When you think about airline labor disputes, you probably think about strikes. After years and years of negotiating, the unions gain the right to walk out and that shuts the airline down, or it at least hampers its operations significantly. This weekend, we were faced with something else. Fans of the National Basketball Assocation (if there are any left) certainly know this tactic well: lockout. Qantas management decided to shut down the airline and lock out labor to force an agreement. Unlike the NBA, this required a quick resolution, so the government stepped in and made the airline fly. It’s exactly what CEO Alan Joyce wanted, but he’s going to get a lot more than he bargained for.

In Alan’s mind, he’s saving the airline from ruin.

There has been an ongoing dispute with labor for years at Qantas. This issue in particular centered around the pilots, mechanics, and baggage handlers. Most of the problems stem from a couple things. Qantas employees believe they deserve all the compensation in the world while Qantas management disagrees. Qantas is actively trying to go around them by setting up subsidiaries elsewhere, most notably with low cost carrier Jetstar which has employees with different work rules and pay rates.

This move has had the Qantas employees steaming for years, and it only got worse when Qantas announced it would set up a new premium airline in Asia as well. The assumption is that Qantas employees are not going to be a part of that enterprise because the pay and work rules for the Australian airline just don’t work in the world today.

Labor likes to point to the continued profitability of Qantas and how the airline can’t just push them aside in favor of cheap labor just to goose profits further. But Qantas is quick to respond that profits don’t come from the core international airline operation. That has been a money-loser and there needs to be changes in pay/work rules to get closer to what other airlines pay. That point is certainly up for debate in my mind.

The reality is that like in everything else, a compromise is necessary, but just as we see in the US political scene these days, none is at hand. There has been increasing industrial action from the labor groups with little strikes here and there. The mechanics have been working to rule and Qantas has seen performance suffer significantly.

Alan Joyce is Crazy … Like a Fox?
So what can Qantas do? It could keep negotiating in a situation where no deal will ever be made, or it could do something drastic. Alan chose Option B; he went scorched earth and shut down the airline.

Now why the heck would someone do that? It’s actually a clever move. (Don’t read that as me supporting it, but it is clever.) First, it shows the labor groups that Qantas is not screwing around. Alan is willing to shut the place down if the unions won’t come to the table and get serious about an agreement that works. Note that Jetstar, Qantaslink and JetConnect subsidiaries all kept running – it’s just Qantas itself that shut down. Qantas wants the unions to think that this will be a permanent solution if things don’t get resolved.

But more importantly, it pushes the government to get involved. The expectation had to be that by doing this on Saturday, the government would have acted swiftly and had the airline up and running again by the end of the weekend. That’s exactly what’s happening, though cancellations are likely to persist into the week as operations ramp back up. I think it probably took a little longer for the government to act than Qantas thought.

Qantas spent the weekend shut down but now, with the government’s urging, Fair Work Australia made the airline start flying again. The airline was deemed to be too vital to the economy to let it stay shut down, and that’s exactly what Alan was banking on. The airline was forced to re-start operations and labor has to stop all industrial action. Labor and management will enter into intensive negotiations over a 21 day period. if that doesn’t work, they go to binding arbitration.

And that’s probably what needs to happen here, because both sides seem completely loony to me with their thoughts about what’s right. If someone rational gets in the middle and strikes something fair, both sides will be unhappy but at least this will all be over.

So does that make this a smart move? It’s certainly a creative way to force the government into action, but it is also highly destructive of the relationship with every single employee as well as with the traveling public. Sure, it will end the industrial action but at what cost?

Some employees may have supported Qantas management before; not the unions, perhaps, but others. Now with this reckless grounding, employees have to be livid and somewhat nervous. I would start looking for a new job if this is how my senior management behaved. I certainly would have lost a great deal of respect for management.

If you pull a stunt like this and inconvenience thousands of travelers, you run the risk of pushing them off permanently. In the past, Qantas really didn’t have much competition within Australia or even to and from the country, but that has changed dramatically. Internationally, there are more flights every day from Asian/Middle Eastern carriers, and Qantas management isn’t shy to talk about it. That’s why it wants concessions from the union.

Virgin Australia Must Be Smiling
The biggest winner, however, is Virgin Australia. Even though Qantas wasn’t putting people on other airlines, Virgin responded quickly by offering discounted fares to Qantas fliers, lounge access for Qantas elites, and a bulked up schedule to accommodate the stranded folks. It also saw partners step in to help. Etihad offered to start flying routes on the airline’s behalf to pick up the slack.

For Virgin, it’s exactly what it needs. The airline has changed itself to focus on business travelers over the last year or so, and this is the perfect way to show Qantas loyalists what it can do. Those who have been burned by Qantas may not go back, or so Virgin Australia hopes. But Alan Joyce thinks that he’s found the way to success and he’s making that gamble.

Will people, employees and travelers alike, leave Qantas over this and look for better options? Qantas is betting that won’t happen, but I wouldn’t be so sure. Qantas has probably done serious harm to itself here. I would expect calls for Alan Joyce’s head to get louder and louder. But maybe that’s what the airline wants? Maybe, as the unions think, Qantas wants to shut down the old airline and start anew with cheaper labor and lower costs.

Now there’s a scary tale that you can tell at your Halloween party tonight.

If you’re wondering where my CNN column has gone, it hasn’t disappeared. I’m just going to be writing a little less frequently. The next one will go up on Monday, and as always, will be linked to from here. I’m also hoping to have something new to report in the next two weeks.

In the Trenches: Standing in the Customers’ Shoes – Intuit Small Business Blog
It’s never fun to get stuck, but my experience this week has been great for helping me relate to clients.

If you’re in the US, you may have missed the first flight in service of the 787 this week. That’s because it happened on the other side of the world with ANA’s flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong. Though I wasn’t at the inaugural, there were plenty of others who were there and have been steadily writing about it including AirlineReporter and FlightBlogger. So, now that the 787 is in service, will it really be a game changer?

As we all know, there are some airlines that do a good job of responding to customers via social media channels and there are others that just don’t. Then there’s KLM, which has decided to go above and beyond and guarantee a response within 1 hour to any Twitter or Facebook post. ANY tweet or post? In the words of Barney Stinson . . . challenge accepted. Unfortunately, KLM failed miserably.

First, I had to make sure I understood the limits of this thing. After speaking to some PR folks, I found that if you tweet @KLM or leave a message on the airline’s Facebook page, then KLM will respond within an hour. This doesn’t include country-specific KLM handles, like @KLM_US, so I had to limit my search. (Those will only respond during business hours.)

I asked if this only guaranteed a response to questions, but it sounds like KLM is trying to respond to just about everything that comes in the door. This is what I was told:

Anyone in the world can send a tweet or leave a message on Facebook and there will be a response personally within one hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. . . . As for sarcastic questions and complaints, KLM responds with apologies and tries to remedy the error.

Ok, I get it, but what if it isn’t a complaint and just a random statement? I asked for clarification:

No it doesn’t even have to be a question to get a response! If KLM is in the tweet KLM will respond if they can help.

Hmm, so “if they can help,” huh? That would seem to limit it to some extent, but that would’t stop me from trying. I opted to start with probably the least likely thing to get a response.

Seemed like a good way to see if KLM really would respond to EVERY tweet. And it didn’t. I never heard a word. I guess that’s not too surprising – it was just a random statement. I forgot about my quest and then picked it up again yesterday with two more tries. In the middle of the night Amsterdam time (anyone can do it during business hours), I sent a couple tweets. I thought I’d really put KLM to the test.

I created a throwaway account to see if the airline would respond to anyone, just in case my account was flagged for response for some reason. (This was pitched to me by a PR agency, so I figured they’d be watching @crankyflier.) This account has no followers, no tweets, and no profile pic. It’s clearly just a trash account. I looked at the time, found a comment that would make sense (the flight to Houston left just under an hour after I sent it), and put it out there with bad grammar and punctuation just for effect.

I got nothing. I stopped looking after an hour because by then, the flight would have already left and a response would have been worthless. So I thought I’d go easy on KLM and throw out a softball just to get a basic response. This tweet I sent from my @crankyflier account asking a basic, straightforward, easy question, and if they did have my Twitter account flagged for response, it would pop right up.

It took a little over 3 hours before I received a response with the most unhelpful answer ever. KLM and Delta aren’t even in the same terminal at LAX. Even if Delta does staff the KLM counter, it’s a KLM counter and KLM needs to know what hours it operates. Wow, this sucks. KLM really is not doing this right.

I was particularly bugged by the 3 hour response time. Maybe Twitter was just suffering through delays. Yeah, right. There was no fail whale to be found, but just in case, I sent an airline that knows how to run social media a tweet.

As you can see, within 6 minutes, I had my response. Thank you, Delta, for really doing an awesome job with this. But let’s get back to KLM. That one hour thing is a guarantee, right? So I should get something since they failed so miserably.

Bzzt. Wrong answer. It’s a hollow guarantee that’s not backed up by anything. And a guarantee that’s not backed up by anything isn’t much of a guarantee at all. So, kudos to KLM for putting together a great, ambitious effort. But you guys really blew it in the implementation.

Geoff is back, following up his Emirates shower experience with another long trip report about the best flight he’s ever had. I thought it would be good to give you a little (or, actually, a lot) quality reading material for a Wednesday when the blog is usually dark. Enjoy.

As you may remember from my report here about taking a shower onboard the Emirates A380, I’m really into premium cabin flying. Mostly thanks to frequent flier miles I’ve managed to sample international First Class on a wide array of carriers and aircraft types. That’s a lot of caviar and champagne and flat bed suites — and a lot of great memories and stories. I often get asked which was my favorite airline or airplane, or my best flight, and in the past I have found it hard to pick one.

My favorite airport experience? Hands down it’s Lufthansa’s First Class Terminal in Frankfurt, an entirely separate building that is a giant luxury lounge, and from which you are driven onto the tarmac and directly to your plane like a rockstar.

My favorite whimsical cabin feature? The Emirates A380 shower, which turned out to be as cool to do as it is to say you’ve done.

But earlier this year I had a flight experience that was exceptional from beginning to end. Everything from the seat to the service to the food and drink to the entertainment system was fantastic. Despite all seats being occupied, I spent most of the flight entirely oblivious to anyone else being on board. And after spending over *15 hours* on this airplane, I was still in such a state of sybarite bliss when we got to the gate that I wished I didn’t have to get off — which had never happened even after the best of my best flights before.

So now I have a clear-cut answer to the question: First Class on Cathay Pacific’s 777.

The Backstory
I’d flown Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific on short flights within Asia in the past, and was very impressed. Singapore Airlines and Cathay are often considered top Asian carriers, and after having finally flown Singapore in First Class last year I decided I had to try Cathay’s longhaul First Class to compare.

Cathay is a partner of Alaska Airlines, and so for a lot of Alaska miles and $90 in taxes I was set, a fantastic value compared to the five-figure retail cost. My outbound flight was S.F. to Hong Kong on a 777-300ER, which has a small six-seat First Class cabin in a two row 1-1-1 configuration. The center seats open onto the right side aisle; since I was traveling alone I was pleased to be able to reserve Seat 1A, which maximized privacy and minimized noise from other passengers. Unlike Singapore’s “Book the Cook”, there is no fancy pre-ordering system for meals on Cathay, so once I was ticketed there was nothing more to do than look forward to the trip.

The Flight
Waking up on the morning of an international First Class flight I always feel giddy like a kid on Christmas.
There were great views of SFO as usual on the quick train ride over from the rental car facility, and as we arrived our aircraft was just pulling up to the gate.

I snapped a quick pic of it, and then decided to venture outside and get a shot of my favorite terminal building in the U.S., the decade-old SFO International, which still looks as great inside and out as when it first opened in December 2000.

Then it was inside and over to Cathay check-in. There was no wait at the First Class check-in counter, where a friendly agent checked my bag and handed me my boarding pass. After some shopping at the cool SF MoMA store I used the priority security lane for premium cabin passengers and was through in an uneventful ten minutes. From there it’s just a short walk to the British Airways lounge that Cathay uses.

The lounge has a main area for Business Class passengers with self-service bars and a buffet, and a separate small First Class room with its own food and drink. Both have great views out to widebody aircraft being fueled and loaded just a few feet away, and on this day both were teeming with passengers. I staked out the one unclaimed couch in the First Class room and helped myself to some sparkling water and dumplings. I picked up an SF Chronicle to read on the plane, and killed some time using one of the Internet terminals. A lounge attendant circulated picking up trash and keeping the food area stocked and tidy.

The lounge isn’t particularly fancy, but it was clean and decently comfortable. In addition to the views, the other great feature is that you board directly from the lounge without having to go back out to the gate. When boarding began about 40 minutes before departure there was a PA announcement, and a long line formed. No one came to whisk me to the front, so I waited in the line, and in five minutes was headed down the jetway…

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Cathay #879 Lv San Francisco 1208p Arr Hong Kong 730p (next day)
SFO: Gate A6, Runway 28R, Depart 13m Late
HKG: Gate 66, Runway 25R, Arrive 25m Late
Boeing 777-300ER, B-KPG (delivered Feb 2008)
Seat 1A, 6/6 F Suites Occupied
Flight Time 14h44m

The Christmas morning feeling was back as I arrived at my seat and got my bearings. The cabin was gleaming on the three year-old aircraft. There are no overhead bins in First Class, which gives an airy feel. Instead, there’s room to stow bags under the ottoman end of the seat as well as a personal closet built into the side of the suite in which you can hang your jacket and clothes and store other items.

Photo taken by Flyertalk’s SFO777 and shows seat 1F. You can read his detailed trip report here.

As I was getting settled, a flight attendant came by and greeted me by name. She brought a pillow, removed its protective wrapping and handed it to me, and took my pre-departure drink order. She was soon back with a bottle of Krug Grande Cuvee and an elegant and large glass champagne flute, and executed a flawless restaurant-style pour holding the bottle from the bottom. Off to a good start, indeed.

While I was familiarizing myself with the seat controls her colleagues were by with the amenity kit, Shanghai Tang pajamas and slippers, newspapers and magazines, a water bottle, and an elegant washcloth-style hot towel. My glass was topped up and then I was presented with the menu and wine list, with the flight attendant going out of her way to let me know that I could dine “at my pleasure” and was not forced into any set meal order or timing.

As we pushed back and taxied out I took stock of the seat, which was very comfortable in seat mode (you’d be surprised – some flat bed seats are great as beds but lousy as seats). My legs fully extended were just resting on the ottoman, which is an impressive amount of room since I am 6’4″. The seat is 36″ wide, but unlike Singapore’s similarly ultra-wide seat, the space doesn’t feel wasted. This is partly because the Cathay seat has a great fold-down armrest console and also because the Cathay seat is 10″ longer than Singapore’s and its proportions just work better. There’s a storage compartment built into the window ledge as well as storage on the ledge itself, and another handy compartment for magazines and water bottles just below the massive 17″ entertainment screen.

SFO777′s wife in seat 2F. You can see just how wide the seat is, and the strap for lowering the armrest console is just visible below the pillow to the right of her shoulder.

With a long take off roll and a few shimmies we took off to the west, and as soon as the wheels were up the cabin was impressively quiet. The FAs were up quickly to set up the galley, and soon the Inflight Service Manager (Purser) came by to welcome me on board. I had mentioned to her colleague earlier that it was my first longhaul flight on Cathay, which the ISM acknowledged saying that her staff would make sure it was a memorable experience. It was the kind of pleasantry I’d heard dozens of times, but the rare case in which the promise was truly delivered.

My lunch order was soon taken and not long after another glass of champagne had been brought, the FA was back to set my table. On top of the massive and sturdy tray table went a linen tablecloth, and then she individually laid out each service item elegantly and with precise attention to detail and placement. Along with the basics (silverware, salt and pepper shakers, water glass, butter dish, etc.) was a “Bon Appetit” card with a handwritten and personalized note from the crew inside. I thought the set-up was impressive… and then the first course arrived.

Only a few airlines still serve caviar in First Class, and yet Cathay apparently decided that caviar alone isn’t enough, as along with the caviar and its garnishes were two large sashimi-style pieces of smoked salmon. Toast points were brought to supplement my personal bread basket, as was a lemon served on its own dish. It all tasted as great as it looked, and while the caviar part was similar to what is served on Singapore, the delicious smoked salmon really put Cathay’s presentation over the top.

After that was cleared came the salad course. The combination of king crab, teardrop tomatoes and dried cranberries may sound a bit odd, but it was excellent.

Everything was fresh and it was so much more interesting and tasty than the typical airplane salad with some shaved parmesan on top of a pile of wilted greens.

After each course the flight attendant checked on my drink and brought out the appropriate silverware for the following course. The pacing was just right; I never felt rushed nor sat long waiting. Every request I made was graciously and quickly fulfilled. Next came the fennel and apple soup, which like the previous courses was truly restaurant quality.

Further credit for smart seat design comes from how easy it is to get up even while the tray is out. The tray slides forward and back, and there is plenty of room on the aisle side of the seat. I made a quick visit to the lavatory which was spotless; what it didn’t have that Singapore does have are a hands-free sink and a floor pedal to open the trash bin. (A minor quibble – but hopefully we’ll see both standard on all airplanes soon.)

When I returned it was time for my entree, and the FA insisted on offering me a tasting pour of both white wines, the Estancia Reserve 2007 Chardonnay and the Meursault 2006. I chose the French to go with my lobster and crab ravioli. The wine was excellent; the entree was the only part of the meal that was “just okay” by restaurant standards, which meant that for airplane food it was well above average.

Before dessert I had my arm twisted into sampling some of the four cheeses on offer, with fancy crackers and grapes on the side. Then came bread pudding with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream, accompanied by a small glass of special vintage Sauternes. And after that bacchanal, there were pralines accompanying the fancy coffee service, in which the sugar cubes had their own plate. It took every ounce of restraint not to sample the Johnny Walker Blue Label or Glenfiddich Reserve Single Malt, but this was a marathon not a sprint, and I stuck with coffee and water.

At this point there was still 12 hours of flying time remaining – which I knew because the countdown and local time at destination are thoughtfully displayed on the entertainment system’s remote, a smart touch. Once my tray was cleared and I was duly refreshed by another hot towel, I reclined about two-thirds back and pulled the entertainment screen out on its telescoping arm to position it for prime viewing. Cathay claims there are 100+ movies and 500+ TV shows in its on-demand system, and I had little trouble finding things to watch, starting with “The Social Network”, then the old Leo DiCaprio movie “The Beach” and then episodes of recent TV shows. The navigation and controls were fairly intuitive and the noise cancelling headset was comfortable and effective.

As great as it was having a sated belly, a comfortable seat and good entertainment, what made this experience unique compared to my most memorable flights on other airlines (and even my later experiences on Cathay’s 747) was the remarkably private and quiet cabin environment. All six seats were occupied, but because the center seats open onto the right aisle and have a privacy wall on the left side, the only times I saw another passenger while seated were the few times that the one guy behind me got up to go to the bathroom. There was a bit of foot traffic from flight attendants going back and forth, but more than any other flight I’ve been on, I felt like I was on my own private plane.

After about 3 hours of lounging I decided I was ready for some sleep, and summoned a flight attendant to make up my bed. The sheet and duvet and pillow are all great, but what truly stands out is the length of the bed. I didn’t have to curl up or contort – I could lie truly flat and fully extended, and still had room to toss and turn. It was hands-down the most spacious and comfortable bed I’ve ever flown in.

 
I got 4 hours of solid sleep, and could have napped longer but decided to get up both to enjoy the flight and as an anti-jetlag measure. Somehow I was actually hungry, and I ordered wonton noodle soup off the mid-flight snack menu. It took about 15 minutes to heat up and prepare, but when it arrived it hit the spot – no comparison to the off-brand cup o’ noodles that United serves as a snack in First on the same route.

After some more time spent reading, doing the NYT crossword and watching episodes of “Treme”, I decided I had to sample the one part of the wine list I hadn’t yet tried, and so I had a glass of their nicest red, Lynch Bages 2004 Grand Cru. It retails for over $125 and rivaled the best wine I’ve had on an airplane. Soon after, with several hours still to go before “dinner” I ordered a second snack, this time opting for crab cakes. They were great – and impressed me that even when it came to snacks, Cathay delivered a true First Class experience.

After more reading and dozing eventually it was time for dinner, and out came the tray table for the fourth time. It’s a lighter and less elaborate affair than the lunch service, which is fitting given that it was 2am San Francisco time. The first course was a fruit plate, which was fresh and good despite how long it had undoubtedly been sitting. The main course was a choice of chicken, beef, or crab cannelloni. I had the stir-fried beef with vegetables and rice. It wasn’t fancy by any means, but comfort food was what my body wanted at that point, and it did the trick. And there was still some fancy yet to come as they brought out the cheese board – with four different cheeses than at lunch. Of course there was also one last dessert, raspberry mousse cake, and a final tea and coffee service with pralines.

Once cleared, reality began to set in that we would soon be landing in Hong Kong and there would be no more drink refills or snacks or meals (and that I desperately needed to get to a gym the next day). It was the first time I’d ever been so comfortable after such a long flight that I wished I could stay on the airplane. I made one last trip to the lav to change back into my clothes and brush my teeth. We landed on a foggy afternoon at HKG, and I very reluctantly gathered my things as the Flight Attendants bade us goodbye by name and ensured that First Class deplaned first. I made a point of thanking them for their great service and telling the ISM what a nice flight I’d had.

I realize how relentlessly I’ve used glowing adjectives throughout this report, and I promise that I am no shy critic. Nor am I a shill for Cathay – I bought the ticket using miles and they had no idea I was going to write about them (neither did I, or else I would have taken more and better pictures). But it was downright hard to find things to complain about. I suppose the amenity kit, which carried a Zegna label but looked like a binocular case could have been nicer… And there could have been a more exclusive First Class lounge and boarding process at SFO.

On the other hand, each key element of the experience rivaled or beat the best I’ve flown before. From service to seat, bed, food and drink, entertainment system, and overall cabin privacy, it was really a sublime and memorable combination. I’ve had fantastic international First Class flights but I’ve never flown in a seat and bed that comfortable, and never experienced such a private jet atmosphere.

I connected to other Cathay flights on this trip, and they varied from good to great. But none reached the perfect ten of CX869 SFO-HKG in Seat 1A on the 777, which I now tell people was hands-down the best in my 1.2 million miles of flying.

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Geoff Fischer is an aviation and travel enthusiast currently living in Seattle

[IFE Remote and Wonton Soup photos also courtesy SFO777]