We get laughed at. A lot. Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS). The game? It’s just a game. The first MSFS I got was Microsoft Flight Simulator 5.0. It came out at 1993 and I was 11 years old. It ran on MS-DOS. The default airport was Meigs Field Airport, Chicago. I have no idea where that […]
Are airports monopolies?
I always wonder if I am an airline trying to fly into a city like Hong Kong, do I have a choice to fly to another airport other than Hong Kong International Airport? Within the Pearl River Delta, there are 5 airports to fly to: Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai. However, due to […]
The Truth about Aircraft Cabin Cleaning
Imagine yourself walking inside an aircraft cabin. The carpet is dirty with bread crumbs. The meal tray table is full of food stains. The seat pocket in front of you have left over garbage from the previous flight. How would you feel about your flight and the airline? As international flights get longer and longer, […]
Cathay Pacific Data Security Event
*Disclaimer: I love Cathay Pacific. Cathay Pacific is the “flag” carrier of a city where I was born and call home. I am an avid fan of Cathay Pacific since I was young and flown with Cathay Pacific for the past 30 years. My family has been Gold/Diamond Marcopolo Club members for years. I am […]
Part 1: The brand whores of airlines. Did full service airlines shoot themselves in the foot with customer service?
*Disclaimer: This article is a generalization and over simplifying the airline industry. This will be a series of articles where I am trying to make sense of the airlines as a customer service industry. Low-cost airlines have killed the aviation industry. No, I mean it. They not only found a way to lower operating costs […]
My trip report on Hong Kong Airlines A350-900 Economy Class
HONG KONG AIRLINES Hong Kong Airlines was established in 2006 as part of the Hainan HNA Group. HNA Group purchased an existing airline called CR Airways which operated a small fleet of CRJs. After HNA Group became the majority owner of CR Aiways, the airline name was changed to Hong Kong Airlines in September […]
HK Express – My trip report on Hong Kong’s only low-cost carrier
HK Express started as Hong Kong Express Airways in 2004 with a fleet of Embraer aircraft. In 2006, HNA Group, the parent company of Hainan Airlines in China, acquired a major stake in the airline together with Hong Kong Airlines in the same year. In 2013, the airline was renamed to “HK Express” and transformed […]
My trip report on Cathay Pacific A350-900 Economy Class
Cathay Pacific first Airbus A350-900 arrived in Hong Kong on May 2016. It will be the first of 48 aircraft orders which will include a mix of the -900 and the -1000. 26 of the 48 aircraft order will be of the bigger -1000 variant with the planned delivery starting on 2018. My trip was […]
The Anatomy of an Airline
I have always been in love with aviation. I first flew on an airplane when I was a few years old and from a young age I remember thinking that airlines are only made up of the people you see; the flight crew, the cabin crew and the check-in agents. I never really knew what […]
An #avgeek view of working in an airline.
Having been working at two different airlines for a number of years, I have to conclude that it may not be as rewarding as one would have thought to work in an airline as an #avgeek. As most #avgeeks out there, the aviation industry as a whole interest many of these people. However, for some, […]
Does an airline accident affect passenger loads and confidence? A look at Asiana Airlines OZ214.
One of the biggest fears that airline executives have will most probably be an accident. With the internet and social media, images of an airliner physically damaged with the company livery and logo can be transmitted around the world instantaneously. In the aviation industry, we do our best to learn from mistakes and prevent the […]
My Flight
As someone who is interested and fascinated by flight since a young age, my senses seems to be heightened when I go on-board a commercial airline flight. It all starts during my commute to the airport. I invite you to follow my thought process on every flight I take; that is, if I’ve not fallen […]