Chris Tan

Aspire to lead the race to the bottom in terms of passenger experience? Like pioneering Basic Economy, completely gutting the value of its FFP, lobbying for the ME3 to stay out of the US, etc?

Unless you’re telling me the Immigration Department of Malaysia is subservient to Mavcom, I just don’t see how this is the latter’s problem. Sure, it’d be great if all the stakeholders can get together to fix every issue faced by passengers, but let’s get real. There’s plenty of praise for consumer rights in the West, but the reality is you’d be hard pressed to claim under EU261/2004 if you misconnect because of immigration queues. In the US, you think the DOT is going to fight the DHS over 2-3hr queues at LAX? What next? Is Mavcom going to fine that company whose lorry broke down in the middle of the NKVE resulting in missed flights? Or take Indonesia to the ICJ because their haze grounds flights in Malaysia?

From a pure passenger experience standpoint I’m sure anyone would prefer a Changi T3 over a conventional terminal.

Or maybe MH just couldn’t get a better slot. Why would the bean counters want to rush the A330 back to KUL by 4am? To prepare for a pre-dawn departure to an imaginary high-yield destination?

1:05 turnaround for a 333 isn’t unheard of. Off the top of my head: KA’s turnaround at KUL is as little as 1hr. MH’s other 4am arrivals seem to be caused by curfews (MH71/140 from NRT/SYD), so I’m guessing they don’t voluntarily schedule such an early arrival :p

Because airlines like SQ scramble to downgrade their CGK flights from 773s to AT72/Q400s in a downturn?

In the 90s you wouldn't have found bargain basement fares that many take for granted today.

If more nights = higher quality tourists then we should be attracting more begpackers to max out their 90-day social visit passes.

Not to some people, clearly. If visitors from neighbouring countries don't count as tourists, then countries like the US have failed spectacularly on the tourism front. Just look at the number of Canadian/Mexican travellers they get each year! I personally think arbitrarily citing statistics without any real analysis (or logic) is more "syok sendiri" than engaging in a proper debate.

Have you?

Having a sense of entitlement is not the same as working with relevant parties.

No, it is not a Malaysian thing. It happens in more places than you seem to think, even in countries that supposedly have strong consumer protection laws.

Regardless of who's in power, there will always be people who think their money is being wasted, the people invovled are overpaid, the money should be channelled into some altruistic project instead, our taxes are too high, how Singapore does a better job at everything, etc. These are usually the people who then find something else to moan about, like how wages are too low in this country, how Singapore is better in every other way, how other countries have XYZ agency that we don't (after we just shut it down), etc. If you think about it, there's really no way the government can spend money without attracting some form of criticism. Spend money on the poor? You'll get people saying someone is getting rich out that endeavour, favouring a certain segment of society, wasting my money etc. This sort of whining happens even in our beloved neighbour across the Causeway..

You tell us. You are the one going around telling people there is a direct correlation between trade and demand for air travel.

More FDI, more flights, right?

Would launching a 3x weekly KUL-HND money-loser be a greater show of appreciation of our Japanese hosts' hospitality?

He might lead an airline that many adore (including myself), but that doesn't make him a saint. You think the airline emerged from blockade unscathed? Ask Al Baker if he thought the airline could pull through without turning to the government for (even more) help. Or whether he could go on a shopping spree without getting blank cheques from the government. Those purchases around the world are not to be mistaken as a demonstration of the airline's success. Unless, of course, one chooses to ignore the political part of the equation. Let's not be so naive in thinking that QR is a rags to riches story

A dash of caviar, perhaps?

Al Bakar is probably one of the flakiest airline CEOs out there. There's very little he says that can actually be taken seriously. He's threatened to leave oneworld for several years in a row, picked a fight with other CEOs/countries on a personal level, and promiesd to launch routes that have not materialised for years now. And that's just scratching the surface.

They should use gliders. Fewer seats and MUCH more fuel efficient. They won't just break even - profits will be through the roof!

Premium Recliner...doesn't quite have the same ring to it, does it? Just like most of D7's existing routes, you mean? Don't see those routes getting recliners. And make everyone pay FSC prices?

yes but what about yields?

D7 need to operate Cessna 172s. Less seats, more profit.

Believe MAHB should print its own money instead. Better not rely on retail revenue, PSC, landing fees etc.

What sort of data are they trying to collect here? These flights are only marginally longer than what the likes of SQ, QR and EK already offer. QF itself is no stranger to ULR flights. I am also not sure how useful the data will be if they use 787s (with only 40 people onboard, lest we forget) which will not even operate those Project Sunrise flights.