Blog Archives
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Mea Culpa!
By Ralph Hood - Wednesday May 1, 2013I don’t want to write this blog, but must. I goofed badly on my last Ground Clutter column in Airport Business magazine. Toward the end of the column I mentioned a situation in Glynn County, Georgia. That’s not the problem. The problem is that I thought—and wrote—that the activity took place at McKinnon Airport on St. Simons Island. Sadly, that was all wrong. The activity discussed took place on Brunswick-Golden Isles Airport on the mainland. Not only that—the major part of the column was about Women in Aviation International, better known as WAI. Somehow that came out as WIA. My head hangs low and I do apologize. Now, on to happier thoughts… One of the things I like most about my job is speaking for aviation... -
A Change in Customer Service
By Ralph Hood - Wednesday April 10, 2013I have trained people in customer service longer than I care to admit. Now, it seems things have changed a bit. I always thought that customer service worked only when coupled with a great product. Recently, though, I’ve noticed that some products are less than totally desirable. Does anyone really enjoy being cramped into economy seats on an airliner? Does anyone enjoy waiting for hours in an emergency room while surrounded by people who cough, sneeze, hack, and wipe their noses? I doubt it. In the last month or so I’ve sat in that emergency room and flown coast-to-coast in economy class. Neither was fun. Here’s the surprise: Everyone in the emergency room was unbelievably nice, friendly, and courteous. The airline flight... -
BizJets are Business Tools
By Ralph Hood - Wednesday March 20, 2013T his administration seems determined that bizjets are a mere convenience. How in the world they can believe this and still operate Air Force One is beyond me. The truth is that bizjets enable businesses to do things they can’t get done any other way. For example, a bizjet can make it possible for the top boss to spend a day at work in his/her Atlanta office, speak that night at the company sales meeting at Hilton Head, then return to Atlanta for a good night’s sleep. Try that on the airlines. (I saw this myself. Also—for not a dime more—the big boss took his wife along to greet the sales people at the meeting.) Business aircraft are business tools just as surely as are bulldozers, concrete mixers and delivery trucks. Would... -
Will We Survive Sequestration?
By Ralph Hood - Wednesday February 27, 2013To hear the alarmists scream, sequestration will be worse than an earthquake combined with a half-dozen tsunamis, a full-scale war and a dust bowl thrown in to boot. What are they talking about? Sequestration cuts will amount to less than 3% of federal spending. (I’ve read percentage rates ranging from 2.4% to “less than 3%.”) How in the world is a cut of less than 3% going to devastate airports, hospitals, police forces, schools, and emergency workers? Breathes there a soul who doesn’t think they could find 3% waste in any — repeat, any —govmint operation? Tomorrow? I can’t see it. When it comes to undue panic, Chicken Little is a piker compared to this administration. One thing’s for sure, we’ll know within a few... -
Future Airline Markets
By Ralph Hood - Tuesday February 12, 2013
Airlines seem to have made up their collective minds — at last — that there is no sense in flying people places for a price that produces less than the cost of the flight. This makes sense. At the same time, mergers do seem to be on the rise. What will this do to competition? One side says that — woe is us — it will put the market into too few hands and pax will be forced to pay “excessive” (whatever that means) prices. That side tends to think govmint may have to interfere with the market — in other words, reregulate the market — in order to keep prices “fair.” Let’s not forget that there is another side that really does believe in the free market. Count me among that group. Adam Smith — who wrote the book... -
FAs — Someone Wants To "Incentivize" You!
By Ralph Hood - Tuesday February 5, 2013I got a most interesting press release recently. Allegiant Systems’ iPad based Fly Desk provides every flight attendant (FA) on participating airlines’ crews with an iPad that “digitizes” reports and manuals while providing a secure communication tool and does a bunch of other things. This will be a big boon to the airline and — surprise, surprise — also to the FAs. The twist is that the iPad is the FA’s to use both professionally and personally. The FA can load his/her own music and other programs and use the iPad at home. The company says that with iPads selling at $399 up, this will be a great fringe benefit for the FA as well as the airline. Sounds good to me, and the company offered to let me talk with an FA who is... -
One More Time — Will It Never Stop?
By Ralph Hood - Wednesday January 9, 2013Evidently, it has already happened this year—a teenaged student pilot took up some of his teenaged friends. The crash killed all aboard. This type of thing first came to my attention many decades ago when my cousin—also a student pilot—also took someone up for a ride. I was a young boy at the time—maybe 12?—and don’t remember the details—but do remember that one person was severely and permanently injured. But, hey, this doesn’t happen only to young students. Another news story shows that less than a month ago a 54-year-old student pilot crashed his airplane, killing himself and his passenger. His plane? A KING AIR! These are sad stories and totally unnecessary. The solution is simple. We need to create an atmosphere... -
The Great Trip
By Ralph Hood - Wednesday December 19, 2012No gripes in this blog today. I just finished a five-day trip during which everything went very well indeed, thank you. It was downright enjoyable. I was on USAir and/or the line’s connection flights the entire way. Funny thing — I’m a Million Miler on Delta, and therefore don’t have to pay for the first bag. I’ve had to ride mostly USAir this year, though, and have learned to appreciate the airline. When I call USAir a recorded voice quickly responds and announces, “Hello, Ralph — we have matched your phone number with your dividend miles account.” I like that. It makes me feel like a person instead of a number. The first flight, on Monday of last week, was from Bristol to Charlotte to Harrisburg,PA, and the... -
Out With The Old — In With The Older
By Ralph Hood - Wednesday December 5, 2012
Airport Business online, reporting on an NPR All things Considered Program, brought out a trend that I had not really noticed. Regional flights are reversing past trends by returning to turbo-prop — rather than jet — aircraft. This is a fuel-saving move, and Regional Airline Association President Roger Cohen says we can expect this to continue. Predicting what airlines will purchase and operate has always been a difficult and risky job. The first such wave I remember was the original switch from piston-powered airliners to jets in the 1950s and 1960s. The president of Eastern Airlines was WWI ace Captain Eddie Rickenbacker. Under his direction, Eastern enjoyed the unbelievable honor of being the first U.S. airline to operate... -
Business As Usual?
By Ralph Hood - Wednesday November 21, 2012
I remain amazed. If you watch, read, or hear the “news,” you could get the idea that the world is rolling along as usual, yet we are in dire straits. Like Nero fiddling while Rome burns, we go about business as usual while we are head over heels in debt and running up more debt every day. How can aviation and airports survive and thrive if our country continues to follow the path of Greece et al? We should all bookmark http://www.usdebtclock.org/ , an amazing site that continuously calculates and displays every facet of our national debt, including how much it amounts to per taxpayer. In other words, how much is your share? (Click on any of the figures and you’ll get a definition at top center.) The next time the news dwells on...
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