AIRLINE OF THE YEAR 2008

[M. Sofian H. 0]

"Singapore Airlines A380 a clear influence in winning this 2008 Best Airline Award"

 

"For the 3rd time in 10 years, Singapore Airlines has been named World's Best Airline, winning the 2008 Airline of the Year title in the latest World Airline Awards" said Edward Plaisted (CEO of Skytrax). "We extend our congratulations to them for this notable achievement, coinciding with the time that Singapore Airlines was the world's first airline to fly the Airbus A380."

 

 

As my conclusion, I can see the MH performance increasingly decline.

banyak ranking dh jatuh laaa... maybe sebab snackbox kot..

 

DSIJ please WAKE UP!

[Ashmil Abd Ghani 0]

Emmmm <_>

 

Look like we lost something here..

 

No more word "WORLD'S BEST CABIN CREW"..

[mohd sukri abd hamid 0]

is ok mh..try again next year..no bad only drop to 2nd place :D not bad that..good job mh

[yeadrian 0]

sq accolades - not surprised

mh drop - not surprised

rumours - crew morale affected with benefit cuts and setbacks, increased sectors(although still to legal/union boundary)...

heard quite a number are knocking on air asia's door due to frustration...

but thankfully did not slip far back.... must be last years buffer - continue like that - landslide lower....

 

doubt the mealboxes plays a big part(maybe small part) in the survey decline, skytrax is mostly international and mostly long hauls.....besides they are competing with the big players, if mealbox meals are used a gauge for competition - MH sure mati keras (die standing)!!! onboard meals is one fraction of the survey only.

Edited August 11, 2008 by yeadrian

[yeadrian 0]

BTW Air asia has been knocked down to 2nd placing by Jetstar Asia this round...

Tiger is 3rd.

Best low cost airline - Asia and also South East Asia

 

And Qantas won for Australasia !! hoooray !!!

did they win anything for best aircraft maintenance blaming others award?

 

qantas also won best first class lounge(sydney) - our MH rimbun concept apa sudah jadi......totally not in the list.......

 

on the whole, need more malaysians to vote in skytrax.....

www.airlinequality.com

then results will be different.....

Edited August 11, 2008 by yeadrian

[mohd sukri abd hamid 0]

of course SQ still keep they title airlines of the year 2008 because of A380.without A380 they loose the title long time ago

[Nick C 0]

And Qantas won for Australasia !! hoooray !!!

did they win anything for best aircraft maintenance blaming others award?

 

Apart from NZ is there anyone else?

 

It's quite certain that they won't name a LCC like DJ as best Australasia carrier.

[Radzi 2]

Air asia has been knocked down to 2nd placing by Jetstar Asia this round...

 

So what to do with AHO?

 

[H Azmal 0]

Must have been a really slow year...

[yeadrian 0]

of course SQ still keep they title airlines of the year 2008 because of A380.without A380 they loose the title long time ago

 

it takes more than a380 to win - remember majority of the survey respondants have not tried their a380 product (yet), it's things like inflight service, entertainment, innovative products, connectivity, frequency, etc... They are a market leader in many ways, eg. in US SQ is well known as the best premium carrier and they know none of their airlines can match SQ, not to mention other airlines follows what SQ does...

come to think of it - MH used to be in the same league of the big boys and dare I say was SQ's competitor in the hey days now until "you know who" puts their fingers in the management.... MH can be on par again, if they really go into it.

 

Apart from NZ is there anyone else? in that region,

It's quite certain that they won't name a LCC like DJ as best Australasia carrier.

there is only Air NZ to compete. to me its a non competition if only 2 major airlines compete

LCC's is surveyed as a separate unit and not together with full service carriers

 

So what to do with AHO?

mmmm.... AHO itu apa, tak tahu the acronym la....??

Edited August 12, 2008 by yeadrian

[Keith T 2]

there is only Air NZ to compete. to me its a non competition if only 2 major airlines compete

 

Air Tahiti Nui, Air Pacific, Aircalin and Air Niugini come to mind as other examples of Australasian carriers.

 

And as I posted on SQTalk:

Not getting into a "how can airline X be better/worse than airline Y" debate here. But I can't say that these surveys, whether they be conducted by Skytrax or any other organisation, are a significant influence on my decision making, if at all. I prefer to be guided by personal experiences, of both my own and others'.

 

For instance I will continue to fly QF even if they never win anything as my own experiences (go to any of the oneworld TRs in my signature) suggest that they are the best airline as far as my perceptions and preferences are concerned. Different strokes for different folks - you can replace 'QF' with 'MH' or 'SQ' or 'BA' or 'CX' or 'UA', if a carrier works for you why would their performance on a survey, especially one conducted by an organisation as dubious as Skytrash with a badly flawed methodology, matter?

Edited August 12, 2008 by Keith T

[Pieter C. 5]

Qatar drops

 

but......look at Etihad !!!

 

have to agree with Cathay's position: had some VERY pleasant flights with them to/from SGN recently !!!

[Gavin Andrew David 6]

mmmm.... AHO itu apa, tak tahu the acronym la....??

 

9m-aho

[yeadrian 0]

Air Tahiti Nui, Air Pacific, Aircalin and Air Niugini come to mind as other examples of Australasian carriers.

 

And as I posted on SQTalk:

For instance I will continue to fly QF even if they never win anything as my own experiences (go to any of the oneworld TRs in my signature) suggest that they are the best airline as far as my perceptions and preferences are concerned. Different strokes for different folks - you can replace 'QF' with 'MH' or 'SQ' or 'BA' or 'CX' or 'UA', if a carrier works for you why would their performance on a survey, especially one conducted by an organisation as dubious as Skytrash with a badly flawed methodology, matter?

 

Oh, I do not know that QF and NZ compare themselves with Air Tahiti Nui, Air pacific, Air Calin and Air Niugini. Are they of similar fleet size, legacy ratings, alliance(1world,*A), routes? From what I know QF has never compared their products with them? They are non contendors... unless they realize that 2 big boys in the game thats why they put in those airlines to look good. It is akin to SQ contending against Lion Air(heck even lion air is bigger than them), Adam air, kartika and carriers of that sort...

 

 

Likewise there will be those who thrash QF as well as those who love QF wholly, however most people are guided by surveys and what not (a big majority), otherwise - go figure why skytrax results are highlighted by travel industry and some airlines year after year and is used as benchmarking in the industry ?

Dubious - sounds too harsh, travel industry relates to their survey, airlines relates to their survey... what about the respondants all over the world - are they to participate in skytrax? your views undermined people right through to industry...

although I am interested to read again about how flawed their methods are as highlighted by you.

 

The only thing i see is it may not be 100% fair due to sampling size, location, nationality, DIFFERENCE IN OPINIONS(especially), etc.. but in general it works very well, otherwise industry wide and multi million/billion corp won't pay attention... otherwise your skytrash would have trashed long time ago and not flourish...

Edited August 12, 2008 by yeadrian

[yeadrian 0]

thanks Gavin - I am blur,

you guys are real pro, at a snap can just get the aircraft by the rego.... "shi fu"

 

oh ok, now i realized after checking out the picture - maybe they add a sticker "last year" la.......

hahahahhah!!!!

 

9m-aho

Edited August 12, 2008 by yeadrian

[Ganesh.r 0]

So what to do with AHO?

 

Ak stop sponsoring Man Utd, what are they going to do with AFC

[BC Tam 2]

of course SQ still keep they title airlines of the year 2008 because of A380.without A380 they loose the title long time ago

I recall SQ having won the award (multiple years ?) in era before the dugong existed. So, I suppose SQ does possess some credentials other than being an A380 operator

[Keith T 2]

Oh, I do not know that QF and NZ compare themselves with Air Tahiti Nui, Air pacific, Air Calin and Air Niugini. Are they of similar fleet size, legacy ratings, alliance(1world,*A), routes? From what I know QF has never compared their products with them? They are non contendors... unless they realize that 2 big boys in the game thats why they put in those airlines to look good. It is akin to SQ contending against Lion Air(heck even lion air is bigger than them), Adam air, kartika and carriers of that sort...

 

There wasn't any of that implied - I was merely correcting a factual inaccuracy in the previous post (of which I should've also quoted), that there are only 2 carriers in the entire Australasian (haven;t seen that term for a while - South Pacific maybe??) region.

 

Likewise there will be those who thrash QF as well as those who love QF wholly, however most people are guided by surveys and what not (a big majority), otherwise - go figure why skytrax results are highlighted by travel industry and some airlines year after year and is used as benchmarking in the industry ?

Dubious - sounds too harsh, travel industry relates to their survey, airlines relates to their survey... what about the respondants all over the world - are they to participate in skytrax? your views undermined people right through to industry...

although I am interested to read again about how flawed their methods are as highlighted by you.

 

The only thing i see is it may not be 100% fair due to sampling size, location, nationality, DIFFERENCE IN OPINIONS(especially), etc.. but in general it works very well, otherwise industry wide and multi million/billion corp won't pay attention... otherwise your skytrash would have trashed long time ago and not flourish...

 

Harsh but true. The methodology gives equal weighting to and makes no difference between first time travellers, infrequent travellers and frequent flyers. This means that one time experiences can have disproportionate influence over the overrall result of the survey. IF someone flies MH once on a 2hr regional short hop and just so happens to be unlucky to have a lacklustre crew that particular day vs someone who flies MH weekly on both long and short haul flights and who generally loves flying MH - obviously the latter's opinions are more accurate and reliable than the former, but skytrax's methodology gives equal weighting to both.

 

And not to mention that Skytrax also operates a consultancy service for airlines - that in itself is a major conflict of interest. IF you've got time, you're going to have so much fun observing the correlation between advertising/sponsorship and results. Need I then also address your point about why such a mickey mouse of an organisation has prospered thus far?

 

A v small example - NH isn't in the top 10, that in itself speaks volumes.

And as much as i love Qantas - what on earth is the SYD QF First Lounge doing charting above the Lufthansa First Class Terminal?

 

AS to why airline industry figures give so much weight to skytrax survey results - any marketing is good marketing no matter how shaky the foundations of such marketing are, and that is applicable to any industry.

 

Anyway my earlier comment was directed at the doom and gloom style posts about MH underperforming on this particular survey - if MH works for you as a choice of carrier, then their performance on ANY KIND OF survey whether conducted by Skytrax or a far more reputable organisation really shouldn't matter how you personally as a consumer select a carrier. Real life experiences are far more helpful than junk surveys.

Edited August 12, 2008 by Keith T

[yeadrian 0]

There wasn't any of that implied - I was merely correcting a factual inaccuracy in the previous post (of which I should've also quoted), that there are only 2 carriers in the entire Australasian (haven;t seen that term for a while - South Pacific maybe??) region.

 

Harsh but true. The methodology gives equal weighting to and makes no difference between first time travellers, infrequent travellers and frequent flyers. This means that one time experiences can have disproportionate influence over the overrall result of the survey. IF someone flies MH once on a 2hr regional short hop and just so happens to be unlucky to have a lacklustre crew that particular day vs someone who flies MH weekly on both long and short haul flights and who generally loves flying MH - obviously the latter's opinions are more accurate and reliable than the former, but skytrax's methodology gives equal weighting to both.

 

And not to mention that Skytrax also operates a consultancy service for airlines - that in itself is a major conflict of interest. IF you've got time, you're going to have so much fun observing the correlation between advertising/sponsorship and results. Need I then also address your point about why such a mickey mouse of an organisation has prospered thus far?

 

A v small example - NH isn't in the top 10, that in itself speaks volumes.

And as much as i love Qantas - what on earth is the SYD QF First Lounge doing charting above the Lufthansa First Class Terminal?

 

AS to why airline industry figures give so much weight to skytrax survey results - any marketing is good marketing no matter how shaky the foundations of such marketing are, and that is applicable to any industry.

 

Anyway my earlier comment was directed at the doom and gloom style posts about MH underperforming on this particular survey - if MH works for you as a choice of carrier, then their performance on ANY KIND OF survey whether conducted by Skytrax or a far more reputable organisation really shouldn't matter how you personally as a consumer select a carrier. Real life experiences are far more helpful than junk surveys.

 

 

factual inaccuracy - what is inaccurate with 2 at par contending airlines? hence the further question/explanation why involve airlines not in the same league for comparison. Perhaps a superior being feels he knows australasia has other airlines apart from QF and NZ. Eh Brother - a bit of mutual understanding on other people's posts here is appreciated rather than implying people do not know their geography/airliners can ah.....

 

There are others apart from NH that is of the same fate. 100% equal footing on flight surveys, long haul/short haul difference is next to impossible.

People don't need you point out how to select carriers of their choice by ignoring surveys which you so deem as thrash.

Do you consider the masses that participated in skytrax's survey as junk? does that not qualify that they have experienced the airline? A passenger's experience with the airline even though one time/one off is not real life enough?

surveys are designed to "general" experiences and not a one off, hence there is sampling size. If you put your one off/one time criterias in every survey then of course it does not work out. 1 negative out of 10 will already give you a good sampling. Given - A good survey with a one off submission will be considered inaccurate (of course its not for me to decide how surveys are run by skytrax)

 

Marketing is a different ball game for discussion, basis is - who in marketing right mind will select an incompatible (mickey mouse) partner to work with, will SQ partner with a firm doing junk surveys (just an example-not that they do or that I know of) ?

maybe donald duck or hello kitty company is a better option

 

with this it implies that SQ must have Skytrax as a consultant for many years since they are in the winning team most of the time? I disagree - it's in my previous post.

It is a well known fact that they do consultancy for airlines - if we are able to prove that they are one sided, with facts of course - then I will hand in hand thrash them "kau kau"(big time) also!!!

Edited August 12, 2008 by yeadrian

[Keith T 2]

 

I now know what I was doing wrong - and that was attempting to engage in a constructive and intelligent discussion with you.

 

 

Really don't know what else I can say and not sure if I can be bothered either - for dinner at Delizia Cucinia awaits.

 

factual inaccuracy - what is inaccurate with 2 at par contending airlines? hence the further question/explanation why involve airlines not in the same league for comparison. Perhaps a superior being feels he knows australasia has other airlines apart from QF and NZ. Eh Brother - a bit of mutual understanding on other people's posts here is appreciated rather than implying people do not know their geography/airliners can ah.....

 

There are others apart from NH that is of the same fate. 100% equal footing on flight surveys, long haul/short haul difference is next to impossible.

People don't need you point out how to select carriers of their choice by ignoring surveys which you so deem as thrash.

Do you consider the masses that participated in skytrax's survey as junk? does that not qualify that they have experienced the airline? A passenger's experience with the airline even though one time/one off is not real life enough?

surveys are designed to "general" experiences and not a one off, hence there is sampling size. If you put your one off/one time criterias in every survey then of course it does not work out. 1 negative out of 10 will already give you a good sampling. Given - A good survey with a one off submission will be considered inaccurate (of course its not for me to decide how surveys are run by skytrax)

 

Marketing is a different ball game for discussion, basis is - who in marketing right mind will select an incompatible (mickey mouse) partner to work with, will SQ partner with a firm doing junk surveys (just an example-not that they do or that I know of) ?

maybe donald duck or hello kitty company is a better option

 

with this it implies that SQ must have Skytrax as a consultant for many years since they are in the winning team most of the time? I disagree - it's in my previous post.

It is a well known fact that they do consultancy for airlines - if we are able to prove that they are one sided, with facts of course - then I will hand in hand thrash them "kau kau"(big time) also!!!

 

[Ivan L. 0]

is ok mh..try again next year..no bad only drop to 2nd place :D not bad that..good job mh

 

Well.. isn't this why MH has problems retaining its reputation as 5 stars airlines? MH saving grace at the moment is the crew and for them to drop out from number 1 is not okay. The world keeps spinning and the competition keeps rolling in, "Tak apa" kind of attitude doesn't have place if MH wants to compete with the world. It's a wake up call and MH definitely didn't do a good job.

 

of course SQ still keep they title airlines of the year 2008 because of A380.without A380 they loose the title long time ago

 

I'm sorry to say, but this comment has no factual support. SIA has won many awards and accolades for a long time, way before A380 even exist. Their legendary service has dated back to when they still have Boeing 707 and 747-200. I start to wonder if you have even ride on SQ...

Some of the awards that SQ won is listed here: http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/en_UK/cont...chievements.jsp

[Kenneth T 0]

MH reputation is surely going to be affected if the management fails to take the necessary action to rectify the situation.

[Sandeep G 1]

Wow.. one survey and see the doom and gloom and drama unfolding here! hahaha I love my evening reads..

 

People.. It's just a survey... does it really matter??? Let's just view the results as they stand and applaud the efforts.

 

No need for name calling...

[yeadrian 0]

Constructive and intelligent discussion??

Please, not even a little glimmer of intelligence shown in below the belt cheap shot......

 

 

 

 

I now know what I was doing wrong - and that was attempting to engage in a constructive and intelligent discussion with you.

 

 

Really don't know what else I can say and not sure if I can be bothered either - for dinner at Delizia Cucinia awaits.

 

[KC Sim 2]

As surveys and their results go . . . they mean different things to different people and airlines.

 

You will notice that from the very early days of Skytrax, SQ has never bothered about this survey. As pointed out by Keith T, there were certain conflict of interest. SQ has never gloated about being presented this (dubious) award . . . neither has it been upset about not being presented this award at other times. More important to SQ are the awards conferred on it by readers of magazines such as Conde Nast (especially), Business Traveller, Travel + Leisure etc

 

At the end of the day, I think all of us should just use these results as a guideline but judge the airlines based on our own personal experiences on them. Based on my own experiences, it is very difficult to find me paying for a flight on Emirates and Thai. And while this may not be everybody's cup of tea, I actually have very positive experiences on some lesser known airlines such as MIAT Mongolian (whose cabin crew impressed me tremendously and whose meal portion look like a banquet compared to the likes of TG), SriLankan Airlines (whose service is very warm and sincere), Air India (great food, good service and yes, good Hindi movies too), EVA Air and Lufthansa. All these out of more than 55 airlines I have sampled - of course some more frequently than others.

 

KC Sim