3 Links I Love: Berlin’s Terrible Airport Problem, Alitalia Fiddles While Rome Burns, Skytrax Shenanigans

Alitalia, Links I Love, Lufthansa

This week’s featured link:
The ongoing saga of Berlin’s unfinished airportCNN Travel
I’ve been watching with disbelief as the normally-efficient Germans find themselves completely incapable of opening the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport. I mean, it’s been years since the airport nearly opened, but now, it’s likely to be several more years before it actually does. If you haven’t been following, this is a good, high-level look at what the heck is going on in that place. What a mess.

Two for the road:
Alitalia won’t let bankruptcy stop it from rolling out chic new uniformsUSA Today
Remember the good ole’ days when Alitalia was basically bankrupt and yet it decided to spend money on new uniforms? That was less than 2 years ago, but guess what? It’s happening again! There is nothing quite like watching this train wreck of an airline. Though it very clearly should go out of business, I hope it never does. Never change, Alitalia. Never change.

Skytrax Has Lost All Credibility With Their Lufthansa 5-Star RankingOne Mile at a Time
Now that Lufthansa has been given a 5-star Skytrax rating, One Mile at a Time lays out why Skytrax ratings are garbage. My only disagreement with him? I don’t think Skytrax had credibility to lose even before this.

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10 comments on “3 Links I Love: Berlin’s Terrible Airport Problem, Alitalia Fiddles While Rome Burns, Skytrax Shenanigans

  1. Cranky…Do the new uniforms mean that you will have to come up with an equally “fashion forward” tombstone when Alitalia finally goes under? :)

      1. Brett I think your grandkids will still be handing out “Cranky Jackass” and “Worst Airline Ever” awards for a long time. To AZ.

  2. By the way, since it’s December, you might need to remember that Tigerair and Eastern Airlines 2.0 are no more. With “Airlines We Lost 2017” coming up and all. Funny thing about Tigerair is that when Tigerair Mandala went under, you predicted another Tigerair would go belly up eventually, and as of this year (July to be precise), the original is gone too.

    1. MK03 – I had Eastern but forgot about Tigerair. That’s updated on the list. Of course, the name sort of lives on in Australia still, but that’s not the same company anyway.

  3. Someone help me understand the purpose of pumping the smoke down below the new Berlin airport instead of letting it ascend as smoke usually does? I get the other issues for the delays…

    I also doubt that the new Berlin airport will ever attract the air service the region needs if airlines or passengers have to pay for the cost of the new facility as is usually the case in western countries. I have yet to see estimates for the cost per passenger but, given that German airline taxes are already high, the idea that an expensive new airport will attract new air service unless it is bailed out by the country seems like a pipe dream.

    This makes the rebuild of LaGuardia look even more impressive.

    1. Somebody decided that having chimneys for smoke ejection looked ugly. The solution was therefore to create a system to pump smoke downwards in the event of a fire and ensure the ideal appearance of the new airport terminal.

    2. Good catch Tim re “pumping smoke down”.

      Add to that the “escalators that were too short”!!

      The thought of pax having to jump down 50 feet from the bottom of the escalator into a pit for immigration, or maybe RyanAir boarding.

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