Keno Omar
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Posts posted by Keno Omar
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I nearly choked on a piece of snek looking at the linear relationship between cost vs customer satisfaction. Was there a previous survey performed when hot meals were served? You need 2 points to connect a line! If this is not manipulated, engineered statisticThat's why they have those watercolour canvas and hot girls on the document to make the data believable
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Compare the real sandwich served by Emirates (4 star) versus sandwic served by MAS (kononnya 5 star). Malu!!!!!
With the right preparation (not some half-assed, kedai runcit-style sandwic), even hot meals hardcore fans could be swayed into favouring snekboks on short flights.
Image copyright HC Chai
Image copyright Prosibu
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This has got to be one of this year's biggest IT blunder. How could MH downplay the importance of online booking that they could afford to have these many destinations off the list?!! The process of upgrading IT system must be backed by an analysis or risk VS benefit. I fail to see the key benefits so far, but the loss of sales is obvious!
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Since the new booking system being up and running (2 days?), I wonder how many million (MYR) of potential revenues have avoided MH simply because prospective passengers cannot find their origins/destinations in the selection box.Bravo MAS. It has been almost a week a YET these destinations are still missing!!!
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This one is right smack on the front page for all to see...
23 Nov 2007
Firefly is adding a third aircraft to their fleet.
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I'm not sure how long this site has been up, but Jetstar now has website for Malaysia. No offense to bahasa kebangsaan but I just find it a bit strange that this being Made in Australia, the local Malaysian site is only available in BM but not in English.
Home (as in homepage) is translated as Rerumah.
Wouldn't Muka utama sound better? -
If this is true, I'm glad that AAX decides to serve European destinations non-stop on A346 instead of one-stop via SHJ (or wherever) on A333. MAS is my preferred choice because of its service, PTV and nonstop service, but I have always been willing to trade some of these for a lower fare and fly with EK, GF, KL instead - the reason why I haven't flown MH longhaul since 2005 (except for company-paid trips). For me at least, the convenience of a nonstop service is a big plus
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Since the new booking system being up and running (2 days?), I wonder how many million (MYR) of potential revenues have avoided MH simply because prospective passengers cannot find their origins/destinations in the selection box.Exactly!! Either launch the new system complete with ALL destinations, or don't launch at all. I wonder if they could get it right by Friday in time for the travel fair.
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This new fares display can hardly be called a major change from what they had before, it just makes it slightly more transparent. You could almost get the same format using the old system by just clicking on individual flights on the same page.
I was actually hoping for a calendar view which makes the fares more transparent over a range of dates, e.g. SQ, EK, QF have outbound/inbound pairs of return fare displayed over a week's period, while BA, AF, KL, U2 have a monthly calendar view of the lowest single fares. Why isn't MH taking a hint?!
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and had to silently suffer the lack of alternative choices.AK's single fare KUL-KCH is RM129. MAS on the other hand charges RM246. AK offers nasi lemak & nasi bryani in nearly all of its flights, and they only cost RM8. Which one would you fly?
I was traveling on a domestic MH flight with a guy from Denmark few weeks back and we discussed about this thing. Funny how he mentioned that he prefers to have this kind of 'light' snacks (etc: sandwiches) instead of hot meals on a short flight.Judging by how well SAS deals with their sandwic, I can see why he prefers light meals.
http://www.flysas.com/en/Travel-info/On_bo...t-haul_flights/
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I wouldn't call this my favourite airline, but the best value-for-money flight I took was on Monarch Airlines from London to Gibraltar in 2001. The 2+ hours flight cost only GBP60, which is comparable to the likes of Easyjet and Ryanair. However, we were given full hot breakfast, frequent offerings of snacks, free magazines like OK!, Hello! etc (3 people in a row sharing 3 different mags) and overhead IFE (I think they screened Mr Bean or something). The service and product offerings was much, much better than BA on other similar routes. Unfortunately, this business model was no longer sustainable and they decided to go fully no-frills like the rest of LCC just a few months later. Sigh.
As for my favourite airline, it's Emirates hands down.
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i know i know... it's between 2 adjacent islands in orkney in northern scotland. cant remember the names. i stumbled upon orkney's tourism website when i was planning a trip to scotland 2 years ago.Full details here http://www.alanmoar.flyer.co.uk/orkney/Sho...ht/shortest.htm
Logan Air schedule (see Friday) http://www.loganair.co.uk/xtra%20files/OrkneyTimetable.pdf
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Top 3 longest direct route pairs
NZ: AKL-LAX-LHR
JL: NRT-JFK-GRU
BA+QF: SYD-SIN-LHR
Top 3 longest non-stop route pairs
SQ: SIN-EWR
SQ: SIN-LAX
TG: BKK-JFK
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My 2 cents on the BTP
I recall discussing with my dad few years ago if Malaysia really still needs MAS after all, particularly when it had consistently failed to make any profit for years AND continue to be subsidized by the tax payers to cover their abysmal financial performance (in the form of PMB, Petronas, civil service etc). AirAsia back then was and still continue to provide excellent connectivity domestically and within ASEAN. We have SQ just a short hop away which offers world-class service to a huge number of longhaul destinations, not to mention there's also EK whose growth seems unstoppable and consistantly remain among the cheapest options to fly to Europe. It seems that there was not much reason that we needed MAS back then, not at the expense of rakyat's money to cover their incompetence. SQ could instead have a real shuttle service every 30 mins to KUL to ferry passengers to connect via Changi and we could consider it as Malaysia's air hub in a foreign land (just like in days of MSA & earlier).
Personally, I wouldn't be disturbed if MAS someday decides to transform itself into a full-blown Aer Lingus and ditch its original conventional airline model. If that's what it takes for MAS to survive and stop sucking in rakyat's money, then so be it. I sincerely hope that it will not come to that. The problem with MAS's earlier BTP, and this new one in particular, is the lack of clear strategy - this "Five star value carrier" notion itself is the problem. I strongly believe that this not not the right path to explore - not because of its apparent downgrade from the existing premium status, but because of the contradictory nature of the concept. A strategy can only achieve its full intention if the final objective is clearly defined in simple terms to be understood by the entire organization, regardless of the explaination outlined in the official BTP2 documentation. The bottom line is, this oxymoron is confusing and I don't see it materializing very well.
There must be a number of difficult trade-offs that MAS has to face in order to succeed. One thing that's certain, you just can't have everything. Five star quality at a low cost just doesn't work because quality costs money (replacing "LCC" with "value carrier" is itself an embarrassment!). MAS could either stop pretending to be in the same league as other real 5-star carriers like SQ & CX and strictly follow the footsteps of KLM & Aer Lingus (at least they made money!), OR fight back to regain its past glory as a world-class airline by serious cost cutting exercise at the right places (national luggage, politically-motivated routes, politically-linked expensive suppliers, low staff turnover etc). "Five star value carrier" seems to be a mix of the opposite end of the spectrum - more of a "neither here nor there", mid-point approach. Again, you can't have everything.
In order for a strategy to succeed, a company must evaluate its core competencies and see if they fit in the intended overall strategy. Trying to compete head on with the likes of AK with MAS' existing business model just does not, and will never work. AK is and will continue to offer significantly lower fares because of its cost structure, something that MAS does not current have, nor is it able to fully transform its business practice in the future either. MAS is failing miserably in the price war with AK in the domestic and regional sector, soon they have to compete with AK-X even to their flagship route to London. MAS core competencies lies with its excellent cabin service and premium classes - playing down the importance of this invaluable market advantage for the sake of fighting head-on with LCCs, is simply a waste when all other airlines are aspiring to achieve this level. Even at this stage MAS has started to make the wrong trade off as we already seeing the effect of "snekboks"; people do not mind paying more for extra service but nobody could tolerate a product that does not represent the true value of the fare.
Then there is also a problem with the "five star" concept as if it would remain forever. May I remind IJ that this is merely a status given by Skytrax, whose results are often questionable, which led to SQ and CX of hardly (or never?) recognizing their 5 star status. With the path that MAS is seem to be heading, there is a very good chance that they will break the record as being the first 5 star airline that has its status revoked. Could we still use the term "five star value carrier" then?
If I were given a chance to formulate the BTP, I would probably call it "world-class carrier with exceptional cost management". The objective must be crystal clear and not just a catchphrase or media propaganda because the core values and goal must be clearly communicated and understood to all levels of the organization in order to guarantee the success of a strategy. As the saying goes, failure to plan is a plan for failure - a contradicting and confusing plan is nearly as bad as no plan at all.
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I shall give MH the benefit of the doubt that they would do the right thing this time. Some of their decisions for the past 2 years were not always in line with strategy of the first BTP in early 2006.
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Let's not forget good 'ol Pelangi Air
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TGG could do with direct services to SIN. Just look at the large number of overnight buses from SIN at Merang jetty to get to Redang. While there's also Berjaya Air from XSP, that seems to be targetting on the more upscale market.
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have our says (all our hearts contents), then we decide on the biggest shared concerns to be highlighted, prepare our own case, write the key areas, and later .. file it and present it to the right people (i.e. people who have the actual power to make changes). All, everything, in consensus.I agree with Irni. Also, even if only 3 of us would end up meeting top MH management (if it happens), we could have some kind of online signature collection to show that the 'Friends of MAS' team is actually backed by another 3000+ supporters. Too bad I wont be able to make it, will only be back in Malaysia in Aug/Sep the earliest.
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Jetstar hub?! What hub?
SIN is already the hub for Jetstar Asia with excellent feed from many regional destinations (incl KUL soon). MAHB would be naive to think that their lower fees (if it is the case) alone would be enough to entice Jetstar regardless of what they said about "looking into possibilities".
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Apparently the only thing that is saving ARN now is the extension of VMY2007 until this Aug. With some "luck" the gahmen will try to interfere yet again with some new excuse. For the survival of MH, both ARN and EWR must go!
TG & SK are able to offer daily widebodies between their respective hubs due to the large number of Scandinavian tourists and excellent feed since both are Star Alliance partners. However, I salute TG for being able to sustain BKK-ARN despite this being a largely low-yield leisure route. I assume that the front end of the plane must be doing well too?
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Look out for the day when foreign airlines would be allowed to put their code on SQ/MH-operated flights on this route, e.g. in the past NZ placed its code on OS SYD-KUL, but not allowed on SQ SIN-KUL. Also, see how many airlines currently place their codes on BD LHR-GLA for example (I believe some even have up to 10 airlines codesharing on the same flight number, incl MH). This could soon easily be KUL-SIN with most Star Alliance carriers codesharing on this flight. Even more insentive for foreign airlines to consolidate their SIN operations and never return to KUL.
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Just to recap what Izanee wrote to MAS:
"MAS is losing its market share. AK is now dominating the domestic market and I am sure the regional market as well. Instead of increasing flights to potentially profitable destinations, MAS is reducing services."
Datuk K: MAS is still #1 for domestic operation. No mention about their ever-decreasing market share.
"MAS used to be second placed foreign behind Singapore Airlines in terms of flights to Australia/NZ and market share. Emirates has now overtaken it and soon Thai Airways will leapfrog MAS."
Datuk K: At least he admitted that EK has a much better connectivity.
"It has operated a measly 3 flights a week since the start of the route 19 years ago. They cannot claim that they tried to make the route work. Since MAS announced that its Zurich flights are to be stopped, Singapore Airlines has increased flights to ten times weekly to fill the void left by MAS."
Datuk K: No mention on why they failed to make ZRH work. At least give us something coz we don't really buy that MAS've tried everything they could. I would be glad to be proven wrong.
"Another example is Dubai where MAS flies 7 times weekly either via Karachi or as a stop over to Istanbul and Beirut. Emirates now plans to fly to KL nine times weekly without the onward connections to Singapore or Jakarta. They seem to make it work."
Datuk K: Obviously no mention on EK's far superior product on KUL-DXB route versus MAS's crappy offerings as part of the attraction for customers.
"MAS idea of serving destinations with 3-4 weekly services will only make it attractive to package or leisure passengers because of this reason. In fact, MAS has said that it would just be a 'leisure' airline rather than compete against other major carriers."
Datuk K: No comment. Wait for BTP report.
"MAS will probably say that they cannot increase flights as they do not have enough aircraft. Why? Their other strategy of making profits by selling assets (which include aircraft - 4 Boeing 747 aircrafts so far) will not work in the long term when they have nothing more to sell apart from their managers."
Datuk K: No comment. Wait for BTP report.
"I also think their idea of Five star @ low cost is alienating its loyal passengers including myself. They cite high oil prices as the reason for increasing fares but there is only so much we can put up with. The quality of their inflight meals leave a lot to be desired."
Datuk K: No comment. Wait for BTP report.
"Their 'Year of Growth' in 2008 has been marked by some rather dubious decisions. They plan to fly to Yogyakarta and Lahore."
Datuk K: No comment on Lahore. Yogya was launched to absorb some excess capacity from Surabaya, doesn't sound like a long-term strategy to me (recall Padang).
All these rantings about "new" hub-and-spoke strategy in Europe is nothing more than a PR statement. KLM & BMI codeshare cities have been stagnant for years (except for some minor addition like Bergen & Aberdeen) while 3x weekly to FCO can hardly be considered hub to attract business passengers from the target cities. Unless MAS expand their codeshare with KLM further to offer multiple connections to key cities in Germany, France, Switzerland and even North America, please don't even talk about this so-called hub-and-spoke strategy.
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How much value can MH add to ST or AF? If MH is careless, AF may request KL to move its Aussie traffic to QF/SIN.Sadly, Aussie market is all that MH has left to offer. CZ/KE has China fully covered, european airlines are racing to introduce direct flights to India, while CI/VN would have a good portion of SE Asia covered.
MH is lucky that even after the takeover, KLM still maintains its Aussie traffic via KUL. It seems that nothing is preventing them to follow in the way of AF via SIN/QF. KLM has daily flights to both KUL & SIN, add AF codeshare they have a 2nd daily to SIN. On the other hand, one could be optimistic and see this as a sign that AF might possibly still be interested in MH, or else they would have burnt the bridge years ago.
MH's Routes Changes in January 2008
in General Aviation
Posted · Edited by Keno Omar · Report reply
Got this pic from another thread. Copyright Rozhan.
I wonder how they draw up this map... are these plans for real?!
Looks like MH is seeking to operate hub and spoke strategy via new hubs in LAX, EWR, GRU, EZE, JNB, MRU, NBO, THR, TAS, SVO/DME, NRT, The Gulf, China, India. To achieve a global network on this magnitude without being in an alliance will not be easy to say the least!