Flightglobal, like any large website, has the occasional glitch.
And like London buses these issues always seem to come along in groups.
So at the moment our developers are gamely battling against several nasty gremlins including a long running glitchy blog platform (solution due in May), some code corruption issues (nearly sorted), and some problems with formatting on AirSpace (fix should be deployed in a week or two).
As a bit of a cathartic release one of them (Robi) conjured up the graphic below and emailed it to me under the subject “User Feedback”.
How droll ...
(if it's a bit quick for you it shows Commander Riker from Star Trek the Next Generation looking at flightglobal.com and getting excited. But then ultimately his hopes are crushed as he hits the dreaded "Server Error in Application" page).
Micheal,
I have been enjoying you blog, but I thought I put this idea forward. Maybe it is worth a column to you.
As the airline industry is desperately seeking revenue, I am surprised how little after-ticket-sales schemes they use. Since comparative price engines can find you a lowest price, it becomes harder for airlines to generate additional revenue on price alone.
The electronic industry already suffered from this. After they make a sale, the offer additional cables, warrantee, service plans and etc to the customer. Why does the airline industry do that to?
I imaging that I get a letter, or a phone-call from my airlines, offering me upgrades to a-la-card menus or upgrades to first class menus, first class use of security lines, priority check-in, extra legroom, reseating, double milage, priority seating, ground transportation service, hotel-to-hotel delivery of luggage for business travelers. I am sure you can think of a couple more.
While a traveler might be unwilling to pay more the the flight, they are willing to pay for extra services.
I am sorry to use your blog comments for this, but it seems the easiest way to bring this up.
-Ward Bouwman
Riker was always a terrible #1. Nothing he did could save him after his initial appearance as the beardless, neutered version of Captain Kirk.
Alt,
Not sure i agree. Granted the beardless Riker wasn't worthy of the respect of the Enterprise crew, but Riker avec Beard added a much-needed vein of testosterone to a crew which otherwise would've been dependent on Worf and his gruff, head-ridged aggression to lead the man points campaign.
Michael