Sandeep G

Lots of doom and gloom here... why? Does anybody know the proposed delivery schedule? Has everyone forgotten PB was already talking about long term fleet planing strategy and had hinted at B787 or A330neo/350 order strategy? This was always a flaw in MH in the past - having "out-dated" fleet for key markets.. Has everyone forgotten the look for second hand A330swas purely a short term leasing strategy to boost capacity on high demand route segments and thus optimise the narrow body fleet also by returning some of the leased 738s to lessors? Is it not normal for politicians to use such deals as Grand-standing as a show of trade ties?? Is MAB NOT owned hub Khazanah which would have had to sign off on these purchases in the first place?? Just because it is Najib - sure there is some political mileage he hopes to get out of this.. Are you kidding me that there is no market for the 787 in MH fleet?? And to hear that it is only 8 aircraft first rather than the 30-40 needed long term... sounds like the planners are actually taking advantage of future lease market opportunities rather than putting all the eggs in one basket.. Read between the line guys.. and get used to 9 abreast seating.. in one breath blaming the government for meddling and in the other saying you won't fly because uncomfortable, and yet expect MH to financially perform.. armchair CEOing sure is easy nowadays..

QF already hub through SIN.. much easier for them to return to SIN than start KUL.

That seems to be putting the cart before the horse...

What would be interesting for comparison is the building maintenance costs of KLIA vs KLIA2.. unfortunately the rushed job of the latter has spooked MAHB with "unforeseen" repair bills that seem often to repeat (e.g fuel line ruptures)... as such, service charges will need to be high if they want to turn a dime in return... unfortunately, contractual obligations have all been brought into question following completion of the terminal as is exemplified by the court case and settlement (IIRC) between MAHB and the construction co for KLIA2... Tony and gang as end users suffer the consequences of this earlier mismanagement (which he correctly forshadowed during the construction phase)... and so whilst his argument seems like grumbling and MAHB is constantly on the recieving end - I don't think he is wrong from doing so.. The LCC business model is extremely price sensitive and reigning in costs (especially fixed costs such as airport usage) ultimately affects their ability to expand... Catch 22 now. Unworkable? I think not.. what is and should always be a forte in Malaysian business is "flexibility" - rigidity will only break the proverbial Camels back.

One hand: Cancel the laundry. Proxy war. Conflict of interest. Other hand: Constant delays. Crewing issues. Surplus fleet. Product/brand identity crisis. Impending ICAO audit. Scrutiny is tough when both hands are exposed. Hope this turns out well - lots of jobs on the line. Not to mention, reputation.

787-8 is an ideal fit for MAB if resumption of services to places like JNB is on the cards.. even better would potentially be the proposed 797 - midpoint between 737MAX range and 787 range.. such an aircraft could open up unique connectivity to the thus far underserved East African market Fromm south east Asia - presently monopolised by QR EK and EY, and a lesser extent, ET. Believe connections to Nairobi and Dar Es salam from KL good augur well for connectivity to Mainland China. But such can only be considered when the fundamental route network and house is in order. And whilst the direction thus far appears promising.. the sustainability and deliverables in the months are years to come must be tangible and visible

For BCP, the 6 are needed. As per deployment - expect the "spare" A350s to do a couple of short flights.. this works well for the airline in terms of utilisation and for training purposes. I suspect HKG and maybe BKK will see A350 deployment apart from LHR. DEL or BOM may be good options too if there is a desire to ramp up product to key markets. PVG and PEK would be ideal, if not for the risk of perpetual delay owing to flow control

The problem with technology - with rigid programming comes an inflexible approach to customer service.. checking in at T1 using one of these automated bag drop machines, three items of luggage to check in weighing precisely 25kg, and 25kg of allowance.. the first item registered as 4.5kg... sent it through and the machine then asks for the second item, however displaying that 5kg of the 25kg is used.. second item placed on belt at 7.5kg as displayed by the machine itself... machine processes and then registers this for 8kg! So now, 13kgs of the 25kg used, with 1kg in rounding errors.. fine.. third bag weighs in at 12.7kg.... machine now refuses to process - "you have 1kg excess baggage - unable to check in, repack and try again"...... asking for assistance was useless - the attendant remarked - yah, u must pay at the other side - I cannot override the machine... disgruntled I went to the manned counter, queued again and told him the debacle.. very simply he checked my luggage through and I thanked him for his common sense approach. The machines took longer, were very sensitive to people or items being close by and frankly have zero flexibility... combine hat with staff that do not have a customer centric approach to their job and you have a recipe for tension - which soon transpired so it would seem with a local Singaporean after we had finished checking in..

I highly suspect that "chaos at Group-level fleet planning" isn't the cause... I'm very confident that there must've been some regulatory debacle with the launch of the "new" type... and perhaps as a part of its AOC review with DCA Malaysia, the MAX must've been put through the paces in paperwork in Malaysia rather than Thailand (Currently under ICAO scrutiny) or Indonesia (Lion Group has been under pressure recently from the local authorities)... and since the company couldn't delay delivery dates because of the so-called prestigious "launch customer" title... you've seen the aircraft come to Malaysia first, before Indonesia.. and it'll be a while yet perhaps before they end up in Thailand... Combined with global supply issues in cabin products (seats/IFE etc), you've now got a fleet planners nightmare which has unravelled most noticeably on the KUL-SIN vv sectors.

Mainland China has very few Entry and exit points - and airlines must have approval to operate at the various entry points and accompanying routes.. one of the most congested is via Hong Kong FIR entering Guangzhou FIR via BEKOL... not only are these bottlenecks for traffic because of lateral separation requirements... most flights will need to transition to Metric FL requiring climbs and descents - further compounded by restricted North and southbound RVSM levels in the South China Sea at 310/320, 350/360 and 390/400... so there is a lot of criss crossing.. add into the mix ad-hoc military exercises or even weather and you have even more conservative spacing and timings... More airspace needs to be released for civilian use.. one way of enhancing traffic but maintaining airspace availability for the PLA Air Force may be to offer flexi tracks every week in advance to permit optimal flight planning and scheduling.. this will help us limit fuel consumption and reign in costs while giving the airforce room to breathe too... unfortunately, easier said than done, but let's see.. the current is not manageable in the Long term, Nor really the short term.

All airlines facing flow control between South East Asia and China... not looking forward to my back to back PEK and PVG flights in August

Yahava coffee outta Perth, me thinks! Served up with some logo shaped Margy River Chocolate!

Only one way in and out of Qatar permitted via Bahrain airspace.. the rest is closed. Going to be very tough for them and Iran airspace to coordinate such heavy traffic flow.

How do u figure the "uneconomical" dispatch of an existing aircraft to a destination on an ad-hoc basis compared with the lease in of other aircraft? There are short term/Long term pros and cons to both - but the short term benefits to the A380 on Tokyo/Seoul would justifiably outweigh the cons..

Actually.. a couple of those 777s could/should be looked at for TUDM acquisition.. combining the aircraft for troop transport (deployment), Air-to-air refuelling modification (would be the first of its type) and maybe even some form of AWACS... in thehypotethical world - I am loving what I imagine in my head ...

...or provide more frequencies at a more cost-and-capacity effective manner.

In a nutshell, operators want a new platform such as what is being discussed in a potential 797 type, rather than continuous flogging of the 737 design.. An all new type will meet the tech and operational demands of many carriers both in and outside of the LCC market. The 757 was truly a unique type, that saw its potential realized very late in its lifespan... Capitalizing on lessons from 777x, 787 programs, Boeing could really land itself a game changing aircraft, and potentially an A330neo killer - and whilst some would say you can't compare apples with oranges, one must also realize the shifting demand and comptitiveness amongst the airlines of the world. Smaller and more efficient medium-long range aircraft represent a large slice of the economic pie moving forward IMO.

What 787 flights have u guys taken? JL/NH/TG or JQ/TZ??

Thought BNE was being tagged with DPS? Also, non-EDTO (not ETOPS anymore) routing of OD flight to PER might be because of MEL item, restricting despatch of aircraft to flight paths that remain within 60 mins of a suitable alternate.

Sorry la... I feel bad I didn't "research" my response enough. No first class lounge, true.. Travel at this time of the year is stressful.. I too have been bumped off an overbooked flight (not MH) trying to get home.. the customer service response was less than satisfactory.. but life goes on and so did I.. as I will after posting this Be happy, be nice and be merry this festive weekend!

No, I didn't misread. Still don't think her argument holds water... she is a blogger with a need to blog... salt, pepper and masala as required. Limited accountability and maximise her profits from people who read .... she has even linked her husbands post... My opinion. Don't expect you to agree or disagree - just share with you all an alternative review of "the event" .

I read her blog post... and sorry, I can't seem to sympathise with her... they were rebooked and checked in on the 4pm flight... so they didn't meet their original flight due to an earlier cancellation... this seems more like a millennial tantrum than a bonafied gripe... now complains about her compensation as lounge access.. did she clarify which lounge?? Maybe the first class lounge with child-room and comfort facilities above and beyond what her Gold Enrich entitles?? Perhaps then she would have had access to a restroom and supplies for her children plus the comfort of a rest rather than squeezed between two child seats and kao pei kao pei all the way to Penang... [btw... the front seat occupied meh?? I thought all the bags sent separately???] Some people really just want it all for nothing.. sorry.. customer service could have been better, but so too the customer behavior.. from the one side of the story - I am already questioning the merits of the complaint. Meantime - Gong Hei Fatt Choy to all! Huat ah huat ah Mwings.com 2017!

With the OD services switching to B739 due "performance", how is MH holding up with MH122/121 service between BKI and PER? BTW, don't think MH pulling the pin from n PER, they've retimed the flight to an evening dep from KUL and midnight transit (red eye) in PER

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