One of our most experienced Captains - with over 30 years of experience, thousands of hours of flight time and a degree in Aviation Safety - was in the cockpit, about to embark on a 3,000 mile trans-Atlantic overnight flight.

When pushing back from the gate, the auxiliary power unit (a backup source of electrical power) and the Hot Battery Bus (a critical source of primary electrical power) both failed - in other words, the plane had no electrical power and no radio communications. None.

After opening a window to verbally call down to the ground crew (the Captain’s only option), US Airways maintenance was able to restart the power unit, but offered no explanation as to why it failed or any reasonable assurance that it wouldn’t fail again.

With her years of experience, the Captain knew this was a serious problem, and not one she wanted to encounter again, in the middle of the night, somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. 

This Captain did exactly what she is paid to do: exercise good judgment by stopping the operation and to address the issue with US Airways’ maintenance staff. In the meantime, she had an airplane with nearly 300 passengers who were not only anxious for information, but they were getting increasingly hot. Diagnosing the electrical problems required shutting down the aircraft’s air conditioning and there were problems with a ground-based conditioning unit. While dealing with the maintenance issue, the Captain and her crew also had to monitor the situation in the cabin and make sure the temperature wasn’t unsafe - for passengers of any age or health condition - and balance those concerns against the goals of Customer Service agents who are frequently resistant to deplaning the passengers because of the pressure to be on time. 

Perhaps if mechanics had simply started work on the problem when the Captain reported it, the situation would have worked itself out, but US Airways isn’t running that way with our current management. Instead, they embarked on a plan to intimidate the Captain and her crew to try to get them to fly the airplane without fixing it. Not only did mechanics try to convince her to disregard the problem, but her supervisor called her repeatedly and put tremendous pressure on her, specifically asking if she was “refusing to fly.” At US Airways, pilots who refuse direct orders are putting their jobs at risk. 

But this Captain stood her ground. She was right and she knew it, and she deserves tremendous credit for placing her career at risk in the name of safety. So, what does US Airways do with a Captain with such strong character and superior skills? In this case, she was met by US Airways Corporate Security and escorted out of the airport! Furthermore, members of her crew were threatened with arrest should they try to interfere.

US Airways has since attempted to spin the reason for calling for security as a customer service issue - they claim that her “continued presence was creating an environment that reflected unfavorably on the Company.” Translated, this Captain’s presence represented the passengers’ only link to the truth about the aircraft’s condition, and the Company likely didn’t want them to get wind of the fact that their plan was to find a crew who would fly the airplane without fixing this known deficiency. 

Do you think we have a problem here at US Airways?  We are living a death from a thousand cuts, this is just one of those cuts.  Our management has lost control

of the employees.  Please do your research and consider the consequences of a continued Star Alliance relationship with US Airways.

Sincerely,

Dave Mudge

Captain A320

US Airline Pilots Association Calls for Termination of US Airways Vice President of Safety and Regulatory Compliance Paul Morell

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – May 9, 2011 – After numerous lapses in safety protocols at US Airways recently, the Board of Pilot Representatives of the US Airline Pilots Association (USAPA), which represents the airline’s pilots, has unanimously called for the immediate termination of the ranking official in charge of airline safety, Vice President of Safety and Regulatory Compliance Paul Morell. 

“Mr. Morell has repeatedly ignored USAPA’s concerns about the safety of our airline and has shown no leadership in remedying potentially catastrophic situations that face our pilots,” said Captain Mike Cleary, president of USAPA. “As such, we have asked the Company’s leadership and the Board of Directors to act quickly and decisively to terminate his employment at US Airways.” 

In its communications with the US Airways directors, USAPA cited 17 specific issues to support its opinion that Morell is derelict in his duties to protect the pilots and passengers of US Airways. 

“Mr. Morell has ignored or actively dismissed safety recommendations from pilots, despite the fact that the pilots are on the front line and dealing with these issues on a daily basis,” added Captain Cleary. “USAPA has reached out to Mr. Morell time and time again, requesting his input and guidance about how to alleviate the many safety issues that face our pilots. At best, we have received a dismissive or tepid response; at worst, complete silence. Our efforts to engage CEO Doug Parker and the Board of Directors on this issue have also gone unanswered, clearly demonstrating that they do not share

USAPA’s priority of putting safety above all else. Not one of the 17 specific issues we brought to the CEO and Board has been acted upon or even responded to.” 

“Additionally US Airways’ management refused to participate in an external evaluation performed by renowned safety expert Dr. Terry von Thaden, who has performed more than 200 similar evaluations and has never, prior to now, had an air carrier refuse to participate in an evaluation,” Captain Cleary continued. “Her results – which indicated safety culture problems throughout US Airways – were dismissed out-of-hand by the Company.” 

Dr. Sidney Dekker, also a well-respected safety expert who reviewed the results of the evaluation at USAPA’s request, noted that, “Most worrying is the extent of the dismissal of the safety culture survey and the suggestion that management has the safety problem pretty much under control.” 

USAPA Safety Chairman Tom Kubik concurs. “Through the safety work conducted by Dr. von Thaden’s team, our pilots voiced their concern about everything from forced on-time departures to cost-cutting measures that erode the safety of our aircraft – and the Company turned a deaf ear to everything we said,’ said Captain Kubik. “Mr. Morell’s responsibility is to the pilots who work at US Airways and the passengers who fly with us, and he has repeatedly demonstrated that he is no longer able to fulfill this duty.” 

In an attempt to remedy these problems and bring additional attention to the safety infractions occurring on his watch, USAPA has called for the immediate termination of Paul Morell. Any other action by the Company will be viewed by USAPA as insufficient and a direct threat to the safety of the pilots and passengers on US Airways. 

I am starting to lose count of the times I’ve come down with a nasty chest infection after flying with EasyJet. Is this beyond coincidence? The inevitable consequence of traveling in any crowded space; or the particular hazards of air travel?

Have you noticed that actual flight times within Europe have become longer; and should you twist the gizmo in the panel above your head for fresh air, no air emerges.

This is because airlines fly slower these days to save fuel; and pilots have been asked to save more fuel by switching off air-conditioning units and reduce the amount of fresh air in the cabin and re-circulating more stale air.      

But there is a risk of passengers and crew catching serious airborne diseases – such as nasty strains of influenza, bronchitis, tuberculosis and Legionnaires’ diseases.

At 30,000 feet (9,150 meters) the atmosphere in a plane has to be artificially created. At that altitude, the cabin is pressurized to 8,000 feet, the equivalent of sitting on a mountain top, except for the healthy breeze. Outside air is too cold and too thin for us to breathe so the aircraft ventilation systems draw in air and bring it to the correct temperature and pressure (by mixing hot engine air with outside cold air) and remove a lot of moisture, as high humidity can cause aircraft corrosion.

Whatever class you fly, the quality of the air will be the same – although the cockpit crew gets a separate source of cold fresh air, partly because of the heat generated by instrument panels and electrically heated windows. Pilots get about 150 cubic feet of fresh air a minute per person, compared with about seven cubic feet a minute per person cheek by jowl in cattle class.

The quality of re-circulated air depends on the efficiency of catalytic air filters and how often they are changed. (A short dry cough is typical of high ozone concentration – along with eye discomfort, nose and throat irritation and headache.) The new generation of HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filters are said to remove at least 99.97 percent of all air particles 0.3 microns in size – which includes large bacteria but excludes viruses.

Evidence that poor air quality may cause serious disease is mainly circumstantial. This is due to a lack of research and the difficulty of tracking passengers after a flight and an incubation period of three to four days, which means that people don’t always link illness with a particular flight. Plus, there are no international standards on air quality, except for levels of carbon monoxide, ozone and carbon dioxide.

The FAA has set the maximum concentration of carbon monoxide at 50 parts per million (and ozone at 0.1 ppm, with a 0.25 ppm ceiling) and has proposed lowering the maximum concentration of carbon dioxide from 30,000 parts per million to 5,000 parts. The Civil Aviation Authority in Britain says it will follow suit. But that figure is still five times higher than the comfort guidelines for buildings. Pilots report that carbon dioxide levels are rarely controlled.

On my two milk runs – between London-Gatwick and Geneva and Nice – EasyJet is the only option with a monopoly on both routes.  Surprise, surprise, fares are getting higher, flight options fewer, and planes are invariably chockablock – and stuffier.  

As the late Anthony Sampson once said to me: ‘There are only two types of planes; full planes and empty planes, no matter what class you fly.’  Luxury means having an empty seat next to you.

And standards are slipping. If EasyJet is really serious about serving the business traveler it should offer pre-assigned seats to replace Speedy Boarding and for the same surcharge. The practice now is to coral the two sets of passengers (Speedy Boarders and Others) and have them standing around on boarding bridges for half an hour or more like cattle before they are allowed to stampede on to the aircraft.

It is only five years since EasyJet was the new kid on the block, with brand new Boeing 737s, young enthusiastic crews, with the fresh no-frills ethos based on the phenomenally successful model of Southwest Airlines in the United States.

I remember sitting with Stelios at London-Luton in November 1995 when the first flights were departing, sharing his enthusiasm in his battle with the Establishment – the ‘legacy’ carriers like British Airways, Air France, Swissair, Iberia, Lufthansa…

The challenge that no-frills carriers like EasyJet presented to the established carriers was not so much low fares but a whole new fare structure of ‘one-way’ pricing, depending on day and time of travel. And, of course, they pioneered on-line booking.   (EasyJet used to display its phone number on the sides of the planes; nowadays, it’s EasyJet.com.)

And the Establishment followed suit.

Nowadays, EasyJet is the Establishment, with a fleet of some 175 planes, 20 bases across Europe, and 50 million passengers a year.  British Airways and many of the other legacy carriers have retreated, focusing on their more profitable long-haul routes.

EasyJet is sometimes the only option on many point-to-point routes in Europe. You don’t even have the option of paying more for a better seat and better service.

Perhaps it is time for another new kid on the block.

Roger Collis, May, 2011

My Blackberry went berserk the other day when I checked my e-mails just before going into a meeting.  The familiar format had suddenly been reconfigured, from blue to a sort of magenta with a greenish background and new icons.   Where were my e-mails; where was my voice mail? How was I supposed to make a call?  When I opened a message the typeface was faint and too large to read. I wasted precious minutes finding the new ‘set- up wizard’ to bring the type back to normal. It was days before I figured out how to turn the damn thing off.

My addiction to the Blackberry began back in July 2003 when I tested one of the early models, the ‘Blackberry 7230 Wireless Handheld, introduced a month earlier in Britain, Austria and Germany, before North America and Asia, for the ‘mobile professional,’ made by Research and Motion in Waterloo, Ontario.       

Here’s my enthusiastic report back in 2003, light years away in cyber time:

‘E-MAILS IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND

It’s hard to go convincingly missing these days however far flung your itinerary. Here I am traveling with Blackberry, not another no-frills carrier, but a new ‘handheld’ device that displays my e-mails (and attachments) as they come in without having to be called up, just like they do on my PC screen back at the office.

I am holding the gizmo in the palm of my hand typing a reply with my thumb on the tiny QWERTY keyboard (hence the expression, I’m all thumbs), when a phone call comes in. I can pick it up and speak or leave it to voice-mail and get on with my typing. The ‘navigation track-wheel’ on the right hand side, under my thumb acts like a mouse. Scroll up and down, then click for a drop-down menu: Click again for ‘open’ ‘forward,’ ‘delete,’ ‘compose e-mail,’ ‘place call,’ and so on.   The ‘escape’ button is located right underneath. You are in control.  E-mails arrive silently – except when the Blackberry is in its magnetic ‘holster,’ when the device vibrates.  And my laptop makes a buzzing noise if Blackberry is close by. The medium has (almost) become the message.’ 

There was a time long ago when taking off on a business trip meant getting away from it all, at least, away from the office. Those were the days before direct dialing, when you sometimes had to book an international call. The worst that could happen when you got to the hotel was a garbled telex (remember the telex?), which you then decided whether or not you had received.   Nowadays, business travelers have the opportunity (and the obligation) of doing two jobs, the one on the road and the one back home in the office.  Nobody believes that you have not received an e-mail, especially if you have a Blackberry.

Keeping of out touch is not a serious option, unless all systems were to crash everywhere. Nowadays, there is almost nowhere left to hide. Out of touch is not out of mind. Better a problem screaming at you through cyberspace than a problem screaming in the mind. The challenge is not to keep out of touch, but to keep out of touch on our own terms.

Fast forward to May 2007 when my column ran with the following headline:

‘LEARNING TO LIVE WITHOUT YOUR ‘BLACKBERRY’

The blackout that forced hundreds of thousands of Blackberry addicts across the United States and Canada last month into 10  strange and terrible hours of peace from the relentless tide of e-mails was a vicarious foretaste of cold turkey for the estimated eight million Blackberry owners around the world.

The fatal attraction of the Blackberry, or ‘crackberry,’ to me is that it is the only gizmo I know that pushes down e-mail (re-directed from up to 10 mail boxes), without the need to log on, in the dead times when the flight is delayed, sitting around the airport lounge, or in a taxi. Every time the thing vibrates in my breast pocket, where it lives, I feel compelled to pull it out, interrupting a serious discussion, only to find the latest junk message. (Sometimes I feel a phantom vibration even when the damn thing is lying on the table.) Telling people you have a Blackberry is an open invitation to reach you at any time anywhere in the world, and giving you no excuse for ever being out of touch. 

There was a time long ago when taking off on a business trip meant getting away from it all, at least, away from the office. Those were the days before direct dialing, when you sometimes had to book an international call. The worst that could happen when you got to the hotel was a garbled telex (remember the telex?), which you then decided whether or not you had received.   Nowadays, business travelers have the opportunity (and the obligation) of doing two jobs, the one on the road and the one back home in the office.  Nobody believes that you have not received an e-mail, especially if you have a Blackberry.

The answer came to me in a rare Archimedean moment the other day when I had a Blackberry blackout of sorts. I found that Hotmail, to which all my e-mail is directed, will no longer send messages (for free at any rate) to my Blackberry.   So I arranged from a new Googlemail account to be directed to my Blackberry instead.

Now, when I’m away from my desk, I have someone keep an eye on my Hotmail, and sending me via Googlemail any life or death messages. I now get about half a dozen messages a day, instead of a message every few minutes.

Would it were so.  They seem to have sorted out the problem with Hotmail, because my latest allows every sort of message to get through.

The only hope now is a blanket blackout.    

The survey of over 1000 travelers revealed that one third of those who admitted flirting on board, ‘had a rendezvous after the flight,’ with 8 percent resulting in a relationship.

‘You are sitting next to someone for an hour or more, and the fact that you’re both traveling to the same place means you already have something in common,’ Karin Noble, a Skyscanner employee and a former cabin crew member, wrote in a statement from the site.’ Add this to the heightened effect that alcohol can have at altitude and the more relaxed ‘holiday mood’ that many travelers feel, and it tends to give people the courage to flirt with a fellow passenger, or even take things further, especially on long haul routes such as flights to Australia.’

There’s no doubt that the relationship between passengers sitting next to one another in a plane has a confessional element to it. Relaxed by food and drink, you can unburden your soul without trepidation, safe in the knowledge that you are unlikely to see your in-flight companion once the wheels have touched down.

A separate survey found that 20% of travelers already claim to be members of the Mile High Club and half of these had qualified for membership with a stranger they met on a flight.

Several high profile celebrities have enjoyed a bit of flirting in the air, it seems. Virgin boss, Richard Branson and actor Ralph Fiennes both claim to have taken it to the next step with membership of the Mile high Club.

That I should be so lucky: Invariably, the most attractive woman on the plane is sitting 10 rows in front of me. I wonder if the MHC offers ‘associate membership.’

The desire to get amorous at altitude has even spawned services that offer private flights specifically for joining the club. The Chicagoland Skydiving Center runs flights on a plane that has been converted for romance and comes complete with private double bed, champagne and promises of complete discretion.

However, a British firm offering similar ‘Mile High’ flights was recently shut down by the Civil Aviation Authority after two years of operation, as they were not satisfied that onboard safety criteria were being met – fearing that such in-flight action could be ‘too distracting’ for pilots. Not to mention cabin crew and other passengers. There may be scope for specialist dating agencies.

Research is only as good as the questions asked and the way they are phrased. I’d like to have seen some sort of scale - from exchanging pleasantries to serious chatting up.  And knowing how many passengers joined the MHC with their regular partners. It would also be nice to have a ‘cross-analysis’ for gender, occupation, age and nationality. Did cabin crew male/female participate in the hanky panky?

I must confess that the most exciting in-flight adventures I’ve had have been in the mind. You can date whoever you wish; and no-one will ever know.    

AAdvantage’s more than 66 million members have earned billions of miles for flying, redeeming their miles for millions of awards, including flights, lodging, dining, shopping and much more.

Some FFPs have as many as 200 partners. So nobody needs to fly to earn miles. Many airlines make money from FFPs by selling miles to program partners.   United Airlines and American Airlines are said to generate more money in this way than by selling airline seats. . FFPs enable airlines to build a data-base of travelers, especially very frequent travelers, with the opportunity to build a direct relationship with them.

The three major airline alliances, Star Alliance, One World and SkyTeam, allow travelers to earn and redeem miles on their partner carriers – a total of 49 major carriers.   Thus, by pooling mileage in one or the other account; for example, by giving your Lufthansa number to United Airlines, or vice versa, when you fly with either carrier.  This has allowed many travelers to reach gold, or platinum  status by concentrating their miles on a single program.  Sometimes it pays not to use the obvious choice, such as your home carrier, but to earn miles on a partner airline.

But airlines do not make it easy. Remember that frequent flier programs are a marketing tool for airlines; they are not run as a benefit to travelers.  Loyalty is not measured in miles alone, but in how much revenue you bring to the airline; rewarding people who pay the most for their tickets.

‘I’ve accumulated enough miles for a free flight, but when I try to book, the airline tells me that there are no award seats left on the date I want to travel.’  ‘I tried to use miles for an upgrade to business class but the airline told me that I was not traveling on an “eligible fare.”’ 

These are typical laments of frequent fliers, frustrated and angry at finding themselves snagged in a thicket of arcane rules and small print of airline frequent flier programs. As everybody knows, it has become far easier to earn frequent flier miles than to redeem them; too many miles are chasing fewer airline seats.

No wonder insiders estimate that there are a staggering 14  trillion unredeemed miles floating around in the system, earned by 250 million mileage junkies, each typically members of 3 to 5 frequent flier programs. 

Loyalty is not measured in miles alone, but in how much revenue you bring to the airline.   Few airlines outside of North America allow you to earn miles on any published fare or allow you to use miles for upgrades.   Typically, European and Asian carriers only award miles on the more expensive, fully-flexible fares.

But if FFPs are so successful, why is it that the number of unused miles is increasing dramatically?   Insiders estimate that a staggering 14 trillion unredeemed miles are floating around in the system.

This is because it has become far easier to earn miles than to redeem them; too many miles are chasing fewer airline seats. Airlines therefore have devalued the currency, making it harder to redeem miles with a thicket of arcane rules, such as blackout periods for the days you want to travel fly, limiting the number award seats available on certain flights, and expiry dates.

And some miles are more equal than others. This is because individual programs have different rules, such as award levels or the category of fare that earns you miles; which has left travelers confused and frustrated. This may have diluted loyalty towards a particular carrier by ‘commoditizing’ miles.

And don’t expect reciprocal perks and recognition, even or especially, if you carry a gold or platinum card. You may not get top priority on the waiting list or the run of the best lounge with an alliance partner airline.

There’s no such thing as a free flight. Travelers should ask themselves ‘Do you want to pay top dollar for a full-fare ticket and earn miles that you may find hard to redeem, or forget the miles and buy a discounted business-class ticket for less than half the published price?’

Back in my corporate days, before miles entered the travel equation, recognition, in the form of membership to airlines VIP clubs, was by ‘invitation only.’   Working in Geneva, I became a member of the Swissair ‘Travel Club.’ This delivered privileges, such as priority wait-listing, escorting to the plane by the station manager, a reservations hotline, and impromptu upgrades. 

The ultimate status symbol was wafting into the first class lounge with a green (economy) boarding pass ostentatiously stuck in your top pocket.

Perhaps it is time to reinvent the wheel.

This is a transcript of a podcast interview I did with Andrew Pike, general manager of the Milestone Hotel - a boutique 5 star hotel in Kensignton, London 

How do you see the opportunities and challenges of a five star hotel in these difficult times?

I think we’re probably experiencing some of our most challenging times today. Various factors - one certainly is the recent security alerts that have been in place for a while now that have come very much to the forefront of people’s minds. And perhaps the second thing is the continuing issue with the dollar exchange rate and that’s obviously eating into people’s pockets. A lot of our guests are overseas visitors.

How many guests are American?

Around 50% of our guests at the Milestone, so it’s quite a big number for us.
So you’re trying to keep that clientele obviously and I would think, trying to diversify. Are you having success in that?
Yes we are. We’ve got a fairly strong base of European guests as well but traditionally the Milestone has been a fairly strong US hotel.

With a mixture of guests and the mixture of nationalities, how do you reconcile different nationalities in their needs, requirements and demands, and also the business and leisure traveler?

“We recognize that different nationalities may have specific requirements… but we like to personalize our service and we very much do regard people as individuals and maybe not get too hooked up on customizing in relation to specific nationalities.”

People often get confused on how to define a five star property versus a four star property, and stars vary all over the world and are not a consistent classification in my view. What do you see as the characteristics of a five star hotel?

I think that the basics in terms of quality, comfort, fixtures and fittings (there’s the comfortable bathrooms that work), are all a prerequisite at the five star level. What marks a five star property out above any others is really the service. It’s down to individuals; it’s down to the staff and the interaction they have with guests.

How do you maintain good service?

We’ve got to recruit the right people to start with, you’ve got to recruit people who genuinely love looking after other people, that has to be in place; then its really a question of being fair, appreciating the people that are working with you; great training program - we have one of the most comprehensive training programs for our staff that I think any hotel company has and that’s really key.

Do you check on them (the staff) from time to time with mystery shoppers?

Yes, mystery shoppers are very much on our agenda.

Discerning travelers are now keen to get back to basics. In the old days, of course, you looked for a comfortable bed and clean towels in the bathroom, etc. Now hotel bedrooms are a bit like luxury apartments, with gizmos, such as Wi-Fi, multi-channel television, Internet access, and that sort of thing, but people are getting back to basics in that the main thing is to get a good night’s sleep.

Definitely; I think that’s still the primary requirement and so we’ve adopted a view that, yes we want to keep up to date with technology in particular and you can’t afford to fall behind in those areas, but we recognize first and foremost that the fundamentals - the quality mattress and bed, the air conditioning that works; the fact that it’s not noisy; that’s really the priority for us.

People are really getting into feeling the linen and plumping the pillows and jumping on the bed and mattress and so on. Can you tell me something about that?

Sure.  We have a standard with the companies that supply our linen that they provide us with a minimum thread count of 200 per square inch - this indicates how soft the linen feels.  If it’s 200 or more it’s going to feel very soft and so that’s a standard we’ve had in place for a little while.

I have a list of things I love to hate about hotels. One of the things I love to hate is air conditioning which is noisy and I can’t regulate it, and windows that don’t open - I’m either hot or cold. How do you handle these idiosyncrasies?

I think the air conditioning requirement is a fairly fundamental one for everybody and we’re lucky we employ some very skilled people that look after that - the whole maintenance of that system is paramount. When we need to replace air conditioning in any part of the hotel then that’s top of the list - everything’s got a life expectancy and we plan for that accordingly.

What are the things that travelers really need, and what are the things they think they need or would like to have as options?

I think the must-haves are very much the basic comforts we’ve talked about - the comfortable bed, a feeling of security, a decent bar where they can get a drink and relax in the evening, anything they need in terms of newspapers and information -  I think those are the basics they expect. The “would-like-to-haves”, I think are more down to the personal level and certainly one of the key people in our hotel is the head concierge. If someone is coming to London for a number of days it’s pretty important to have that point of contact. I think that access to information as they need it, when they need it is important too.

How important is internet access and all the high tech gadgetry that travellers need to keep in touch?

Very important I think Roger. Whether it be the corporate guest or the leisure guest, everybody wants to keep in touch with the internet these days. One of the things we decided to do was to offer this as a facility without charge, just because people are using it all the time now, so I’d sat that’s very important.

What is the Milestone’s cutting edge?  What is its competitive advantage over other five star properties?
If I answered that in one, I’d say it’s our staff - the great interaction and the personalized service that we offer our guests.

Do you have any special facilities or services for women travelers?

We do. We have a number of women travelers and there are a number of things we do, that I think are appreciated…if a single female traveler is dining in the restaurant, then our team are trained to not be sitting them in the centre (where they may feel a little bit surrounded) but to find a nice cosy corner. When we’re delivering a room service tray to our guests, we will always allocate a female member of staff to deliver that. And also, being a bit smart about which floor we use- the female traveler will not necessarily want to be on the ground floor. It is little things like that that I think are appreciated.

How important are loyalty programs?

I think there’s certainly a place for them, we recognize that they are important, they are of value to people, but I think with our company, and I speak obviously from the Milestone Hotel’s perspective, I think that what people are looking for more than anything else is recognition. And I think if Mr. Smith or Mrs. Smith check into the hotel , it’s about us knowing what their newspaper is and offering that newspaper up front, having a drink ready for them in the bar that we know they like - I think it’s that feeling of being wanted and made special that’s more important than the points they collect which they may or may not trade in.

http://www.4hoteliers.com/4hots_fshw.php?mwi=5584

‘A life in food’ by Bea Tollman is a luscious coffee table book self published by Red Carnation Hotels. It is, surprise, surprise on display everywhere, and was handed to all 350 delegates at a tourism conference last week in Cape Town.

Well, yes, so much for that, you’d think. But the 29 recipes in the book describe what I call ‘real food’ as distinct from ‘mucked about food.’ They are an inspiration for anyone who needs to get everyday food on tables. In fact I’ve borrowed one very simple recipe, ‘The best Dover sole in London,’ for my own forthcoming cook book, ‘Food & the Single Man.’    

Here’s the review I posted on Amazon.

‘This book is a love story; a life long affair with hospitality, fine dining and comfort food; a must-read for everyone who loves good food, and preparing it for themselves and their loved ones.

The author, Bea Tollman, is the founder-president of the Red Carnation Hotel Collection of thirteen boutique hotels – five in London, two in Dorset, Guernsey, Geneva, Palm Beach and three in South Africa. Her book provides fascinating autobiographical insights into the career she has shared with her husband Stanley over many decades.  Photographs of the Tollman’s with their family and celebrities – from their early days in South Africa, through the evolution of Red Carnation Hotels to today – are juxtaposed with twenty-nine deliciously illustrated recipes.  

‘Delicious comfort food has always been my speciality, with each dish highlighting the ingredients and none being overpowering,’ Tollman writes. ‘I believe that most people when dining out or staying at hotels want good value, tasty and satisfying food, without too much complication or fuss.’

Amen to that. There are cookbooks meant for browsing; poetic recipes with a laundry list of esoteric ingredients and minutely detailed dosages and procedures meant to be enjoyed vicariously.  Leafing through the pages, you are eating with your mind, your imagination, yet knowing that these are dishes you will never actually attempt to make.

But this is a cookbook of recipes that are simple, easy to follow, lovingly honed over the years, that you know you’ll want to make, and that you know will work!    It’s what I call real food, not messed about food…

‘Yes, so many people are going back to that sort of food,’ Tollman says. ‘You can go to a restaurant and everything might look good, piled up, one thing on top of the other. But how can you mix so many flavors together?  Are you eating food, or are you eating a creative… picture?’

As a self-catering man, who enjoys cooking for guests, I recommend dishes like ‘Egg & onion dip;’ ‘Bea’s chicken soup;’ Bea’s favorite chicken liver pate;’ ‘Pot roast brisket & chicken;’ ‘Spaghetti pomodoro;’ and the sublime ‘Hand chopped sirloin’ (Hamburger it is not!). ‘Bea’s cheesecake,’ and other puddings look enticing, but I’m not a great dessert man.

I would wish for a few more recipes in this delectable coffee table book, and a ‘rendered down’ text of the recipes that I can use in the kitchen.’

American Airlines is launching an Express Seats service allowing travelers to purchase seats in the first few rows of coach (economy)  - including bulkhead seats in that cabin.

Travelers who purchase an Express Seat are able to board with ‘Group 1’ of General Boarding for their flight, allowing them the convenience of being among the first coach travelers on and off the plane.

Express Seats are available to all American Airlines’ travelers and can be purchased exclusively via airport self-service check-in machines at anytime from 24 hours to 50 minutes before scheduled flight departure for travel wholly within the United States, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Introductory prices for Express Seats (based on distance) start at $19 per flight. Examples of starting prices on popular routes: St. Louis to Chicago O’Hare, $19; San Francisco to Dallas/Fort Worth, $29; Boston to Chicago O’Hare, $29; New York JFK to Los Angeles, $39; Chicago O’Hare to Honolulu, $39.

There’s nothing new under the sun, they say. Some twenty years ago, the Canadian carrier Wardair (long since subsumed by Air Canada) offered quality at reasonable prices with a single standard of cuisine and service throughout the plane and a ‘Big Seat’ option. No matter how much you paid for your ticket, you could trade up to a Big Seat in the front of the cabin for about 50 Canadian dollars.

In response to this staggering finding, Travelodge surveyed 6,000 Britons to investigate the nation’s fascination with cuddly bears. The survey revealed that more than a third (35%) of adults admit they sleep with their teddy because they found cuddling their bear comforting; and the calming feeling of a bear hug also helps them to de-stress after a hard day – which aids sleep.

A quarter of male respondents reported they take their teddy bear away with them when traveling on business. As it reminds them of home and a bear cuddle helps them to nod off as they miss a bedtime cuddle from their partner. In addition, over a quarter of adults 26% use a teddy bear hot water bottle so that they can have a warm bear hug to help them nod off.  

Psychologist Corrine Sweet says: ‘Cuddling a teddy bear is an important part of our national psyche as it evokes a sense of peace, security and comfort. It’s human nature to crave these feelings from childhood through adult life. This is why 35% of British adults sleep with their teddy bear. It’s not surprising, then, that taking a cuddly bear on a business trip is so popular, even among men (25%). A bedtime bear evokes the secure feelings of home and warmth, which can aid sleep – just like in childhood.’ 

‘We have never had as many as 75,000 cuddly bears left behind in Travelodge hotels before,’ says Shakila Ahmed, a Travelodge spokeswoman. And our staff has worked extremely hard in reuniting the bears with their owners.  Amazingly, the owners have not just been children – we have a large number of frantic businessmen and women calling to say they have forgotten their teddy bear.’

Well, yes. A lady psychologist I know says that teddy bears represent ‘safety objects.’ In the absence of a real human being, hugging a bear in bed is ‘soothingly tactile and comforting.’

‘A teddy bear on a man’s bed,’ she adds, ‘shows his sensitive side to a lady visitor – although more than one cuddly animal may not be quite so cute.’

I don’t know about that. But I don’t think, Vanessa, my life-size inflatable doll would like a teddy bear around.