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Very OT: Tyler Brule's comments about FT availability on BA flights ex SIN
As there is no 'BA in the news' thread (like on e.g. NZ forum), let me just give you a heads up, that Tyler Brule moaned in his regular column he has on Weekend FT, that the FT he was offered on a BA flight ex SIN was one day old (obviously loaded in LON on the previous evening). He used about 250-300 words to express his disappointment and describe interactions he had with the F/A.
PS. On a serious note - what I see annoying is that on flights ex SYD the FT (and other papers) are 2 days old and there are no AU newspapers loaded. Tyler flew ex BRE with QF. |
Ah yes, I've kept a close interest in this individual ever since one FTer sent me a PM and asked my if I was Tyler Brűlé in disguise. I subsequently saw him on a BA service and discovered that, along with Duran Duran's Simon le Bon, it's his real name.
Here's an extract:
Originally Posted by Tyler Brűlé
After a layover in Singapore, I boarded the last British Airways service up to London and settled in for the 12-ish hour flight. I asked the crew for a copy of the FT’s weekday edition, and a few minutes later the BA staffer returned with a nicely folded bundle of pink paper.
“Oh but it’s the Tuesday edition,” I said, with some surprise. “Do you have today’s, by chance?” “I’m sorry, let me check but I don’t think so,” the flight attendant replied. “I’ll be right back.” A couple of minutes passed and the woman returned empty-handed. “It seems we only load the papers in London,” she explained. “I guess you can’t get this particular paper in Singapore.” At this moment it’s hard to say what face I pulled but I know I sat upright and leaned forward and into the aisle slightly. In a very low voice, I started to explain the problem with this particular scenario. “This paper is, in fact, printed locally and, as it’s close to midnight on Wednesday, the Thursday edition is almost available. Don’t you think you should be loading papers locally? Just like you do food and jet-fuel?” “Hmmmmmmm? I dunno. There must be a reason for it. I’m not sure,” she said. “I thought it had something to do with not being able to get hold of local papers overseas.” “No, no. That’s not the reason,” I said. “I imagine it has something to do with costs. Anyway, thank you.” Fortunately I passed out before we even pushed back and somewhere over India I woke up, put the seat in recline and dozed the rest of the way back to Heathrow. The joy of a clear diary - FT.com And I thought this was why the Kindle had been invented. |
To my horror, there were no copies of the FT Weekend available in the T5 Galleries First yesterday afternoon. Some copies did later appear, though only after asking and waiting 15 minutes.
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Took me a while to work out if FT was referring FlyerTalk, Fast Track or Financial Times :)
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Originally Posted by ba_cityflyer
(Post 21293329)
To my horror, there were no copies of the FT Weekend available in the T5 Galleries First yesterday afternoon. Some copies did later appear, though only after asking and waiting 15 minutes.
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BA can have as many copies of the FT as they want...and with 20 print sites across the globe from San Francisco to Singapore to Sydney, availability of the fresh product shouldn't ever be an issue.
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Originally Posted by Paralytic
(Post 21293341)
Took me a while to work out if FT was referring FlyerTalk, Fast Track or Financial Times :)
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Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
(Post 21293557)
Or indeed late and unlamented Siem Reap Airways, whose 3 aircraft ceased to ply the skies of Cambodia after the long arm of the European Union banned them on safety grounds.
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IIRC the FT has been out of date in the SQ lounge in Changi airport too, by at least one day when I've been through there.
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Its all about the cost & what BA are willing to pay to have newspapers loaded onboard their aircraft & lounges.
Whilst the cost of the actual newspaper will be minimal, there is a lot more to the supply chain than meets the eye... Putting any product on an airplane is expensive. It becomes a lot more expensive (and complicated) when the product only has a effective shelf life of 18 hours, and it is produced in the early hours of each & every morning.... I am sure that even if the FT was offered free to BA in Singapore that they would still decide not to load it due to supply chain & security screening costs... |
Originally Posted by BahrainLad
(Post 21293493)
BA can have as many copies of the FT as they want...and with 20 print sites across the globe from San Francisco to Singapore to Sydney, availability of the fresh product shouldn't ever be an issue.
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Originally Posted by Christickler
(Post 21294033)
I am sure that even if the FT was offered free to BA in Singapore that they would still decide not to load it due to supply chain & security screening costs... This also implies there are no local papers at all loaded. Not sure how they intend to woo the local market with that. Sure most would prefer Straits Times to the Daily Mail. |
FWIW I used to always find a copy of the FT (and WSJA) in the Skyview Lounge (CX) in SIN T1, so no issues with airside supply.
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Qantas do (at least used to) provide a condensed version of the Sydney Morning Herald on ex-LHR flights and some hotels will offer to print a current copy of an international newspaper for their guests, so something is possible if there is the budget and the will.
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Tyler should fly SQ: I was on their BCN-SIN service and asked for the FT and got a three day old copy. SQ loads the papers in SIN and then flies to GRU and back via BCN without loading any papers at any stop...
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