Four Corners
UNITED STATES What’s happening to the FAA? David Loft
vp sales and service, Flying Food Group
However troubling and concerning are the US debt issues, these have been somewhat overshadowed by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) funding and authorisation bill which is much closer to our industry. Since 2007 the FAA has
“From the end of July the FAA has not been able to collect taxes from airlines,
amounting to around $250m per week”
AUSTRALIA Is it my imagination?
Is the airline business getting busier? I’m not talking about passenger numbers but airline management, especially inflight teams, over the past 12–18 months. In Australia we cater for more
Pat Osborne
sales director Alpha Flight Services Australia
“Airlines in Australia are all flat out working on new
ideas, new aircraft and overall
improvements”
than 20 airlines of all sizes and one thing they all seem to have in common is that they’re all flat out working on new ideas, new aircraft and overall improvements. Competition between airlines is fiercer than ever before and it’s not as simple as blaming the increased competition on the evolution of the LCC. The competition I find interesting is among the full service carriers. Thankfully for the flight caterers this competition extends to
services such as catering and menu design. We find that airlines are turning more towards us for menu suggestions as we certainly know more about local produce, seasonal benefits and best price opportunities than most of our esteemed customers. We’ve adapted to the times and now boast a thoroughly professional menu development team that consists of modern, forward thinking chefs from a variety of backgrounds whose only prime design restrictions are cost and on board practicality. Busy airline management teams
are undoubtedly under enormous pressure to find ways of making their package for the passenger
as attractive as possible. Certainly ticket price is important and price competition is both healthy and beneficial but the well travelled public are seeking more than just a best price flight and, thanks to the likes of Facebook, Google, travel writers and word of mouth, we have access to an often critical, sometimes complimentary, review of airline performance including the comfort of the seat, the quality of the meal and the age of the movies. I read that Korean Air’s new
A380 has a duty free retail outlet on board complete with video advertising and four display units. So what next in the world of
international flight? Perhaps a live band or even karaoke!
www.onboardhospitality.com 47
operated on 20 “extensions” to its authorisation. Unfortunately at the end of July Congress was unable to agree to a further extension thus causing a shutdown of the FAA, at least partially anyway.* Whilst this hasn’t caused any
issues with safety and day-to-day operations of the aviation industry, it will no doubt have some marked effect on longer term plans. So, what has happened?
Congress was to grant another extension, but an addition was added to the bill that would eliminate some subsidies from the ‘Essential Air Service’ programme, which basically subsidises travel to more remote communities in the country. The Senate did not pass the extension. Alongside the EAS programme there is also an issue with rules which make it easier for Unions to organise the air and rail industries. The affects this has had are far reaching and from the end of July the FAA has not been able to collect taxes from the airlines. This amounts to around $250m per week. so a month of stoppage will have cost a billion dollars! This could have been a boon for
travellers but many airlines simply increased their fares, although after all the press coverage some airlines are promising refunds. The loss of taxes means that
many airport and air infrastructure projects have been stopped or put on hold and over 4,000 workers have been laid off with 70,000 others idle. While we are all thinking
positively and hoping this will be settled in a timely fashion, the airline system in the US is way too important to be played around with and can ill afford to lose the millions of dollars in taxes. *Congress has since granted an extension to Sept. 2011, but a long term agreement is still required’
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