While I was in Australia in October, there were strikes involving Qantas ground staff (flight and cabin crew strikes occurred later). Qantas are, among other things, recruiting lower cost non Australian staff at all levels, including flight crews, as a way of reducing costs in pursuit of greater competiveness as part of a strategy led by their Irish CEO.
Having now travelled on various national airlines to and from Australia, I've been struck by the role that airlines play in creating and promoting a national identity on the global stage. Emirates have done this very successfully, even though none of the personnel that an Emirates passenger actually encounters is an Emirati. So, while Emirates crews are highly diverse, nationally and linguistically, through masterly management, the UAE have managed to project an entirely bogus Emirati identity and image by means of their airline.
Qantas, by contrast, has always been largely crewed by Aussies, and the airline has stressed its Australian heritage and identity. Will replacing Aussie staff by non Aussies jeopardize this unique quality? If Emirates can pull off the trick of creating an identity with non nationals as staff, can Qantas maintain an Aussie identity with non Aussie crews?
And then there's Singapore Airlines. One of the things they were pushing in their publicity in October was the ‘Singapore Gir’l -- the comely stewardesses for which they have long been well known. Obviously, SA employs non Singaporean staff, but the image projected is one of Singaporean hospitality and identity by and of Singaporeans. The airline is closely aligned with the promotion of Singapore as a sophisticated, efficient and safe place to visit and do business in.
Finally, there is Royal Brunei, with whom I’ve travelled on most of my trips to Australia. I've always thought of RB as a 'hobby' airline for the royal family. On the last sector from Brunei to Singapore on my return, I was bumped from business to economy, with fulsome apologies (I even received a personal grovel letter when I was between flights in Brunei). The reason: a member of the royal family and entourage were travelling on the flight. One might wonder why they don't actually have their own jetliner, although with a hobby airline I suppose they already do. At a separate royal part of the airport, we witnessed the royal member and wife arrive in a top-of-the line Mercedes S class, to be greeted and seen off by a line of signatories (including an Arab in flowing robes). So, I suppose one could say that the airline is 'by appointment' and being royal sets it apart from a neighbouring airline better known for its Singapore Girls.
By such diverse means, countries use their national airlines as a way of projecting national identity on a global stage, as well as providing, when successful, an important commercial enterprise. The challenge now seems to be successfully meeting commercial pressures – not least competition from other similar airlines – while also retaining the national identity that, potentially, makes each airline unique, and which provides an important part of their USP. I hope that the Irish CEO at Qantas doesn’t trash the Aussie service qualities that are part of the image and appeal of Qantas as he reconfigures the national flag carrier.
Saturday 7 January 2012
Tuesday 3 January 2012
A New Year
I have been a non blogger for the past year. So much for good intentions a year ago. As always, when confronted with a blank sheet, ideas of blogging suddenly evaporate, whereas when out cycling or gardening or doing a whole lot of other things, blogging ideas flow thick and fast.
Well, what are the Big Events of the past year? Apart from the global melt downs of various kinds (top of which in the UK must be the Eurozone crisis, even though the UK is not a member of the zone), including riots in UK cities (leading to much moral panic), and the Arab Spring (fast turning to autumn in key countries like Egypt), what personal events have occurred?
Firstly, I was home for spring. Often I've been in Australia during March-April, and have returned home in time to miss some of the earlier manifestations of spring in the garden. This year I was here to view the bumper crop of hellebores in the shaded border: some forty plants bloomed, providing the kind of effect that I've aspired to in past years.
Secondly, our grandson Oli, who turned two in February, has is now sharing his thoughts with us. He is, of course, the ultimate and perfect grandson. Even so, it's impossible not to be affected by the combination of innocence and vulnerability on the one hand, and the determination to assert identity on the other, which characterize this stage of childhood. Recently I heard this period of childhood referred to as the Research and Development phase of growing up -- a very affirmative way of viewing the behaviour and thoughts of a youngster.
Thirdly, travel. This was the year of what is likely to be my final trip to SE Asia and Australia. I was asked to teach on a course in Danang, Vietnam, in September-October, where I did one week last year following my usual gig at UQ in Brisbane. Last year my colleague Andy and I had travelled from Brisbane via Singapore and Siem Reap to Danang, wishing that we'd arranged things so as to be able to include a visit to the great Khmer ruins. So this year I decided that whatever else I did, a visit to Siem Reap was essential, and it was duly arranged. Fortunately, the great ELT Network (in the form of one of last year's course participants based in Phnom Pen) put me in touch with both a good hotel and a tuk-tuk driver to take me around, so the visit proved to be very successful. Being a real tourist as opposed to a working visitor is a novelty. But being a tourist is also hard work, particularly when visiting significant sites which call for much walking and climbing in a hot tropical climate.
As well as visiting new places, this trip provided a chance to revisit Singapore, where I was lent a splendid flat just off Orchard Road, and was able to make contact with someone I taught at Manchester over thirty years ago. This brought the Christmas card exchanges up to date, while also bringing me up to date on Singapore itself, a place which I really enjoy visiting, not least because of the gastronomic opportunities if offers. Where else in the world, I wonder, would the excellent national museum devote a whole gallery to the history of the national menu?
Fourthly, IT. I resisted buying an i-Pad I, for the simple reason that the first version of most items of technology are a means whereby the manufacturer uses early adopters as a source of R&D. I eventually purchased an i-Pad II at David Jones in Robina on the Gold Coast. (There is a buzzing Mac store in the same shopping mall, but I felt distinctly out of place in this temple to digital natives, despite being a Mac user since the mid 80s). Has the i-Pad changed my life? Well, no, not really. Has it enriched my life? Possibly, though not in any significant way. Has it provided convenience? Yes, it's quicker and easier to use than a MacBook, but it does mean that I now check the Guardian and the Independent at the breakfast table and even deal with e-mails -- the latter not being a good idea. And it's so easy to Google or check Wikipedia for information. Most usefully, it does provide a really good way of displaying photos, and since my most recent trip to Asia and Australia has added to my photo gallery, this is a great benefit because even if family and friends rapidly lose interest in viewing one's pix (particularly as many were posted in Facebook while traveling), it's fun to be able to flick thru them oneself. Oh, and I shouldn't forget that it can be used as a Kindle, which means that it's possible to use it as a reading device. Since it doesn't require external lighting, it's possible to read anything on screen even in a dark room. Curiously enough, I find this a most useful feature.
Finally, transitions. Several people have died, and although none of them was close, their departure was a reminder that we are all mortal. There is, of course, a poignancy in viewing photographs of the departed in their prime. My daughter-in-law's grandfather, who early in his career was an RAF test pilot, was a distinctly dashing chap and he and his wife made a glamourous couple and in fact, the image that comes to mind when thinking about them is a photo of them at a swish party rather than of them in their old age.
Of the non personal transitions, I think that the death of Steve Jobs was most significant, but not entirely for the reasons that have been most discussed. Jobs was diagnosed with a treatable cancer. A man whose business career and creativity were based on the applications of science to technology elected to ignore the treatment available to him and self medicated by alternative means, until basically it was too late to receive effective treatment, although apparently he collaborated with medical researchers developing treatments based on genetics in the final year of his life. His life may have been prolonged by a few months as a result. How ironic. And what a great loss. (On a happier note, it's good to see that Jonathan Ives has been given a knighthood.)
Twenty-twelve. What will it hold? We shall see. In the meantime, to anyone reading this blog: Happy New Year!
Well, what are the Big Events of the past year? Apart from the global melt downs of various kinds (top of which in the UK must be the Eurozone crisis, even though the UK is not a member of the zone), including riots in UK cities (leading to much moral panic), and the Arab Spring (fast turning to autumn in key countries like Egypt), what personal events have occurred?
Firstly, I was home for spring. Often I've been in Australia during March-April, and have returned home in time to miss some of the earlier manifestations of spring in the garden. This year I was here to view the bumper crop of hellebores in the shaded border: some forty plants bloomed, providing the kind of effect that I've aspired to in past years.
Secondly, our grandson Oli, who turned two in February, has is now sharing his thoughts with us. He is, of course, the ultimate and perfect grandson. Even so, it's impossible not to be affected by the combination of innocence and vulnerability on the one hand, and the determination to assert identity on the other, which characterize this stage of childhood. Recently I heard this period of childhood referred to as the Research and Development phase of growing up -- a very affirmative way of viewing the behaviour and thoughts of a youngster.
Thirdly, travel. This was the year of what is likely to be my final trip to SE Asia and Australia. I was asked to teach on a course in Danang, Vietnam, in September-October, where I did one week last year following my usual gig at UQ in Brisbane. Last year my colleague Andy and I had travelled from Brisbane via Singapore and Siem Reap to Danang, wishing that we'd arranged things so as to be able to include a visit to the great Khmer ruins. So this year I decided that whatever else I did, a visit to Siem Reap was essential, and it was duly arranged. Fortunately, the great ELT Network (in the form of one of last year's course participants based in Phnom Pen) put me in touch with both a good hotel and a tuk-tuk driver to take me around, so the visit proved to be very successful. Being a real tourist as opposed to a working visitor is a novelty. But being a tourist is also hard work, particularly when visiting significant sites which call for much walking and climbing in a hot tropical climate.
As well as visiting new places, this trip provided a chance to revisit Singapore, where I was lent a splendid flat just off Orchard Road, and was able to make contact with someone I taught at Manchester over thirty years ago. This brought the Christmas card exchanges up to date, while also bringing me up to date on Singapore itself, a place which I really enjoy visiting, not least because of the gastronomic opportunities if offers. Where else in the world, I wonder, would the excellent national museum devote a whole gallery to the history of the national menu?
Fourthly, IT. I resisted buying an i-Pad I, for the simple reason that the first version of most items of technology are a means whereby the manufacturer uses early adopters as a source of R&D. I eventually purchased an i-Pad II at David Jones in Robina on the Gold Coast. (There is a buzzing Mac store in the same shopping mall, but I felt distinctly out of place in this temple to digital natives, despite being a Mac user since the mid 80s). Has the i-Pad changed my life? Well, no, not really. Has it enriched my life? Possibly, though not in any significant way. Has it provided convenience? Yes, it's quicker and easier to use than a MacBook, but it does mean that I now check the Guardian and the Independent at the breakfast table and even deal with e-mails -- the latter not being a good idea. And it's so easy to Google or check Wikipedia for information. Most usefully, it does provide a really good way of displaying photos, and since my most recent trip to Asia and Australia has added to my photo gallery, this is a great benefit because even if family and friends rapidly lose interest in viewing one's pix (particularly as many were posted in Facebook while traveling), it's fun to be able to flick thru them oneself. Oh, and I shouldn't forget that it can be used as a Kindle, which means that it's possible to use it as a reading device. Since it doesn't require external lighting, it's possible to read anything on screen even in a dark room. Curiously enough, I find this a most useful feature.
Finally, transitions. Several people have died, and although none of them was close, their departure was a reminder that we are all mortal. There is, of course, a poignancy in viewing photographs of the departed in their prime. My daughter-in-law's grandfather, who early in his career was an RAF test pilot, was a distinctly dashing chap and he and his wife made a glamourous couple and in fact, the image that comes to mind when thinking about them is a photo of them at a swish party rather than of them in their old age.
Of the non personal transitions, I think that the death of Steve Jobs was most significant, but not entirely for the reasons that have been most discussed. Jobs was diagnosed with a treatable cancer. A man whose business career and creativity were based on the applications of science to technology elected to ignore the treatment available to him and self medicated by alternative means, until basically it was too late to receive effective treatment, although apparently he collaborated with medical researchers developing treatments based on genetics in the final year of his life. His life may have been prolonged by a few months as a result. How ironic. And what a great loss. (On a happier note, it's good to see that Jonathan Ives has been given a knighthood.)
Twenty-twelve. What will it hold? We shall see. In the meantime, to anyone reading this blog: Happy New Year!
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