Tyler Brule comment in the F.T. of 6/11/11...

Rocky Bay

Tyler Brule writes a column for the F.T. called "The Fast Lane". It is a commentary on his travels, observations and experiences as he travels extensively for business. In his column of 6/11/11 he wrote..."Back at my seat, I started thinking about how great brands fall from grace and whether there's a connection between Irish chief executives at large global airlines and an erosion of service and quality". Now if he meant regional airlines I would tend to agree with him-i.e. Ryanair and Michael O' Leary. Any comments or thoughts on his comment ???

Delancey

A pot shot at Willie Walsh at BA and Alan ( or is it Kevin ? ) Joyce at QANTAS , can't say if the comments are true as I haven't flown either Airline in years though the disaster of Terminal 5 Heathrow did happen on Walsh's watch - are problems still persisting there ?

roundymac

Paddy bashing.:mad:

Tenger

Rocky Bay wrote: »

Tyler Brule writes a column for the F.T. called "The Fast Lane". It is a commentary on his travels, observations and experiences as he travels extensively for business. In his column of 6/11/11 he wrote..."Back at my seat, I started thinking about how great brands fall from grace and whether there's a connection between Irish chief executives at large global airlines and an erosion of service and quality". Now if he meant regional airlines I would tend to agree with him-i.e. Ryanair and Michael O' Leary. Any comments or thoughts on his comment ???

I think MoL may take offence at FR being called a 'regional airline'

I would guess that the comment was mainly directed at Willie Walsh and Alan Joyce...."large global airlines"

BuffyBot

Delancey wrote: »

..Terminal 5 Heathrow did happen on Walsh's watch - are problems still persisting there ?

Nope - works as well as any other terminal these days.

And yes, this is a pot shot as Walsh et al.

@OP: Ryanair is far from a regional airline

xflyer

Maybe he's right at one level, maybe it's a case of Irish CEOs lacking the rose tinted traditionalist viewpoint or a hankering for the days of yore when airlines where for the privileged and for journalists like Brule whose job is to sail around the world on the featherbed of an expense account.

Years ago as a teenager when airline travel was still expensive and out of reach for the average person. I remember reading a gushing article by some journalist who remarked how easily a person could step on an airliner and be on the other side of the world in a matter of hours. 'Easy for you', I thought, 'when you don't have to pay for it.'

I didn't fly in an airliner until I was 26 years old. By then I had a PPL. It could be more expensive to buy a ticket on an airliner than to fly yourself over to Britain particularly if you shared the cost.

The worst form of falling from grace for an airline is to disappear, think of the great brands no longer with us. Pan Am, TWA, Sabena. The list is long and sad. Say what you like about Michael O'Leary, he recognised that the airline business is just that, a business. It has to make money. It's not a cosy club for the employees or a status symbol for a country anymore. Walsh and Joyce know this too. Neither BA or Qantas have a divine right to exist. Neither man carries the baggage of tradition with them.

Tyler Brule is in a privileged position. I suspect he rarely if ever has to pay for a flight out of his own pocket. It's easy to bitch about standards of service dropping when you don't have fork our your own money. Meanwhile in the seat behind him is someone who saved all year for their one and one and only holiday. They only care that they're on the airliner in the first place. It's merely a bus service to them, a means of getting to their destination.

Ald

Anybody think this would be cause for a few email complaints from Irish boardies that feel offended?

I feel a bit offended by the implication that Irish = lowbrow quality. I think that's borderline racist. Could you imagine saying "I wonder is there any connection between a Nigerian CEO and a lazy staff".

My opinion is that Brule is a lowbrow journalist at best if he feels the need to make such a connotation about being Irish. Did he ever think of taking a look at the annual report of any airline and noting what challenges they face? Fuel, aiport charges, gloomy economies and a lot of competition to name but a few... I'm sure being Irish is a long way down that list...

christy c

Ald wrote: »

Anybody think this would be cause for a few email complaints from Irish boardies that feel offended?

I feel a bit offended by the implication that Irish = lowbrow quality. I think that's borderline racist. Could you imagine saying "I wonder is there any connection between a Nigerian CEO and a lazy staff".

My opinion is that Brule is a lowbrow journalist at best if he feels the need to make such a connotation about being Irish. Did he ever think of taking a look at the annual report of any airline and noting what challenges they face? Fuel, aiport charges, gloomy economies and a lot of competition to name but a few... I'm sure being Irish is a long way down that list...

I sent an e-mail anyway, no harm to send a few for these people that look down their nose at the great unwashed

donvito99

Send xflyer's quality post. End of.

I wouldn't go as far as using the racism card though.

Marcusm

Maybe he's also thinking about the heavy Irish contingent at Emirates and Etihad or maybe he's simply falling on a logical fallacy. Post hoc ergo propter hoc is rarely correct.

newcavanman

Maybe he's right at one level, maybe it's a case of Irish CEOs lacking the rose tinted traditionalist viewpoint or a hankering for the days of yore when airlines where for the privileged and for journalists like Brule whose job is to sail around the world on the featherbed of an expense account.

Years ago as a teenager when airline travel was still expensive and out of reach for the average person. I remember reading a gushing article by some journalist who remarked how easily a person could step on an airliner and be on the other side of the world in a matter of hours. 'Easy for you', I thought, 'when you don't have to pay for it.'

I didn't fly in an airliner until I was 26 years old. By then I had a PPL. It could be more expensive to buy a ticket on an airliner than to fly yourself over to Britain particularly if you shared the cost.

The worst form of falling from grace for an airline is to disappear, think of the great brands no longer with us. Pan Am, TWA, Sabena. The list is long and sad. Say what you like about Michael O'Leary, he recognised that the airline business is just that, a business. It has to make money. It's not a cosy club for the employees or a status symbol for a country anymore. Walsh and Joyce know this too. Neither BA or Qantas have a divine right to exist. Neither man carries the baggage of tradition with them.

Tyler Brule is in a privileged position. I suspect he rarely if ever has to pay for a flight out of his own pocket. It's easy to bitch about standards of service dropping when you don't have fork our your own money. Meanwhile in the seat behind him is someone who saved all year for their one and one and only holiday. They only care that they're on the airliner in the first place. It's merely a bus service to them, a means of getting to their destination.
XFlyer, i couldnt agree more with you . I remember going to london with my mate in aug 1981 , we were reg collectors then and stayed with my uncle and spent a week touring the london airports writing down aircraft reg numbers. We went night boat and train as it was £44 as opposed to the day which was £54 as opposed to the flights which were £176 . Personally i have flown ryanair a heck of a lot of times and i have never been stranded . Im not saying it will never happen, but no more likely than with anyone else, and at least ill have money in my pocket to find an alternative way home . Viva MOL

Delancey

Xflyer makes agreat point about so many famous brands vanishing up their ass - take Sabena , in all its years of operation you could count on 2 hands the number of years it actually made a profit.
O'Leary has actually said he doesn't especially like aircraft ( I think he once said he's not '' Aerosexual '' ) , as far as he is concerned planes are for making money and bugger all else.
Love him or loathe him but he has delivered a performance that all other airline CEO's and shareholders can only drool over.

Rocky Bay

Delancey wrote: »

Xflyer makes agreat point about so many famous brands vanishing up their ass - take Sabena , in all its years of operation you could count on 2 hands the number of years it actually made a profit.
O'Leary has actually said he doesn't especially like aircraft ( I think he once said he's not '' Aerosexual '' ) , as far as he is concerned planes are for making money and bugger all else.
Love him or loathe him but he has delivered a performance that all other airline CEO's and shareholders can only drool over.

...but the product leaves a lot to be desired, in my opinion.

imme

Rocky Bay wrote: »

Tyler Brule writes a column for the F.T. called "The Fast Lane". It is a commentary on his travels, observations and experiences as he travels extensively for business. In his column of 6/11/11 he wrote..."Back at my seat, I started thinking about how great brands fall from grace and whether there's a connection between Irish chief executives at large global airlines and an erosion of service and quality". Now if he meant regional airlines I would tend to agree with him-i.e. Ryanair and Michael O' Leary. Any comments or thoughts on his comment ???

I think he meant Alan Joyce at Quantas and Willie Walsh at Brit Airways.
I thought the comment was a bit scummy on first reading.
On second and third reading I felt he wanted something to fill the column. The column is a filler, that's what he was doing with the attack that personal to me as an Irish person.

He writes in a certain way, a very un-Irish Indo or Ryanair type of way, a privileged type of way to be sure. It's the FT for goodness sake.

Not sure if I'll buy his Monocle magazine again after this column though. :mad:

Tenger

imme wrote: »

Not sure if I'll buy his Monocle magazine again after this column though. :mad:

Absolutely old chap, I had it down on my list for my batman to pick up in Harrods next week!!!:)

imme

Tenger wrote: »

Absolutely old chap, I had it down on my list for my batman to pick up in Harrods next week!!!:)

you can buy it in Ireland, no need to trouble foreign grocers.
it's not like that really, you misunderstand the magazine, if I'm taking it the way you're writing it, irony doesn't always transfer on the internet.:P

Tenger

imme wrote: »

...... if I'm taking it the way you're writing it, irony doesn't always transfer on the internet.:P

It was a tongue in cheek comment.......

....my batman merely polishes my shoes!!:p