American Airlines is out of touch

The problems at American Airlines just keep piling up.

After declaring bankruptcy last week and starting this week by tossing actor Alec Baldwin off a flight, the troubled carrier closed the week by losing four of its top executives, including CEO Gerald Arpey.

The executive defections came after all four, and especially Arpey, disagreed with the airline board's decision to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection - a ploy used by its competitors to strip airline employees of negotiated contract deals, claw back or eliminate pension plans and deny suppliers of money owed.

I'm not sure whose dummer, banks who lend money to airlines or ones who lend money to European countries. The result is always the same - bankruptcy.

Restructuring the airline will be made harder because of the executive revolt but you can bet AA will find other cutthroat execs who will find ways to screw employees and creditors.

AA is not the first airline and won't be the last to misuse Chapter 11 for its own  advantage - think Wall St. greed here folks - but one wonders why the U.S. government, which touts standing up for the middle class, doesn't stop this nonsense which always results in higher costs to the middle class flyer.

Oh, but of course, the U.S. government's is also bankrupt - of money and integrity!

Baldwin right to challenge air Nazis

Sorry Superman, but I have a new hero - Alec Baldwin.

The grumpy old man of Hollywood took on the "airline Nazis" (a.k.a. flight attendants) today and got tossed off a bankrupt American Airlines flight in Los Angeles for doing so. (Getting kicked off an AA flight is the good news - that way you never have to experience the airline's incompetent service and the flight attendants' arrogance; the main reasons why this pathetic carrier is now on the scrap heap of a once dignified industry).



Back on board today's flight with Baldwin: The star of 30 Rock and countless Hollywood flicks, Baldwin, the one actor every common man like me can connect with, got into a verbal sparring match with flight attendants after refusing to turn off his cell phone - he was apparently playing a word game at the time but the aircraft was still parked at the gate.



The always gruff Baldwin apparently told the attendants to take a hike and continued playing his game. According to a statement released later in the day by the bankrupt airline, they are accusing the actor of being "extremely rude to the crew" (good, maybe now they now how it feels) and says he called them "inappropriate names" and used "offensive language." (Who among us has not wanted to yell at a rude flight attendant?)

Thank you Alec for bringing this whole "please turn off your cell phones and electronic devices" nonsense to the forefront. We all know now that electronic devices like cellphones and computers do not interfere with communications between pilot and tower during takeoff and landing - just ask any industry expert of you don't believe. If that was the case, then satellite transmissions that feed on board entertainment systems (which are on during takeoff and landing) would have the same effect. Ditto for online feeds that are now provided to many planes.

Oh, I forgot, the airlines charge to use those electronic services so that makes it okay.

What a lot nonsense and good for Baldwin for standing up to the "airline Nazis." 

Of course, the attendants on AA flights are so old, which Baldwin pointed out in his Twitter comment after being tossed off, maybe they no longer have to eyesight to see the latest data on electronic devices. I swear, the last AA flight I took, I was sure two of the grossly overweight attendants would reach retirement age before we landed.

Please, dear God, let American Airlines go out of business!

2012 Games costs out of control



Am I the only person on the planet who is outraged by the news this week out of London that security costs for the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics in the British capital will now reach $1.6 billion U.S.?

With this new extra amount being committed to security, the total budget for the Games will now surpass $15 billion U.S. - and counting- according to British officials.

Have we all gone mad?

Wasn't this the same Britain where people were rioting in the streets a few months ago because they could not find jobs?

How many jobs would $15 billion create, anyway?

When will people start rioting in the streets because of this wasteful spending by governments?

Less we forget, the 2004 Athens Summer Games started Greece on the road to bankruptcy, and Montreal just recently paid off its Olympic debt - from 1976.

We're all overcome with national pride when our countries are "awarded" Olympic Games and we spend like drunken sailors trying to make our Olympics better than the last. However, the financial hangover that always accompanies these sporting orgies can no longer be tolerated.

Politicians should not be allowed to cut schemes aimed at job creation or social programs - like the British government has been doing for the past few years - yet be allowed to spend wildly on a two-week party that in the end benefits no one except those at the top of the Olympic corruption heap.

 Stop the insanity!

Auckland is indeed a 'Quality' city

Beautiful Auckland is indeed a quality city.

Auckland, a city I want so much to visit, is today celebrating being named the "Most Livable City in the Southern Hemisphere" in the prestigious Mercer 2011 Quality of Living Survey, which is conducted annually.

The New Zealand metropolis now ranks third worldwide in this Quality of Living category, right behind Vienna and Zurich, Switzerland, respectively.

The only other Southern Hemisphere city to come close to Auckland in the survey was Australia's Sydney, which placed 11th in the survey.

The news was welcomed by Gregg Anderson, GM North America, for Tourism New Zealand.

“Auckland is a city of great diversity,” says Anderson. “As the gateway to New Zealand for American and Canadians, it’s also a great place for visitors to explore when they first get to New Zealand.”

Vancouver placed 5th on the Mercer list, which evaluated 221 cities worldwide. Toronto ranked 15th.

Let American Airlines die, please!

It's been a good news, bad news kind of day for me.

Good news: American Airlines filed for bankruptcy.

Bad news: American Airlines will continue to fly.

AA is the last of the big American carriers to file for bankruptcy protection - a cute ploy by which they pay off creditors about 25 cents on every dollar they owe and get yet another excuse to raise fares and charge for extra baggage, etc., when they resurface as a "restructured" airline.

Just as people are occupying Wall St., airline passengers should be occupying airports demanding this bankruptcy tactic be stopped. Not only are we being gouged as passengers but also as taxpayers because governments lose money when airlines take this bankruptcy route.

If just one of these big carriers was allowed to fall from the sky, the bankruptcy practice would soon stop.

There's not an American carrier that deserves to be flying - AA, Southwest, Continental, et al are the worst airlines in the world and they've been bankrupt of good ideas on how to improve service for years.

Tough times at Thomas Cook

It appears Thomas Cook is in trouble again.

Fears that the beleaguered British tour operator/airline could fall from the corporate sky any time now was heightened this morning when Associated Press reported that the company’s already devalued stock lost another 75 per cent of its value on news that Thomas Cook is again seeking “new agreements” with its main creditors.

If even one of those creditors refuses to renegotiate, Thomas Cook could very well collapse.

That could have serious consequences for Thomas Cook’s Canadian subsidiaries, which include Sunquest Holidays and Bel-Air Travel.

Thomas Cook, which took 22 million people on vacation trips last year, has been in free fall for several years now thanks mainly to the depressed travel market in Europe - especially Great Britain - as well as after making some ill-timed corporate purchases.

The announcement comes just one month after Thomas Cook announced it had negotiated new funding arrangements with creditors to carry it through the slow winter months.

Sooner or later, the creditors will start saying “no” and then all bets are off on Thomas Cooks’ future.

In the meantime, Thomas Cook is insisting that all its flights will leave as schedule and new bookings are still being taken.

Stay tuned.

Airfare to London just $235!

The great air deals from my "spies in the sky" keep crossing my desk - today I've just been handed a return airfare price from Toronto to London that's simply crazy good.

The Deal:

London return airfare

$235!

From Toronto

Airline: Lufthansa

Travel Period: Nov. 22 - Dec. 15, 2011

Ticketing Until: Dec. 7, 2011

Air Taxes: $614.48