LHs strategy: discussion thread for customers, investors, consultants & armchair CEOs
Jul 9, 2014, 7:43 am
#1351
Moderator: Lufthansa Miles & More, India based airlines, India, External Miles & Points Resources
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: MUC
Programs: LH SEN
Posts: 48,187
Open letter:
Open letter from Carsten Spohr to all employees
Dear colleagues, co-workers and members of the Lufthansa family,
Our Executive Board has been taking a long and close look over the past few weeks at how we can give our company the competitive structures it will need if we are to continue to share in our industry’s growth and, in doing so, ensure the continued viability of the Lufthansa Group. We can do so from a sound foundation: we are a broadly-based aviation group with strong brands, we have a very loyal customer base, and we have highly-skilled employees who are the envy of many of our competitors.
But our rivals aren’t standing still, either. And if we want to help drive developments in our industry rather than be driven by them, we must have the ambition to be better than the rest in every area of our activities.
We have set ourselves a clear goal here. We want to be our industry’s benchmark again, and thus the first choice for our customers, our shareholders, our partners and – of course – you, our employees. We’ve set the bar high here. But we would never have done so without good grounds for believing that it’s a goal we can achieve. And I would now like to outline to you what we need to do to reach this objective.
We have identified seven “action areas”, which relate not only to the market but also to our internal structures and processes, and which should enable us to make better and more fruitful use of the full strength and resources of the Lufthansa Group and its 118,000 personnel. And I would like to give you a brief overview of each of these areas and the actions we plan to take:
Continuous efficiency enhancements: We will continue to work consistently on our SCORE program. And the basic idea behind it will also live on beyond SCORE’s scheduled conclusion next year. Pricing pressures, declining yields and inflation alone have been shown to erode some 2-3% of our annual turnover every year – an amount of some EUR 700 million which we need to make up for by other means. In view of this, we intend to make constantly generating new ideas and actions a firm and permanent feature in our process landscape. And we won’t just be setting corresponding targets for every business segment here: we will be taking further actions, too, such as devising regular formats that will give all our employees the scope to develop their new ideas.
Customer alignment and quality focus: Quality is one of the key differentiators in the air transport business. And this is why – as you know – we want to work together to make Lufthansa a true quality leader and the first “five-star airline” in the Western Hemisphere. This must only be the first step, though. Because quality is to enjoy top priority at all the member companies of the Lufthansa Group. And as part of our quality drive, we will also be further personalizing our products and services, and providing extra service elements to pleasantly surprise our customers.
New growth concepts: As a group, we are currently experiencing hardly any growth, and are even growing more slowly than the market in some business areas. In the dynamic and highly price-sensitive market segments, our current platforms only enable us to exploit the growth potential to a limited extent, in view of their sometimes over-rigid cost structures. In view of this, we are now seeking alternative formats with which we can generate growth and simultaneously respond to our competitive environment. By 2020 we aim to have raised the Lufthansa Group’s revenues from its new platforms, its initiatives and its various service companies such as Lufthansa Technik, LSG Sky Chefs and AirPlus from the present 30% to 40% of its total revenue flow. But how exactly do we aim to achieve this in concrete terms?
We will be complementing our current multi-brand and multi-hub system with a new “WINGS” multi-platform concept for the rapidly-growing point-to-point business in our European home markets. The “WINGS Family”, which will also be based on the successful Germanwings concept, will be aligned to the high-growth private air travel market. The new WINGS master brand will enable us to bundle our various existing point-to-point air travel platforms; and we are considering extending it to intercontinental services, too.
At Germanwings we will be completing the transfer of Lufthansa’s non-hub routes as planned by spring 2015. The Germanwings fleet will also be expanded to up to 60 aircraft.
With Eurowings as our starting platform, we will develop a competitive continental European air travel product. Since the competitive cost structures required cannot be achieved with the present fleet of Bombardier CRJ aircraft, these will be replaced with Airbus A320 equipment. Eurowings will operate from Germany with up to 23 A320s, with services set to be launched in spring of next year. Our offer under the Eurowings brand will be extended to markets outside Germany. The first of these will be Basel, Switzerland, which will have a fleet of a further two to four A320s and should commence operations in early 2015.
We also plan to create a competitive new long-haul platform under the WINGS banner for the price-sensitive segment of private travel. Studies are currently being conducted into whether this should be done by Lufthansa alone or with a further partner; and for the latter option, talks are already at an advanced stage with Turkish Airlines. In an initial phase, the new intercontinental platform is expected to operate with a fleet that will gradually be built up to seven Boeing 767 or Airbus A330 aircraft, with operations commencing in winter 2015.
In a further move, Lufthansa Passenger Airlines is considering to what extent up to nine of its Airbus A340s could be operated at substantially lower unit costs, either on new routes or on routes currently threatened with closure. Negotiations are under way with all the internal and external stakeholders involved to achieve the cost reductions required.
Ultimately, the extent to which these new platforms and formats can be developed in the longer term will depend on their profitability and their market success.
Elsewhere, we are working intensively to further develop our bilateral partnerships with other air carriers. In this connection we have just concluded a new agreement with Star Alliance partner Air China for closer collaboration on the MRO and passenger services fronts and, ultimately, a joint-venture arrangement. We are also working with high priority to intensify our further airline partnerships: especially with United, our most important collaboration partner, but also with Air Canada and ANA. We will then have joint-venture agreements in place in all four of the world’s biggest markets outside our European home markets.
We will also be devoting sizeable resources to further developing our various service companies. Lufthansa Technik and LSG Sky Chefs will be expanding their Asian and American businesses; and LSG Sky Chefs also aims to increase its involvement in related markets beyond the aviation sector, such as the rail catering segment. Miles & More, too, offers significant further growth potential, and our customer loyalty program will now be refined to enhance its appeal to “less frequent flyers” and offer more mileage earning and redemption options.
Innovation and digitization: For decades Lufthansa was the world’s most innovative aviation group. We aim to build on that tradition, strengthen our innovation culture and return ourselves to the industry’s cutting edge. As our Group CEO, I will be taking personal charge of this particular brief. And of the many initiatives we already have in mind here I would like to mention just two. Later this year we will open a new “Innovation Hub” in Berlin, to put us closer to the world of start-ups and the digital technology scene. This will also help open us up more to these outside companies, with whom we aim to develop new products and services all along the travel chain. At the same time, we also intend to invest a total of EUR 500 million in innovations throughout the Lufthansa Group between now and 2020.
Efficient and effective organization: Our group structure and our processes are often too complex and slow. And this has, to date, often made it hard for us to tap the available synergies sufficiently fast and extensively, and thus prevented us from making full use of the strength and resources of the Lufthansa Group. In view of this, we intend to bring greater groupwide standardization to our processes, harmonize these more and, in the process, create a leaner and more effective organization.
Leadership and culture: Our notion of leadership and corporate culture is based strongly on the view that each and every employee is a highly-motivated part of the whole Lufthansa entity. We don’t need soloists: we need colleagues who are all prepared to pull in the same direction, regardless of where they are or what level they are at within our organization. To promote and cultivate this group spirit and feeling, we will be intensifying the rotation programs for our executive staff. We want our managers to regularly experience new and different areas of the Lufthansa Group, to help them think and act beyond their own areas of activity and in the interests of the Group as a whole.
Value-based management: We want to create value for our shareholders. And with this aim in mind, we are currently reassessing our present management concept and will be proposing a new and simplified alternative to our Supervisory Board this December, for adoption in 2015. Our thinking here is tending towards two key performance indicators: return on invested capital and operating result less capital costs. These will give us greater transparency, both internally and to the outside world, on the performance of our various business segments, and should be of invaluable help to us in framing and pursuing our future capital allocations and overall investment policy.
As you can see, we have set ourselves a busy and ambitious work program. It is a task that requires the support and commitment of each and every one of us. But the effort will be worth it. Because we are, after all, striving to secure our – and your – future.
Lufthansa has often set the standards for our industry in the past. And I see no reason why we should not do so in the future. Working together, we can – and will – make Lufthansa the first choice once again for customers, employees, shareholders and our partners. And I view maintaining a sound and fair balance among these different interest groups as an integral part of sustainable business management – and as my own personal commitment, too.
Thank you for your support, your loyalty and your dedication!
Sincerely,
Carsten Spohr
Dear colleagues, co-workers and members of the Lufthansa family,
Our Executive Board has been taking a long and close look over the past few weeks at how we can give our company the competitive structures it will need if we are to continue to share in our industry’s growth and, in doing so, ensure the continued viability of the Lufthansa Group. We can do so from a sound foundation: we are a broadly-based aviation group with strong brands, we have a very loyal customer base, and we have highly-skilled employees who are the envy of many of our competitors.
But our rivals aren’t standing still, either. And if we want to help drive developments in our industry rather than be driven by them, we must have the ambition to be better than the rest in every area of our activities.
We have set ourselves a clear goal here. We want to be our industry’s benchmark again, and thus the first choice for our customers, our shareholders, our partners and – of course – you, our employees. We’ve set the bar high here. But we would never have done so without good grounds for believing that it’s a goal we can achieve. And I would now like to outline to you what we need to do to reach this objective.
We have identified seven “action areas”, which relate not only to the market but also to our internal structures and processes, and which should enable us to make better and more fruitful use of the full strength and resources of the Lufthansa Group and its 118,000 personnel. And I would like to give you a brief overview of each of these areas and the actions we plan to take:
Continuous efficiency enhancements: We will continue to work consistently on our SCORE program. And the basic idea behind it will also live on beyond SCORE’s scheduled conclusion next year. Pricing pressures, declining yields and inflation alone have been shown to erode some 2-3% of our annual turnover every year – an amount of some EUR 700 million which we need to make up for by other means. In view of this, we intend to make constantly generating new ideas and actions a firm and permanent feature in our process landscape. And we won’t just be setting corresponding targets for every business segment here: we will be taking further actions, too, such as devising regular formats that will give all our employees the scope to develop their new ideas.
Customer alignment and quality focus: Quality is one of the key differentiators in the air transport business. And this is why – as you know – we want to work together to make Lufthansa a true quality leader and the first “five-star airline” in the Western Hemisphere. This must only be the first step, though. Because quality is to enjoy top priority at all the member companies of the Lufthansa Group. And as part of our quality drive, we will also be further personalizing our products and services, and providing extra service elements to pleasantly surprise our customers.
New growth concepts: As a group, we are currently experiencing hardly any growth, and are even growing more slowly than the market in some business areas. In the dynamic and highly price-sensitive market segments, our current platforms only enable us to exploit the growth potential to a limited extent, in view of their sometimes over-rigid cost structures. In view of this, we are now seeking alternative formats with which we can generate growth and simultaneously respond to our competitive environment. By 2020 we aim to have raised the Lufthansa Group’s revenues from its new platforms, its initiatives and its various service companies such as Lufthansa Technik, LSG Sky Chefs and AirPlus from the present 30% to 40% of its total revenue flow. But how exactly do we aim to achieve this in concrete terms?
We will be complementing our current multi-brand and multi-hub system with a new “WINGS” multi-platform concept for the rapidly-growing point-to-point business in our European home markets. The “WINGS Family”, which will also be based on the successful Germanwings concept, will be aligned to the high-growth private air travel market. The new WINGS master brand will enable us to bundle our various existing point-to-point air travel platforms; and we are considering extending it to intercontinental services, too.
At Germanwings we will be completing the transfer of Lufthansa’s non-hub routes as planned by spring 2015. The Germanwings fleet will also be expanded to up to 60 aircraft.
With Eurowings as our starting platform, we will develop a competitive continental European air travel product. Since the competitive cost structures required cannot be achieved with the present fleet of Bombardier CRJ aircraft, these will be replaced with Airbus A320 equipment. Eurowings will operate from Germany with up to 23 A320s, with services set to be launched in spring of next year. Our offer under the Eurowings brand will be extended to markets outside Germany. The first of these will be Basel, Switzerland, which will have a fleet of a further two to four A320s and should commence operations in early 2015.
We also plan to create a competitive new long-haul platform under the WINGS banner for the price-sensitive segment of private travel. Studies are currently being conducted into whether this should be done by Lufthansa alone or with a further partner; and for the latter option, talks are already at an advanced stage with Turkish Airlines. In an initial phase, the new intercontinental platform is expected to operate with a fleet that will gradually be built up to seven Boeing 767 or Airbus A330 aircraft, with operations commencing in winter 2015.
In a further move, Lufthansa Passenger Airlines is considering to what extent up to nine of its Airbus A340s could be operated at substantially lower unit costs, either on new routes or on routes currently threatened with closure. Negotiations are under way with all the internal and external stakeholders involved to achieve the cost reductions required.
Ultimately, the extent to which these new platforms and formats can be developed in the longer term will depend on their profitability and their market success.
Elsewhere, we are working intensively to further develop our bilateral partnerships with other air carriers. In this connection we have just concluded a new agreement with Star Alliance partner Air China for closer collaboration on the MRO and passenger services fronts and, ultimately, a joint-venture arrangement. We are also working with high priority to intensify our further airline partnerships: especially with United, our most important collaboration partner, but also with Air Canada and ANA. We will then have joint-venture agreements in place in all four of the world’s biggest markets outside our European home markets.
We will also be devoting sizeable resources to further developing our various service companies. Lufthansa Technik and LSG Sky Chefs will be expanding their Asian and American businesses; and LSG Sky Chefs also aims to increase its involvement in related markets beyond the aviation sector, such as the rail catering segment. Miles & More, too, offers significant further growth potential, and our customer loyalty program will now be refined to enhance its appeal to “less frequent flyers” and offer more mileage earning and redemption options.
Innovation and digitization: For decades Lufthansa was the world’s most innovative aviation group. We aim to build on that tradition, strengthen our innovation culture and return ourselves to the industry’s cutting edge. As our Group CEO, I will be taking personal charge of this particular brief. And of the many initiatives we already have in mind here I would like to mention just two. Later this year we will open a new “Innovation Hub” in Berlin, to put us closer to the world of start-ups and the digital technology scene. This will also help open us up more to these outside companies, with whom we aim to develop new products and services all along the travel chain. At the same time, we also intend to invest a total of EUR 500 million in innovations throughout the Lufthansa Group between now and 2020.
Efficient and effective organization: Our group structure and our processes are often too complex and slow. And this has, to date, often made it hard for us to tap the available synergies sufficiently fast and extensively, and thus prevented us from making full use of the strength and resources of the Lufthansa Group. In view of this, we intend to bring greater groupwide standardization to our processes, harmonize these more and, in the process, create a leaner and more effective organization.
Leadership and culture: Our notion of leadership and corporate culture is based strongly on the view that each and every employee is a highly-motivated part of the whole Lufthansa entity. We don’t need soloists: we need colleagues who are all prepared to pull in the same direction, regardless of where they are or what level they are at within our organization. To promote and cultivate this group spirit and feeling, we will be intensifying the rotation programs for our executive staff. We want our managers to regularly experience new and different areas of the Lufthansa Group, to help them think and act beyond their own areas of activity and in the interests of the Group as a whole.
Value-based management: We want to create value for our shareholders. And with this aim in mind, we are currently reassessing our present management concept and will be proposing a new and simplified alternative to our Supervisory Board this December, for adoption in 2015. Our thinking here is tending towards two key performance indicators: return on invested capital and operating result less capital costs. These will give us greater transparency, both internally and to the outside world, on the performance of our various business segments, and should be of invaluable help to us in framing and pursuing our future capital allocations and overall investment policy.
As you can see, we have set ourselves a busy and ambitious work program. It is a task that requires the support and commitment of each and every one of us. But the effort will be worth it. Because we are, after all, striving to secure our – and your – future.
Lufthansa has often set the standards for our industry in the past. And I see no reason why we should not do so in the future. Working together, we can – and will – make Lufthansa the first choice once again for customers, employees, shareholders and our partners. And I view maintaining a sound and fair balance among these different interest groups as an integral part of sustainable business management – and as my own personal commitment, too.
Thank you for your support, your loyalty and your dedication!
Sincerely,
Carsten Spohr
Jul 9, 2014, 7:45 am
#1352
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Southern Bavaria, Germany
Programs: LH Blue, BA Blue, Hyatt Gold
Posts: 1,517
Even the y-axis doesn't make sense. Would be interesting to know how many new C class seats could have been installed if you redirect the incurred cost to overworking hour payments of technicians.
Doing something productive.....
Jul 9, 2014, 7:55 am
#1353
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: VCE
Posts: 14,165
Correct. The y-axis only makes sense if this is to be an incremental revenue increase- and I am being very charitable in giving them that. The "Low Frills" concept long haul sounds like they are going to attempt to copy AirCanada Rouge.
Perhaps now will be a great time to add a "Sixth" type of mileage as we now have:
1. Award Miles
2. Status Miles
3. HON Circle Miles
4. Status Stars (not to be confused with #2 or #3)
5. "Select" Miles
Why not add "Low Frills" or "Wings" Miles into the mix?
As a customer all this does is confuse me yet ever more- what I am buying, what do I get, what is the value equation?
Perhaps now will be a great time to add a "Sixth" type of mileage as we now have:
1. Award Miles
2. Status Miles
3. HON Circle Miles
4. Status Stars (not to be confused with #2 or #3)
5. "Select" Miles
Why not add "Low Frills" or "Wings" Miles into the mix?
As a customer all this does is confuse me yet ever more- what I am buying, what do I get, what is the value equation?
Jul 9, 2014, 8:18 am
#1354
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SIN (with a bit of ZRH sprinkled in)
Posts: 9,455
Clearly, LH need more different miles!
Award, status, HON and Star-Miles were not enough, at least 3 more categories are in need. Maybe even four more, with one category only being collectable for consultants
Award, status, HON and Star-Miles were not enough, at least 3 more categories are in need. Maybe even four more, with one category only being collectable for consultants
Jul 9, 2014, 8:46 am
#1355
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Point Place, Wisconsin
Programs: LH HON, BA Gold, EK Gold
Posts: 14,505
The way I read the presentation is that all the new no-frills point to point flights will not be part of M&M.
SN and OS seem to be going towards being pure feeder airlines.
I guess the 767s which will operate the longhaul WINGS flights will be coming from OS?
SN and OS seem to be going towards being pure feeder airlines.
I guess the 767s which will operate the longhaul WINGS flights will be coming from OS?
Jul 9, 2014, 8:52 am
#1356
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: BSL/FRA or PHL
Programs: LH Miles and More, DL SkyMiles, Bonvoy, Hilton
Posts: 2,335
Looking back on the slide:
I see there is a lot of blank space in the area of full-service offerings. I can't help but wonder if this reflects the lack of management ideas and/or attention in this area...
...and couldn't they come up with a more original title for the presentation? Or was that part of the message? "Pain and suffering are coming: hold on and assume the brace position..."
"The Way Forward" was a restructuring plan at Ford Motor Company about 8 or 9 years ago that involved a huge retrenchment and a re-setting of expectations at a much lower level. The good news is that the plan may have even worked, but it decimated the company and was the inevitable result of many years of adverse market conditions and adverse management decisions.
Maybe the good news in this for me personally is I hear rumblings that service ex-BSL under the new structure may improve. That could win some business back from U2 and give me more flight options...
I see there is a lot of blank space in the area of full-service offerings. I can't help but wonder if this reflects the lack of management ideas and/or attention in this area...
...and couldn't they come up with a more original title for the presentation? Or was that part of the message? "Pain and suffering are coming: hold on and assume the brace position..."
"The Way Forward" was a restructuring plan at Ford Motor Company about 8 or 9 years ago that involved a huge retrenchment and a re-setting of expectations at a much lower level. The good news is that the plan may have even worked, but it decimated the company and was the inevitable result of many years of adverse market conditions and adverse management decisions.
Maybe the good news in this for me personally is I hear rumblings that service ex-BSL under the new structure may improve. That could win some business back from U2 and give me more flight options...
Jul 9, 2014, 8:59 am
#1357
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: BSL/FRA or PHL
Programs: LH Miles and More, DL SkyMiles, Bonvoy, Hilton
Posts: 2,335
Jul 10, 2014, 5:11 am
#1358
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: VCE
Posts: 14,165
Imagine the competition for the consultant miles alone- would be very impressive.
On a separate note Wall Street Journal had some nice coverage today- this is particularly interesting:
As a quick fix, the carrier this year will curb capacity growth more than 50% from earlier plans and see available seats rise 2% in the winter months. The airline will take aircraft out of service on its European network, inter-continental routes, and in its cargo business. A total of 10 planes will be removed in the coming winter period, it said.
...
Mr. Spohr said he also wants to streamline management within the group to accelerate decision making.
Sounds like plans are going right on schedule. Brilliant Really.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/lufth...aul-1404907650
The stock price today regrettably declined 4.11% although to be fair that may be linked to another of other factors rather than just the company performance as the DAX itself seems to be off ~1.66% as of lunch time.
Jul 10, 2014, 5:15 am
#1359
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: OSL/IAH/ZRH (time, not preference)
Programs: UA1K, LH GM, AA EXP->GM
Posts: 38,265
What about the 777s can they be 'upgraded' to 4-4-4 seating?
Jul 10, 2014, 5:19 am
#1360
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SIN (with a bit of ZRH sprinkled in)
Posts: 9,455
Is it just me, or is LH perfecting the "Heute Hü, Morgen Hott" - Strategy?
Or one could say, the left arm doesn't know what the right one does..
Cutting capacity, increasing capacity.
Cutting quality (SCORE), increasing quality (better C lounges)
Cutting F class on lots of long hauls, trying to become a "5* carrier"
Improving C product, putting more and more flights on outsourced companies.
Having a "boutique" airline called Swiss where the whole concept is everything but boutique (as in boutique hotels etc.)
I'm missing a strategy (apart from we cut costs more and more and hope customers still chose as over our cheaper and better competitors.
I'm disappointed, even if I didn't expect much, but it seems it's actually possible to push the cart even deeper into the mud.
Or one could say, the left arm doesn't know what the right one does..
Cutting capacity, increasing capacity.
Cutting quality (SCORE), increasing quality (better C lounges)
Cutting F class on lots of long hauls, trying to become a "5* carrier"
Improving C product, putting more and more flights on outsourced companies.
Having a "boutique" airline called Swiss where the whole concept is everything but boutique (as in boutique hotels etc.)
I'm missing a strategy (apart from we cut costs more and more and hope customers still chose as over our cheaper and better competitors.
I'm disappointed, even if I didn't expect much, but it seems it's actually possible to push the cart even deeper into the mud.
Jul 10, 2014, 6:03 am
#1361
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Point Place, Wisconsin
Programs: LH HON, BA Gold, EK Gold
Posts: 14,505
egg on their faces, as Turkish official denies talks for cooperation!
http://www.manager-magazin.de/untern...-a-980261.html
http://www.manager-magazin.de/untern...-a-980261.html
Jul 10, 2014, 6:38 am
#1362
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: BSL/FRA or PHL
Programs: LH Miles and More, DL SkyMiles, Bonvoy, Hilton
Posts: 2,335
This line caught my eye in the WSJ article posted above:
Hmmmm, the eighth cost-cutting program? I would say the cost-cutting drive is already pretty permanent. And...has the cost structure improved a whole lot relative to the competition?
It might be time to rip this airline down to it's basic foundations and start again from scratch...and maybe with this latest strategy, that is exactly what LH is trying to do...
Bonus problems to solve:
--Come up with a feeder network that makes sense.
--Develop a true full-service short-haul product that works financially.
"...Mr. Spohr said Lufthansa would make the continuing Score efficiency and cost cutting program, its eighth since 1991, a permanent fixture to drive improvements..."
It might be time to rip this airline down to it's basic foundations and start again from scratch...and maybe with this latest strategy, that is exactly what LH is trying to do...
- Offload everything except the very core mainline routes onto one LCC subsidiary or the other, and let those ancillary routes live, die or be sold-off as their performance dictates.
- Take the much smaller mainline LH that remains and make it a (mostly long-haul) hub service like SQ or EK and focus on the serving a smaller set of customers who appreciate and are willing pay a bit more if they are offered value for money (hint: this is where highly skilled and solution/result-oritented LH personnel could put a big hurt on most of their global competitors).
Bonus problems to solve:
--Come up with a feeder network that makes sense.
--Develop a true full-service short-haul product that works financially.
Jul 10, 2014, 7:26 am
#1363
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SIN (with a bit of ZRH sprinkled in)
Posts: 9,455
egg on their faces, as Turkish official denies talks for cooperation!
http://www.manager-magazin.de/untern...-a-980261.html
http://www.manager-magazin.de/untern...-a-980261.html
I mean, after all the "TK-Bashing" from LH headquarter, the move to go back to TK sounded already weird in my ears.. but actually to make the whole thing up.. nope.. this is surreal in a 7:1 way..
Have Jogi Löw running LH I say
Better hurry up then, before more and more staff is getting replaced by part-time Hausfrauen or students who work on 1-year-contracts (Yes, I'm talking mainline/longhaul, it already is happening and the % of those crew members is increasing fast)
Jul 10, 2014, 8:43 am
#1364
Moderator, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles & Accor ALL
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: BRU
Programs: TK*G, Accor ALL Platinum
Posts: 7,590
Well Skytrax is what it is. Airlines have to invite them to review them and the audit report makes interesting reading.
All the stuff FTers complain about did show up in the LH C review that skytrax did. Examples: lousy IFE, ignorant FAs, non flat seats, bad lounge for regular C pax, weird boarding for C pax, strange food in C, etc etc.
If LH or anyone uses that as a benchmark to improve services, more power to them.
All the stuff FTers complain about did show up in the LH C review that skytrax did. Examples: lousy IFE, ignorant FAs, non flat seats, bad lounge for regular C pax, weird boarding for C pax, strange food in C, etc etc.
If LH or anyone uses that as a benchmark to improve services, more power to them.
CAPA's take on this was:
Originally Posted by CAPA
“As airlines have to pay to be audited by Skytrax, the industry does not consider Skytrax to be a neutral and unbiased authority on airline quality,” said Will Horton, a senior analyst at Sydney-based Centre for Aviation (Capa).
Instead of chasing this outfit why not, for once, take customer comments serious and work on that? Reading the LH forum on FT is much cheaper than paying Skytrax for a "review".
