businesstraveller.com NOVEMBER 2018
INBOX YOUR LETTERS
TELL US ABOUT YOUR TRAVELS AT [email protected]All these continuous major
investments are to ensure that our
products and services continue to lead
the industry across short-, medium-
and long-haul routes.SOUND STRATEGY
I recently f lew Thai Airways’ f light
TG564 in business class from Bangkok
(BKK) to Hanoi (HAN). he food
was fabulous and the service from
the f light attendants very good. But I
was dumbfounded that there were no
headphones available in business class.
Anditwasn’tjustthisflight.
According to the cabin service manager,
they are not offered on any short-
haul international f lights unless it is a
Boeing 787 aircraft. How ridiculous.
Paying for, or using points for, a
marketed product/service that is not
delivered is unreasonable these days.
There is a lot of competition now – up
your game Thai Airways!
Simon Blackman, ThailandTHAI AIRWAYS RESPONDS:
Thai Airways always provides
headphones to all passengers for
flights that have a flying time of more
than two hours. Since flight TG
from Bangkok to Hanoi has a flying
time of 1 hour 50 minutes, headphones
would not be provided.SMART MONEY
Recently I went to Paris to attend
an Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development
(OECD) conference on the application
of blockchain technolog y for the
common good. Some speakers there
predicted that blockchain will change
our lives as radically as the internet
has, and one deservedly oft-praised
application is the so-called smart
contract. Such a contract cannot be
forged or changed, and compliance can
be automatically enforced.
My f light back home was rather
delayed, as is oten the case with
evening f lights. Arriving after midnight
can cause logistical problems with onlyexpensive solutions. Ticket rates vary,
not in the least depending on departure
and arrival times. The consumer holds
up his end of the deal by paying for
the ticket – the airline does not, and
renders a service the consumer would
have paid less for if only he had known.
To balance this, there is EU law,
entitling passengers to compensation of
up to €600 (US$697).
Unfortunately, as many travellers
have experienced, the trouble and
time involved in coercing the airline
to actually pay up easily exceeds the
eventual compensation. Moreover,
it recently transpired that airlines
tamper with f light times to avoid such
claims. For a crazily delayed f light
from London to Amsterdam in the
summer of 2015, I only received my
due compensation – minus legal costs- in late spring 2018. In a blockchain-
based smart contract – the ticket
purchase agreement – a mandatory
clause could be included that
automatically authorises the payment
of a compensation ifxnumber of hours
have passed since the planned, non-
manipulated arrival time and the f light
has not yet arrived at its destination. I
expect this might really help prevent
long delays.
Of course, airlines will not readily
accept this shift of what is in effect a
burden of proof. Some lobbying will
be required. Consider this letter a
first effort.
Joost de Leeuw, Netherlands
19wear and tear, with tatty, fraying edges
complete with black grime, and again
limited in-f light entertainment via a
woeful app.
Hoping to get past all of this on
my return f light (SQ223) on May 6,
I was able to use points to upgrade to
business class. Sadly, while the service
was nice enough, it was again an ageing
aircraft with lots of visible grime, and
the seat next to me even had part of the
side secured with sticky tape – I am
not joking.
I can’t imagine why SQ would want
to tarnish its reputation with such poor
quality. I hear that some new aircraft
are being introduced to the route and
hopefully any new planes will sideline
the old and SQ can focus on rebuilding
their reputation.
On a positive note, recent travels
with Cathay Pacific between Perth
and Hong Kong have been delightful,
excellent aircraft and service, as per
usual, and the new A350 is superb in
all classes.
Anthony Arrigo, China
SINGAPORE AIRLINES
RESPONDS:
We regret to hear about Mr Arrigo’s
experience with our flights between
Singapore and Perth, and between
Singapore and Shenzhen.
Singapore Airlines is committed
to maintaining a young and modern
fleet, which enables us to continue
to ofer new in-flight products to
our customers. It is our pleasure to
inform Mr Arrigo that we introduced
the Dreamliner 787-10 aircraft, which
comes with new regional cabin
products, into the Perth service
from May 7 this year. We believe our
customers will be delighted with the
enhanced travel experience.
We also announced earlier this
year that Silk Air will undergo a
significant product upgrade with
new lie-flat seats in business class,
and the installation of seat-back in-
flight entertainment systems in both
business class and economy class to
more closely align its products and
services to those of Singapore Airlines.