 2003.
"The deterioration in traffic is alarmingly fast-paced and widespread. We have not seen such a decline in passenger traffic since SARS in 2003," Bisignani said in a statement.
"Even the good news that the oil price has fallen to half its July peak is not enough to offset the impact of the drop in demand."
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Assuming an airline has to have airworthy acft and qualified and apt crews, acft ageing and appealing cabins contribute for a good customer service from the moment the pax buys his/her ticket according with the pax's cheap or expensive form of affordability. And this includes keeping promises according with loyalty programs, timely flight information before the flight, check in, baggage handling, in-flight care, etc.. They all play a major role in attracting and keeping business. This is planning.
However, there are disruptions and it's here where most airlines, here and elsewhere, fail to demonstrate their ability to minimise the inconveniences and by not keeping pax properly informed. The preference is to lie, buy time till someone finds out a piece of different information. True or not, that rumour spreads around like a fire in a fireworks warehouse. Now, it's out of control, and sometimes because of little money some manager refuses to pay. No big picture.
Staff is poorly trained to deal with the disruptions and passengers get obviously angry. You cannot buy experience cheaply. You'll not get experience if there is no periodic and professional training, retraining, line-checking, de-briefing, etc.. Line checking is also applicable to ground staff.
The service quality can only be seen when you are there, dealing with the problems and not getting 100%s in classrooms. Also, IOSA and other certifications are so nicely and conveniently handled that they keep in place ever looming deficiencies. But top management is very happy and makes press announcements feting the occasion.
The root causes are very diverse. It's poor management, training, self-accountability, evaluations, government interference, etc..
I noticed that in this part of the world, a lot of poor management derives from lack of real-time experiences and ends up with autocracies where it's the boss' ideas counting and no other, without going down to "the floor" to look for feedback and sometimes revealing ideas from the line guys.
However, there are disruptions and it's here where most airlines, here and elsewhere, fail to demonstrate their ability to minimise the inconveniences and by not keeping pax properly informed. The preference is to lie, buy time till someone finds out a piece of different information. True or not, that rumour spreads around like a fire in a fireworks warehouse. Now, it's out of control, and sometimes because of little money some manager refuses to pay. No big picture.
Staff is poorly trained to deal with the disruptions and passengers get obviously angry. You cannot buy experience cheaply. You'll not get experience if there is no periodic and professional training, retraining, line-checking, de-briefing, etc.. Line checking is also applicable to ground staff.
The service quality can only be seen when you are there, dealing with the problems and not getting 100%s in classrooms. Also, IOSA and other certifications are so nicely and conveniently handled that they keep in place ever looming deficiencies. But top management is very happy and makes press announcements feting the occasion.
The root causes are very diverse. It's poor management, training, self-accountability, evaluations, government interference, etc..
I noticed that in this part of the world, a lot of poor management derives from lack of real-time experiences and ends up with autocracies where it's the boss' ideas counting and no other, without going down to "the floor" to look for feedback and sometimes revealing ideas from the line guys.
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the only feed back the management got from 'floor level' is through the programe 'my idea', personally think that kind of money orientated feed back caused alot of greif for the flying crew in general.some ideas were implemented without serios thought (india trn arounds, reduced crew on certain sectors, the csm workin in bussines class,min rest in bah, etc), as a result some of these back fired and caused ripples, leading to these 'ideas' to be reversed but not without causing ireversable morale damage.
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Best Service Comes From Best Working Culture
I will definitely not say the quality of service in Gulf Air exceptional but I would call for a consistent review and continuous improvement, and one of the key things is product innovations. I also think enormous work is needed at this time as the airline has one owner. Ad hoc changes and lack of stability in management over the past few years affected the service delivery enormously undoubtly.
I don't agree that majority of locals are bad in service, neither expatriates are good, and this is based on more than 17 years of extensive personal and business travelling across regional and international destinations. Not to forget tha Gulf Air had been an award-wining company not far ago. It is very simplistic and unfair to describe majority of locals clueless about the industry and the job is merely a monthly source of income. The case is proptional and I would be pleased to read a report or study contrary to my opionion. Best Service comes from best working culture (which include a range of factors such as people, procedures, system, foods, .etc) but certainly it does not come from specific gender or nationality. I don't have particular stereotype or bias towards a nationality or gender when it comes to my understanding of service, even Bahrainis!
Kuwait Airways has preference to hire Lebanse nationality in their cabin crew and service-based area, but many complain about the quality of service. Can we say it is because of Lebanse? Absolutely NOT. Similarly, Why Middle East Airline have not surpassed others in service if they have the best nationality in service? In fact, I never heard or read about excellence or award being granted to Middle East Airline. Obviously, we need to examine the complete picture and leave the bias behind us.
Professional selection and development are the bottom-line, not gender and nationality stereotype. By end of the day, Gulf Air is a Bahraini international company and obliged to hire locals but at the same time maintain equality and diversity of manpower to balance social and commercial arguments, whether we like or not.
I agree to an input about alcohol offering by Bahrainis working in the airline. I personally do not consume alcohol, but it is fair enough that job contracts and requirements are honoured.
I don't agree that majority of locals are bad in service, neither expatriates are good, and this is based on more than 17 years of extensive personal and business travelling across regional and international destinations. Not to forget tha Gulf Air had been an award-wining company not far ago. It is very simplistic and unfair to describe majority of locals clueless about the industry and the job is merely a monthly source of income. The case is proptional and I would be pleased to read a report or study contrary to my opionion. Best Service comes from best working culture (which include a range of factors such as people, procedures, system, foods, .etc) but certainly it does not come from specific gender or nationality. I don't have particular stereotype or bias towards a nationality or gender when it comes to my understanding of service, even Bahrainis!
Kuwait Airways has preference to hire Lebanse nationality in their cabin crew and service-based area, but many complain about the quality of service. Can we say it is because of Lebanse? Absolutely NOT. Similarly, Why Middle East Airline have not surpassed others in service if they have the best nationality in service? In fact, I never heard or read about excellence or award being granted to Middle East Airline. Obviously, we need to examine the complete picture and leave the bias behind us.
Professional selection and development are the bottom-line, not gender and nationality stereotype. By end of the day, Gulf Air is a Bahraini international company and obliged to hire locals but at the same time maintain equality and diversity of manpower to balance social and commercial arguments, whether we like or not.
I agree to an input about alcohol offering by Bahrainis working in the airline. I personally do not consume alcohol, but it is fair enough that job contracts and requirements are honoured.
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Shazar,
I see where your concern is coming from.
The Bahraini workers are not to blame for standards (or lack thereof).
The real issue is not Gulf Air's only but could have been any other airline.
I think Gulf Air's senior local flight attendants are some of the industries best. They are very experienced and professional, some having been in the industry some 25+ years. They know service.
The problem lies with the high turnover rate of cabin crew. This inevitably leads to a small portion of experienced and professional staff while the vast majority are very inexperienced. Currently, the ratio is about 15/85.
What makes this noticeable is the fact that GF has an ageing fleet. Which means the only thing that GF has to offer is it's service. This also means that our cabin crew are under more scrutiny than cabin crews whose airline has an award winning in-flight entertainment system.
The way to solve this is to simply stop the high turnover rate and get that service experience base growing. It does not necessarily mean throwing more money their way (though this will help) but to improve conditions in other ways to make staying with GF attractive for them. Maybe allow more tickets to go home for the weekend or simply by treating them professionally and as a real asset of the company.
The fact is that flight attendants are the 'face' of the airline. If they are not happy, it will certainly show in their service at the front line.
I see where your concern is coming from.
The Bahraini workers are not to blame for standards (or lack thereof).
The real issue is not Gulf Air's only but could have been any other airline.
I think Gulf Air's senior local flight attendants are some of the industries best. They are very experienced and professional, some having been in the industry some 25+ years. They know service.
The problem lies with the high turnover rate of cabin crew. This inevitably leads to a small portion of experienced and professional staff while the vast majority are very inexperienced. Currently, the ratio is about 15/85.
What makes this noticeable is the fact that GF has an ageing fleet. Which means the only thing that GF has to offer is it's service. This also means that our cabin crew are under more scrutiny than cabin crews whose airline has an award winning in-flight entertainment system.
The way to solve this is to simply stop the high turnover rate and get that service experience base growing. It does not necessarily mean throwing more money their way (though this will help) but to improve conditions in other ways to make staying with GF attractive for them. Maybe allow more tickets to go home for the weekend or simply by treating them professionally and as a real asset of the company.
The fact is that flight attendants are the 'face' of the airline. If they are not happy, it will certainly show in their service at the front line.
Last edited by Sal-e; 28th Oct 2008 at 20:31.