Tim Clark interview was nice. Except for assumptions about MAS ability to track Aircraft and its ACARS subscription service. He seemed to compare it to Emirates which more than likely has a full subscription to these services. MAS didn't subscribe and it Operations Control was using an Internet based free Aircraft Tracking software, which is becoming the norm for Low Cost Operators but is spreading to larger ones to curb costs. The LCC I worked for in Singapore for example didn't use ACARS. We as Pilots were still using VOLMET HF and VHF for our ETOPS flights. Which seemed idiotic but was apparently legal in that state. Our Chief Pilot ( ex Large European LCC)was dead set against ACARS usage, hence all our Aircraft were disabled in that regard. The only connection available was the engineering side. At my current Airline we use ACARS all the time and we see the benefits immensely. This Low Cost disease of saving money by not subscribing to ACARS has caught in Asia. And the usage of these free tracking systems has taken over and honestly its dangerous. The MAS OCC were telling ATC that MH370 was in Cambodian Airspace for hours after ATC lost it at Igari, because there were using this free tracking software. Don't get me wrong this software is great for enthusiasts, but officially something more accurate needs to be used.
The thing about this latest IATA conference in Dubai, did they talk about the Lithium Ion battery carriage rules again? This definitely needs to be attended too.