exilencfc

Would it be possible to split off various countries into Other European and rename the existing forum as Russia and Central Asia based airlines? Whatever happens I think there will be an issue with geographical knowledge, I doubt that most people know where Moldova is - and I suspect they would look for Kazakh airlines under Russia. When I was looking for information about Belarus visas I found it in the Russia rather than the Europe section of the destination forums. I'm not saying that FT should pander to ignorance but at the same time information does need to be where people can find it.

CMK10

How about "Russian and Places James Bond Villains Come From Airlines"?

Andriyko

I am sorry but why should we reward and foster ignorance and lack of education? I won't look for Canada under the USA nor would I look for Austria under Germany; nor would I ask to name forums based on my knowledge (or lack thereof) of where the countries are or aren't. I hope that before people look for information about a particular airline of the country they are going to visit they know where that country is located. We should not name forums just to suit uneducated people - perhaps some will learn something new trying to find the information they need.

As I mentioned in my earlier posts, I can understand that 23 years ago not many people knew the new countries that came into existence after the USSR broke up but if some people still can't tell Russia apart from Kazakhstan or Belarus then I feel embarrassed for them.

lin821

I totally agree, especially when FT has earned such a great reputation among the (English-speaking) travel world to be an informative and educational resources over the years. How FT establishes its forum structure and present itself can carry some significant weight.

I would think some good forum descriptions should take care of what the forum titles/names can't cover in full. A well-defined forum, let it be a travel/mile or destination one, should have little room for confusion, so FTers can easily find the right way. Not to mention MODs can always give a helping hand to relocate threads/posts from those much confused and/or less knowledgeable posters to more fitting fora when necessary.

For example, folks not aware of Singapore Forum would ask about Singapore in our catch-all Asia Forum, which is meant for some cross-country discussion in Asia and some other Asian countries without their own standalone subforums on FT. Threads about Taiwan belongs to Asia Forum but sometimes folks mistakenly start their discussion in China Forum. Popular Hong Kong threads posted in China Forum often get moved to the designated Hong Kong and Macau Forum. Some RBPs to MODs help those misplaced threads find the right home eventually.

JDiver

From Chisinau to Conakry, Chengdu and Chihuahua, knowledgeable FlyerTalk members make Moderators' work much easier by letting us know when something is askance or a post or new thread needs moving.

SanDiego1K

I am concerned about our political faux paus with our current forum naming. Is this the best solution? And would this give clarity as to what should reside within it?

Canarsie

...as would lumping the United States under the United Kingdom as a British colony.

Would that be a fair analogy?I have similar questions and concerns; and I would like to hear more from FlyerTalk members who are knowledgeable about the specific geography of that area of the world — politically or otherwise — especially those who are based there.

FlyerTalk may be based in the United States; but it serves the world; and I would like to see it serve its members around the world properly.

I am listening...

MSPeconomist

To follow up on my previous posts on this thread and in an attempt to clarify a potential list of choices, for the "other airlines" of this region (note that the existing airline specific fora would not be changed), I see the following tentative possibilities:

Europe (everything from Russia on the east through Greenland if they have an airline, Iceland otherwise to the west)

Europe with a separate forum for Russia

Western Europe and Eastern Europe separately, with Russia in its own forum

Western Europe and Eastern Europe separately, with Russia included in Eastern Europe

So I count four possibilities involving 1, 2, or 3 fora to cover the geographic area. Am I missing something?

Perhaps it's time to start looking at the evidence of numbers of threads and posts to see whether these possibilities would generate reasonable amounts of traffic, or should one or more of these choices be eliminated from consideration?

SkiAdcock

If you want input from those who reside or travel frequently in the region, I'd recommend someone from TB posting a 'heads up' in the current Russia-based airlines forum re: the topic & providing a link to this thread in TB.

Cheers.

MSPeconomist

It wouldn't hurt to also have a "heads up" note in the current European airlines forum as that would potentially be affected by some of the proposed changes.

CMK10

Threads created with links to this thread in both forums. Want me to do Budget European Airlines too?

GUWonder

That makes sense in large part. But keep in mind that there may be posts/threads in the Russia/CIS-based Airlines forum that don't make sense (post-forum-split) for "Other European Airlines" and that don't make sense for "Russia-based Airlines". I am thinking of FSU Central Asian-based airlines and/or those around the Caucasus.

I wonder how the following renamed forum would go over with those in the identity politics game:

"Airlines that always give a Russian-language safety briefing" or "Russian-language airlines"? Perhaps then there would be less that needed to be moved.

MichaelBaku

That seems logical. However, where would you put Azerbaijan? It's not the Middle East and it's not Europe.

MSPeconomist

It's not in Africa so the answer must be Asia?

Canarsie

I agree.

In my opinion, countries of the world should be identified by on which continent they are located as a basic starting point.

Then, we should determine if that location is in a region well-known enough to warrant its own area — such as the Middle East or the Caribbean.

Turkey was a difficult country because it straddles two continents and could be considered part of the Middle East as well. Fortunately, that circumstance is unusual.

Therefore......Asia would be the most logical choice for Azerbaijan, in my opinion.