I hope you are right, Dan, I really do.
Avius,
a few comments.
If you were right and a healthy relationship is necessary for the success of an airline, well, I doubt there would be any. EK pilots complain as much as we do, just visit the ME forum, same as Qatar, Korean etc. Pilots will hate management until judgement day, it will never change. Some of you will like a broken clock that is correct twice a day announce in excitement the big yearly bonus EK granted their pilots.. ommiting the little detail that over the year they get payed less and work (much) harder. Because of these dishonest and absurd cherry picking comparisons no one in the end ever leaves to actually join EK. (I know, they will, soon, just about to happen, I know, yawn).
It is a nasty and frankly often disgusting habit of a many a colleague to contemptuously complain about the colleagues in the back of the plane. If I had a penny for every arrogant comment over the last 13 years.. Nevertheless, in the same time period, they won how many awards?
Again, and this is precisely my point I am trying so desperately to make, winning an award for the best business class is not the only way to success. It depends if the market is there for such a product, a product that cost money. It is not difficult to have a great product, or even the best in the world. It is actually very easy. Just throw out seats, spend more on catering, establish a fleet of limos to pick people up etc. EK use Audi? Well, let's use Porsche! That is what you guys habe to understand: it is not such a big mystery how to win these awards, the big question is: will you have customers, companies, tourists, mainland Chinese etc who are willing to pay more (!!) for this. THAT is the question.
Think about your own consumer habits. Would you go on an Air Asia flight with no service, no leg room, no lounge on a flight to BKK? Or would you spend say 3000 more for that perfect sandwich you absolutely need. Hell yes, ALL of you would.
But still you have that image of the quality searching, super sophisticated customer in mind. Regardless of costs he is in search of the perfect product, the best lounge, he will not settle for less, only the most exclusive and refined experience will do. He is the super star CEO of a fortune 500 company, he either travels alone or with his likewise very demanding super model trophy wife, of course only in first class, and only if his corporate gulfstream is in the shop. That is your picture of our customer.
Guys!
Our customer is a middle manager of some car parts selling electronic company in New Jersey, his travel department booked him the best connection at the best price, he just wants to sleep and a few quiet ones before that, than he will spend the rest of the flight beer farting and dreaming about that cute little bum of the bc which is half the size he has at home. That is the ugly truth I am talking about.
Again, our product is not as bad as you want it to be.
We are, and this is an undeniable fact, a five star airline, one of 6 or so in the entire world. Hardly a sign for a bad product.
Of course, you now will now say, as you have done for decades, that this time it is different, this time the quality is not there anymore, it will be only a question of time that the customer will abandon us, only a question of time until we sink , we crash etc
You guys always cry wolf, since decades and decades. When was there EVER a time you didn't complain about the product, didn't in excitement and desperation announced now is the time ,now people will leave etc.
And then it never happens.
Last edited by Sam Ting Wong; 18th May 2016 at 05:35.