Making the best of bad news

Here in the northern hemisphere inclement winter weather is with us again, putting the topic of aircraft delays back on the media's agenda.

But while it's all doom and gloom to some, German carrier Lufthansa is putting a positive spin on weather concerns (see picture). The first snow of winter in Frankfurt has prompted the airline to release a feel-good press release about aircraft de-icing. While snow and ice can cause havoc with an aircraft's aerodynamics, it says, de-icing fluid can alleviate this. On an average winter day Lufthansa requires around 135,000 litres of the fluid throughout Germany. That's a lot of de-icing fluid, but apparently its almost completely biodegradable and represents no danger to the environment.

Elsewhere, the spin doctors at bmi and easyJet are also making the best of a bad situation. While strikes threaten to ground British Airways flights next Tuesday and Wednesday stranding 140,000 passengers, bmi and easyJet say they are offering a reliable alternative to BA.

Bmi is placing larger aircraft on existing routes to create more than 3,000 extra seats on flights between Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester, and London Heathrow. bmi also intends to increase the frequency of flights as soon as take-off and landing slots are released by BA through flight cancellations.

EasyJet is also making the most of the opportunities created by the threatened BA cancellations. "EasyJet flies to the same main city airports as BA from London and still has over 8,000 seats available on a choice of 37 routes from its Gatwick base on Tuesday and Wednesday," it says.