Last week, I spent three days in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, hanging out with Loyalty marketing professionals from around the world at the Loyalty 2010 conference. I met a number of very talented and interesting people, from airlines, hotels and even retails chain that are trying to drive loyalty.

Also part of the event was the Loyalty 2010 Awards for the Most Innovative Loyalty program. The judges had shortlisted the Top 3, and the audience voted for the best. Air Berlin came out tops, though I think each program was very unique. And I share with you here, what makes them so good!

1. Air Berlin’s MyRoute customers earn double miles on their frequently flown routes
Try to solve this problem. You need to get price sensitive customers to fly you on their most-flown routes, which are also the most competitive due to many airlines offering an undifferentiated product on those routes. You know you got to think out of the box when solving this one. And Air Berlin’s Johannes Ganser and Sophie Wennekers, along with their Loyalty Marketing team, did just that.

In April 2009, the airline launched MyRoute where members select …

Last week, I wrote an article for CNBC, which talked about the agility of Qantas that keeps the airline in profitable territory. The article resulted in a lively debate with a number of Aussie aviation experts down under, and one of them kindly offered to write a detailed Guest Post on SimpliFlying on how it’s actually Jetstar that’s keeping Qantas afloat.

Grant McHerron (aka Falcon124) is an opinionated aviation enthusiast & co-host of Plane Crazy Down Under, Australia’s only aviation podcast. He is an online/digital project manager and perpetual student pilot who can often be found crewing hot air balloons, working airside at Avalon Airshow and plane spotting at airports around the world. He graciousouly hosted me when I visited Melbourne last year, and we almost watched the sunrise in his hot-air balloon Enjoy!

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The latest half-yearly results from QANTAS continue to show an airline that is hemorrhaging cash on its mainline, full service routes. While QANTAS are certainly showing signs of agility, the primary factor keeping the group afloat is the success of their Low Cost Carrier brand Jetstar.
The creation of Jetstar
Towards the end of the 1990’s, QANTAS saw …

I’ve been a guest writer for Mashable.com for a few months now, and my latest article was about how airlines can drive revenue from social media. Those of you who’ve attended my keynote presentation (view slides) on the topic know that I classify this as the holy grail for airlines – something not many have been able to achieve, and there are no “numbers” released from airlines on their social media efforts either.This article seeks inspiration from the likes of Dell, who made $6.4million for selling on Twitter, and applies the lessons to airlines.  Here’s a quick summary of the article and you can read the full version over at Mashable. Clear distressed inventory using real-time mediums like Twitter, e.g. JetBlue Cheeps and United TwaresIntegrate independent social media reviews in the booking path – to boost conversion Integrate with social media travel tools like TripIt – Leverage on the loads of travel information publicly available, like travel plans, to send specific deals to peopleCreate private online communities – exclusive “velvet-rope” clubs of your most …

For those who don’t follow aviation closely, the world’s third biggest airshow is taking place in Singapore right now. And there’re a number of things different about it. For one, there are no big plane orders expected, which is normally the most common at airshows. Also, unexpectedly, there’s a ton of social media infused into the happenings, which makes the airshow really hot. Here’s why. Journalism on steroids, powered by Social Media Generally at airshows, you get “daily digests” – thick printed booklets with a summary of all the happenings of the previous days at the airshow. This time FlightGlobal’s coverage has taken it a step further – they have digital daily digests called “iFlight”. These contain interactive graphics, high-definition videos from the show and even Tweets from key FlightGlobal bloggers on the ground. And it comes in your inbox everyday, so you don’t even need to be at the show to get it. When it comes to broadcast, not only does CNBC Asia have an on-site studio for Live telecasts, they also have a very lively Guest Blog going and also making …

This article was written live from the Media Center at the Singapore Airshow, and was first published on the CNBC blog.——– What a start to the year has it been for airlines. AirAsia and Jetstar announced world’s first low cost alliance. Japan Airlines filed for bankruptcy and hopes to come out as a different airline, with a different alliance altogether (It even hired a monk as a CEO.) The airlines in the west announced mostly shrinking losses, but Allegiant and AirTran stunned everyone with their record profits. Then last night, at the Air Transport World Global Airline Awards ceremony, Rob Fyfe – CEO of Air New Zealand – left the audience in awe when he stripped on the stage to perform the Kiwi War Dance after accepting his award for Airline of the Year! So it certainly seems that surprise is in the air for the industry. Hence, we should expect the unexpected from the Singapore Airshow 2010 too. Here are four wild things to expect at the Airshow. 1. A Return of Aircraft Orders After dismal outcomes late …

Twitter has a huge aviation community – from airlines and airports, to cabin crew and aviation enthusiasts. Whether you like to fly a plane or just watch planes fly, there are lots of aviation geeks on Twitter with whom you can converse about your passions or just listen.

Many of these (very interesting) Tweeps are tapping into Twitter’s real-time network to offer up travel tips, airline recommendations (or warnings), and an inside look at life in the cockpit (or cabin). Personally, I have made some amazingly talented new friends on Twitter, whom I wouldn’t have known otherwise, from Melbourne to Muscat.

This list has 11 great aviation geeks to follow on Twitter, however please feel free to suggest others in the comments (or if you tweet on things that fly, leave your own Twitter info – for individuals only, not companies). These are in no particular order.

And you can certainly start with this list if you’re looking to follow my 11 suggested steps to lead the social media strategy for your airline!

Of course, if you aren’t following us on Twitter yet, we’re @simpliflying.


11 airline Journalists/Bloggers …

At the Aviation Outlook Summit in Sydney early this month, where I delivered a keynote on airlines + social media branding, the first day was mostly doom and gloom whereas the second day was much more up-beat. Not surprisingly, executives from legacy carriers like Qantas, Air New Zealand and the European Commission spoke on the first day, and up-beat executives from rising stars like AirAsia X, Oman Air and Gold Coast Airport spoke on the second day. That got me thinking…are legacy airlines dead? I now believe they are. Here’s why.
1. Legacy airline brands come with legacy baggage
Unions, legacy systems, government bureaucracy, old planes, old workforce, high costs, bankruptcy… these are all words that can be easily associated with Air India, Alitalia, Japan Airlines, Air Canada and many more legacy airlines. And these are all aspects that do not allow these airlines to function efficiently in the current climate.

The airline industry has evolved drastically in the past decade. With each new shock (9/11, SARS, H1N1…) we see new stars emerging, which have streamlined costs, efficient operations and specifically targeted markets they go after. And they beat the hell out of monolithic airlines that legacy carriers have become. Just read …

I’m not suggesting Emirates should become the national carrier of India. I’m asserting that it is already the de-facto national airline of the sub-continent. And Indians need to tell their politicians to get over the rescue-Air-India-at-any-cost fever, save some tax rupees and let the market decide which airline survives and which doesn’t.
Game over, Air India
As I mentioned in a previous article, Air India contributes 10% of global airline losses with just 0.35% of global traffic (stat. from Bangalore Aviation). To rescue the airline, hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ rupees are required over a long period of time. And even then, a profitable airline cannot be guaranteed, especially one that is mostly run for, and by the government and bureaucrats.

Even if you can gloss over the fact that lots of money is required to rescue Air India, the ideas for the turnaround that have been proposed till now have been far from convincing. Repositioning Air India as a low-cost carrier, with sky-high employee-to-plane ratio, aging fleet, poor plane utilization and lethargic execution, is at best an ill-conceived dream.

Till date, Air India has filled its planes either with politicians, or by selling dirt-cheap tickets that hardly cover …

Recently, I had a very interesting email exchange with Anthony Prakasm, who lives and breathes aviation as much as I do, if not more. The conversation was about Singapore Airlines’ brand strategy for their new First Class Suites on board the A380 and whether that’s succeeded or not. Anthony had some very unique insights into the situation, and I asked him to share his views for SimpliFlying’s readers. I personally think he’s dead on target in his conclusion that SIA missed a trick or two in the execution of a seemingly great brand strategy. What do you think?
- Shashank
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Singapore Airlines Suites -  A Class Too Far Beyond First
Singapore Airlines launched the “Singapore Airlines Suites” product in October 2007, in conjunction with the new on-board product launch that came with the A380. Featuring an “unparalleled level of luxury” in the “widest seat in the sky”, and sleeping on a “standalone bed that was not converted from a seat”.  The airline promised the Singapore Airlines Suites to be “truly a class that is yours alone”.

Regular First Class travellers who wished to travel on the SIA Suites soon found that they had to pay in the vicinity of 50% to 60% more for …

I came across a profound article on MSNBC Travel by Chris Elliot (of the elliot.org fame) about social media and travel, and I couldn’t help but re-post it here. Chris mentions six ways in which travel will change thanks to social media. And to me, it seems inevitable, as you’d have realized if you’d seen the slides from my recent keynote on the topic in Miami. I’m sure you’d enjoy this read.

P.S: Yours truly is quoted in the article as well (point 3).
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By Christopher Elliott
Travel columnist
msnbc.com contributor
updated 10:32 a.m. ET, Mon., July 6, 2009
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31727411/ns/travel-tips/

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Christopher Elliott
Travel columnist

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Before the latest social media revolution, Jessica Gottlieb would have probably watched helplessly when her kids, Jane and Alexander, were trapped on the tarmac, waiting for their Virgin America flight to take off.

But that’s so 2008. When it …