News and notes from around the interweb:
- I know everyone thinks they’re supposed to be talking about Delta’s new uniforms, personally I’m more interested in bankrupt Alitalia, no longer controlled by Etihad, rolling out the Etihad unform project.
- Parent is forced to pay $350,000 child support at the airport as record numbers are blocked from leaving Australia with outstanding debts
- Taxi drivers are taking to the roads to protest the legalization of Uber in Cancun. Uber had suspended service there in December pending legalization. Hat tip to long-time reader Scott H. who is there now and writes, “Apparently protests are sporadically continuing. I’ve seen reports of protests all the way to Tulum, about two hours south of the Cancun airport, so anyone travelling in the area might want to allow extra (maybe a lot of extra) time.”
In Cancun, taxi drivers blocked the entrance to the Cancun Hotel Zone and airport, causing traffic chaos. In Playa del Carmen, several took to local avenues in protest while others closed streets to prevent vehicle passage.
In Tulum, nearly 200 taxi drivers belonging to the Guild Tiburones del Caribe concentrated on the archaeological zone, while in Felipe Carrillo Puerto, union members met in a public area to join in protest.
- 50 Years ago this month Continental Airlines went live with the SONIC reservation system and it seems to customers like United is still using it.
Fifty years ago this month, Continental ushered in a new era of technology in the airline industry with the introduction of the SONIC reservation system. Now known as Shares, the application went live at midnight on May 18, 1968, replacing the hand-written passenger manifests and manual booking processes that airlines had relied upon for years, forever changing the way our customers purchase tickets.
…One of the first-of-its-kind functionalities they created was an advance seat assignment option. Management also pushed for SONIC to have connectivity with early desktop computer terminals, meaning agents working at airport counters and in reservations could quickly and easily access information from the mainframe.
- Airbnb expects to IPO next year seems to me it would make sense to launch a loyalty program and do a credit card co-brand deal before going public, there’s a lot of value they could show on paper.
- “I made a mistake, man.” What else do you say after your behavior causes an airline flight to divert?
- Amtrak is offering assigned seats for Acela Express first class and considering whether to roll it out to other routes and cabins. My bet is that if they can get the IT right they offer assigned seats because those can be monetized and the last CEO of Delta is now Amtrak’s CEO. Maybe pre-order meals will be next.
Acela Express First Class Meal
The news that Amtrak is now assigning seats in Acela first class is a big ‘duh” with a long yawn.
For those unfamiliar with American passenger train history, long before Amtrak was invented in 1971, and before the computer was born, our railroads manually provided reservations–even in coach. What Amtrak calls Acela first class was actually known as “parlor” with individual swivel high back seats-and tables to work from.
The needless issue created over the years by Amtrak cancelling the ability to reserve a preferred seat in Acela first class is related to Amtrak’s failure in its own product development not to understand its market–how those business travelers prefer to have a solid table to work on, instead of a rickety fold down tray table from the seat in front.
In reference to B-School Marketing 101, this issue just gives clarification to the meaning of competition; what happens in essence when there is only one operator, a state-owned enterprise acting as a monopoly unresponsive in a timely manner to its market.
What’s the next marketing innovation for Acela first class–boxed cold meals..?
The news Amtrak is now allowing for seat reservations in Acela first class is a big ‘duh” with a long yawn.
For those unfamiliar with American passenger train history, long before Amtrak was invented in 1971, and before the computer was born, our railroads manually provided reservations–even in coach. What Amtrak calls Acela first class was actually known as “parlor” with individual swivel high back seats-and tables to work from.
The needless issue created over the years by Amtrak cancelling the ability to reserve a preferred seat in Acela first class is related to Amtrak’s failure in its own product development not to understand its market–how those business travelers prefer to have a solid table to work on, instead of a rickety fold down tray table from the seat in front.
In reference to B-School Marketing 101, this issue just gives clarification to the meaning of competition; what happens in essence when there is only one operator, a state-owned enterprise acting as a monopoly unresponsive in a timely manner to its market.
What’s the next marketing innovation for Acela first class–boxed cold meals..?
Wait, the passenger had $350K available to make a lump sum payment and still catch his (probably) plane? What a jerk!
and can you charge that?
They’ve been denying passport issuance / renewals in the US over arrears in child support for many years now.