Singapore Airlines

[brattzz]

yikes!

PR disaster indeed...

If want to pay, maximised the publicity and goodwill!
If don't want to pay, why change to pay?!!

[touzi]

I heard about this over the news... since when did SIA become so regimental... due to retired SAF high ranks being parachuted into SIA...

Great way to fly no more...

Are you aware that they were allowed to bring their musical instruments on board when they depart from Zurich and Singapore....on SQ flights? It was only at HK that they faced problem. So which ex-SAF high rank was posted to HK as station manager that made it regimental?

[Curiousparty]

http://www.tremeritus.com/2014/12/13/the...-to-worse/

************

SIA for ang mohs only:
December 13, 2014 at 4:52 pm SIA for ang mohs only(Quote)
I was flying Business Class on SIA. At the end of the meal the cabin staff started serving cake as dessert. After it serves the ang mohs on Business Class the cabin attendant went back to the galley with balance of the cake. When she came to my seat I asked for a slice of the cake. She told me it was finished. After this incident I stopped flying SIA and told my colleagues and friends to do the same. SIA is a shitty airlines who pander on “white trash” and treats local like cattle.

****

SIA sucks:
December 13, 2014 at 5:34 pm SIA sucks(Quote)
I recently used my accumulated Krisflyer miles to get a free return ticket to London for my daughter. The booking must be done online to avoid paying extra with Krisflyer miles.

The design of SIA website could have been better. There two buttons to click on to use Krisflyer miles:

BUTTON 1: Redeem award flight(s)
DESCRIPTION: Redeem Saver, Standard or Full award flights on singaporeair.com

BUTTON 2: Pay with Krisflyer miles
DESCRIPTION: Use your Krisflyer miles to pay for all or part of your airfare

I chose Button 2. Good thing I needed to change my booking so I went to SIA office at Ion. I was told I clicked on the wrong button. I should have chosen Button 1. It appears that for SIA “redeeming” using Krisflyer miles and “paying in full with Krisflyer miles” are different. Counter staff at SIA could not explain it and told me to write in. By “redeeming” instead of “paying in full with Krisflyer miles” I saved 10,000 Krisflyer miles and $400 in surcharges.

What upset me about the whole thing was that I went to SIA office at Ion BEFORE I made the booking online. I wanted to know how many Krisflyer miles I needed to get a free return ticket and how to book a ticket using Krisflyer miles. I was even attended to by two counter staff serving Business and First Class passengers.

I was given wrong information twice. I was told I do not have to log on to my Krisflyer account before making the booking. I would be prompted in the payment part of the process whether I wanted to use Krisflyer miles. This is incorrect. The counter staff did not correct me when I said I would “pay using Krisflyer miles” – Button 2. Neither one mentioned “award” or “redeem” – Button 1.

The above experienced convinced me that I would avoid SIA and use my Krisflyer miles on other airlines in Star Alliance.

******

Chris K:
December 13, 2014 at 7:37 pm Chris K(Quote)
Frequent flyer with SIA since 1990, Gold member since 2005. As you guessed, I travel frequently on business. 2 years ago I cut my Gold card into two pieces and send it to SIA with a F-U message. No thanks for not upgrading me even once in 24 years of flying. No thanks for turning me away from the first class lounges. No thanks for me wondering what the f. the Gold card is for.

In contrast, I flew between Japan and Europe with British Airways. The food may not be as good, the aircraft may not be as new, the female cabin attendants nothing to look at (altho greatly improved in recent years). But I get upgraded to first class often. Even when I used BA airmiles to travel for holiday on economy, my wife and I get upgraded to the next class every now and then. And we get to use the first class lounge regardless of which class we flew.

SIA don’t get it – frequent flyers like me don’t care very much abt food on board (they r all bad anyway), What we do care about is how the airline treats us and SIA in trying to keep to their “exclusive” image is pissing people like me off.

[Caelitus]

1. If the cake was listed as dessert in the menu, the passenger should have informed the In-Flight Supervsor or the Chief. I would hardly think dessert, especially if it is part and parcel of the menu, would run out. That alleged case posted on TRE allegedly promotes 'hate'.

2. Under the PPS/Krisflyer tab on the website, there is very comprehensive information on redeeming award flights versus paying for flights using miles. If one calls the Krisflyer hotline, you can get good information and advice. However, it does look like customer service at the front office needs to improve.

3. If the poster flies frequently in Business Class, he/she should be a PPS member rather than a Krisflyer Gold member? Today, there are so many Gold members who qualify by doing 50,000 miles. Also First Class Lounge is as the name puts forth, for First Class passengers. Any frequent flier will like to correct me? There is distinction between SQ First Class and other airlines' Star Alliance First Class at Silver Kris Lounges where there is The Private Room. It is my opinion that SQ does not want to dilute the branding of the classes by upgrading passengers.

From my own experience, I have always had a great service from the cabin crew and station managers whenever I flew SQ in Economy. Try smiling and conversing with them. Everyone's flight will be better. My most recent flight was on SQ25 this week. One of the greatest so far even though I am Singaporean and flying in Economy.

[greengiraffe]

Absolute disgrace notwithstanding a low cost carrier tag:

http://mothership.sg/2015/06/furious-pas...ork-hours/

http://mothership.sg/2015/06/scoot-final...vagueness/

Worst still, entire saga happened on home ground Changi Airport and there was absolutely no response whatsoever...

Odd Lots Vested
SIA

[greengiraffe]

Scoot targets China, India markets

• THE AUSTRALIAN
  
• NOVEMBER 02, 2015 12:00AM
  

Steve Creedy
[Image: steve_creedy.png]
Aviation Editor
Sydney

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A Scoot Dreamliner arrives in Melbourne yesterday as the budget carrier adds the city to its flights schedule. Picture: Mike Keating. Source: News Corp Australia
[b]Scoot chief executive Campbell Wilson plans to make the budget carrier a conduit between Australia and fast-growing markets such as China and India as it expands its network from its home base in Singapore.[/b]
A newly delivered Scoot Boeing 787 Dreamliner jetted into Melbourne yesterday to make the Victorian capital the long-haul budget carrier’s fourth Australian destination after Sydney, the Gold Coast and Perth.
The move brings the Singapore Airlines subsidiary’s total number of scheduled destinations to 17 using a mix of two-class 787-8s and bigger 787-9s.
In addition to internal growth, it expects its reach to further expand when it more closely aligns its operations with Singaporean sister carrier Tigerair next year through a shared reservations ­system.
China is a major target for Scoot, with Hangzhou recently joining its roster of Chinese destinations and Guangzhou coming online early next year. Guangzhou will be Scoot’s sixth destination in China served from its Singapore base and the second in the Pearl River Delta area after Hong Kong.
The budget carrier is also launching services to as-yet unannounced destinations in India and to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. Mr Wilson also expects both of these destinations to play well in Melbourne.
“Certainly with our expansion into China, with our closer co-operation with Tiger and the destination that adds for us and then our move into India early next year and also Jeddah from May, we felt there was good opportunity to carry people beyond Singapore and also from behind Singapore into Victoria,’’ Mr Wilson said.
He said many of the airline’s customers in China were part of a growing group travelling for the first time out of the country, and Australia was an aspirational destination. “Every time I go to China, every travel agent, every provincial governor, every mayor, every airport, they want a connection to Australia,’’ he said.
The new Melbourne services means Scoot now serves the nation’s four biggest cities — Brisbane through the Gold Coast — and Mr Wilson said the airline needed the Victorian capital in order to have a credible Australian network. He said the airline was happy with the way its existing routes were performing in terms of customer reception and passenger loads, despite the slowing economy and depreciating currency.
Overall traffic had not been greatly affected by the economic changes, although there had been a slight decrease in outbound figures and an increase in inbound passengers. However, he conceded that the impact of the Australian dollar’s decline had been material in terms of yields, with a 9.5 per cent year-on-year decline of the dollar against its Singaporean counterpart translating to a yield decrease of about 5 per cent.
“Which is significant especially when our costs are predominantly in Singapore dollars or US dollars, which appreciated still further,’’ Mr Wilson said.
“It’s not the best of things but it happens and it’s cyclical and where the Australian dollar may depreciate, the yuan and other currencies may appreciate so it balances out at some point.’’
Scoot now uses Dreamliners only on its scheduled services but still has a Boeing 777 it uses on charters to Korea.
It has three 787-8s and six 787-9s with another Dreamliner arriving in December and a second in March as it moves towards a fleet of 20 of the 787s by early 2019.

[greengiraffe]

Air New Zealand's innovation inspired by Silicon Valley, Disney and Four Seasons
DateNovember 27, 2015 - 3:50PM

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[Image: 1433717257517.jpg]
Jamie Freed
Senior Reporter

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Air New Zealand chief executive Christopher Luxon was named CEO of the year at the Deloitte Top 200 awards in New Zealand on Thursday. Photo: Christopher Pearce

When Air New Zealand looks for inspiration on the latest way to please customers, it doesn't copy rival airlines like Qantas Airways or even partners like Virgin Australia.
The Kiwi company, known for its entertaining safety videos and quirky image, turns to the latest technology from Silicon Valley and innovative hospitality industry players like Disney, Celebrity Cruises and Four Seasons Hotels.
"If you want to drive innovation you have to go outside and then go inside," says Air NZ chief executive Christopher Luxon.
Luxon was this week named New Zealand's CEO of the year at the Deloitte Top 200 awards in Auckland. 
His full executive team headed to Silicon Valley in June, and others make even more regular visits. Luxon has attended the last two Microsoft CEO Summits hosted by Bill Gates, as the only Kiwi invited to a forum of 130 global thought leaders, including the likes of Warren Buffett, Arianna Huffington and Sheryl Sandberg.
This week, the airline announced its latest innovation, the "Airband". Children travelling alone will receive one of the wrist bands at check-in as part of the service. It is embedded with a chip that is scanned at key stages of the journey to trigger text notifications to up to five nominated contacts, giving guardians peace of mind.
"The team saw this idea Disney had for this band managing queuing and tracking people through the park," Luxon says of the inspiration behind it. "There may be more future application of it to pets being transported or elderly parents being transported."
Andrew Flannery, the head of Flight Centre's Australian corporate travel business, says the Airband is another great point of difference for the carrier, which offers other unique products like the flexible "Skycouch" space on its aircraft. "They certainly seem to lead the charge when thinking outside the box," he says.
Air NZ recently tempted Amazon executive Scott Bishop to move over to Auckland from the US to become its head of innovation. He will report to a new chief digital officer, also likely an overseas hire, who will be announced in the coming weeks.
Coffee app
Earlier this year, Air NZ showcased its digital expertise with the addition of a function in its mobile app that asks passengers for their coffee order as soon as they enter one of the airline's airport lounges. Luxon says there are plenty more coming.
Next is a biometric automated bag drop that will allow passengers who have scanned their passports at check-in to drop their bag without the need to re-scan their ticket at the baggage drop, because facial recognition will match the person's face to their passport. The technology will be introduced at Auckland International Airport by the end of the year.
Other ideas involve bag tags. One idea is to allow customers to print bag tags at home or the hotel and slip them into a reusable sleeve. Another is for an electronic tag with writeable ink, like on a Kindle e-reader, that would change codes each time a person is flying for those without access to a printer. The difficulty so far has been finding a screen on the tag that will stand up to the rigours of rough baggage handling.
"That is not really for launch but those are the kinds of things we are trying to pilot and explore," Luxon says. "The journey for a trip is a long one. There are lots of frustrations and pain points along the way."
In the meantime, Air NZ, which is increasingly targeting the Australian market for passengers on its trans-Pacific flights, is tempting passengers with unusual marketing. Its latest safety video, featuring the All Blacks and based on the "Men In Black" films has been a hit.
Air NZ instigated a bet with Qantas over the Rugby World Cup, which ended with a Qantas crew (albeit New Zealand-based) being forced to wear All Blacks jerseys on a trans-Tasman flight after the Wallabies lost.
"That was great fun," Luxon says. "That was a good example of how we take our business seriously but we don't take ourselves that seriously. It was great for both brands and good to have some fun around that."
This week, Air NZ had even more fun at Qantas's expense. The Kiwi carrier booked a full-page advertisement in The Sydney Morning Herald showing it had made Qantas boss Alan Joyce an elite member of its Airports frequent flyer program as a result of kind public comments he had made about Air NZ.
Luxon, who has a good relationship with Joyce, hasn't received a Platinum One frequent flyer card from Qantas or an invitation to the Chairmans Lounge.
"There hasn't been reciprocity," he says with a laugh. "That has been another piece of fun as well."

[specuvestor]

SIA competitiveness continues to erode... even Cathay is not spared now. Until SIA Total Recall what was their edge in the first place

"(Bloomberg) --
Asia’s marquee airlines are warning tougher competition is squeezing them.

Singapore Airlines Ltd. said Thursday passenger yields -- a key measure of profitability in the industry -- remain under pressure amid "aggressive capacity injection." Yields declined to their lowest in more than six years in the first quarter. The stock fell 1.6 percent at the start of trading in Singapore Friday.

Earlier this month, Ivan Chu, chief executive officer of Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., which dominates the Hong Kong financial hub, said there is “intense pressure" on the metric.

The expansion of the Middle East’s ‘Big Three’ -- Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways -- and an unprecedented surge by budget airlines in the region is hurting the pricing power of Asian carriers. Singapore Air CEO Goh Choon Phong and his Cathay counterpart Chu have ordered some $20 billion in new aircraft to modernize their fleet and take on their competitors who are offering luxuries like on-board shower and butlers."

Patiently waiting for Open Skies to be in effect.... I think this is also what SIA is waiting for.
Think about it, this is a temporary setback. SIA in the first place should not even be this successful.
We have no domestic destination at all. With the Open Skies agreement, SIA suddenly has alot more destinations to fly to.
A whole host of "domestic" market now.
I hope I am right...slightly optimistic

Yes and no. I don't think this is temporary. SIA was successful because they focused on software and value proposition, when competitors were focusing on cost. Now it's about hardware and bragging rights.

Until management "total recall" they are in service industry, and not just short term reactive or bottomline, I would steer clear of their cluelessness. It is scary when management does not understand their real business or strategic purpose. The frustrating part is that they are strategic to our tourism industry so their cluelessness has extended reach

We are in the phase where Buffett said sooner or later an idiot will run the company. But like I said before, unlike Buffett I won't bet on the moat.

Probably instructive to reread our discussion 20 months ago and see in real time how management missteps can take years to grind a good company into mediocrity

http://www.valuebuddies.com/thread-261-p...l#pid46224

Time is the friend of the wonderful company, the enemy of the mediocre. I do hope for Singapore's sake they get better calibre management that understands what our formula was.

[BlueKelah]

They need to get rid some poorly trained indian, philippino call center staff first. Everytime I do booking seems they dunno what they are doing. Then have to call again until get the local people then the booking done fast and easily.


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[corydorus]

Similar to LKY believes in gene, there are tiering within indian and philippino. From my company experience, they are just not getting the right level of people to do the job.
Why ? Cost lah. If they have employ the same standard of people from there, they will find the salary demand is not wide enough in cost gap from local to justify "outsource". Hard Truth. I feel is tacit way of compromise service.