AirAsia
I've been traveling around Southeast Asia a lot, and most of my flights have been on AirAsia, a regional discount airline. I have a few thoughts about them.
One of the ways AirAsia saves money is by making all seats on the plane first-come first-serve instead of having them pre-assigned--apparently boarding averages 25 minutes, whereas when seats are pre-assigned it takes on hour. Reducing time that planes are on the ground increases the total number of flights per day per plane and so reduces costs.
The problem is that they haven't worked out a good way of managing 200 people clamoring to get on to a plane all at once. The game begins maybe 15 minutes before boarding, when people start to nonchalantly stand in the vicinity of the gate. Other people also saunter over and try not to look too interested. Then one person will walk right up to the gate and get on line, and within maybe twenty seconds there will be fifty people in line. It's really amazing how quickly the line forms. Sometimes it will get triggered too early, and the airline staff will ask everyone to sit back down, and sometimes a few people even listen.
Once the plane is ready, the staff attempts to board families with small children, people with disabilities, and elderly people. This sounds like a nice idea, but it works out poorly for three reasons. First, their definition of "elderly" is absurd--fifty years old, roughly one third of the plane. Second, the announcement is always in broken English and a lot of people don't understand it, so they just see other people getting on the plane and follow. Third, some people do understand but want to sit in an exit row, so they get on too, and the staff isn't going to accost someone and demand to know their disability. But it's good that it doesn't work, because people who get on first tend to sit in the front of the plane, and so when the plane arrived everyone would be stuck behind the elderly and disabled people on the jetway. Clearly, the best method is to let the people who walk really fast board first, because a) no one has to wait very long for them to board; and b) they will get out of the way when the plane arrives. Thus I propose a New Yorker line, and I will update this space when AirAsia adopts my idea. Anyway.
The other thing about AirAsia is that they don't allow outside food or drinks on the plane, and then they try to sell you their own stuff. In fairness, their stuff isn't especially overpriced, and it's not terrible. However, it seems like extortion to put people in an airplane with very dry air and a risk of deep vein thrombosis if they don't stay hydrated, and then charge them for water. The good thing is that while they have their stated policy, they don't seem to ever actually confront anyone about it, and so everyone sneaks food and drinks on anyway. (AirAsia is owned by devout Muslims, and so alcohol is not for sale.)
AirAsia is starting a long-haul budget service, AirAsia X. The first route will be somewhere in England to Malaysia. For the fourteen hour flight, they plan to charge not only for food and drinks, but for entertainment--one article I read said they may rent out Playstations.
I'm cynical about all of this, but except for the water bit, I think it's a good idea. These various ways of saving money mean lower ticket prices, and I couldn't afford to have traveled so much if AirAsia and the other discount carriers weren't around.
One of the ways AirAsia saves money is by making all seats on the plane first-come first-serve instead of having them pre-assigned--apparently boarding averages 25 minutes, whereas when seats are pre-assigned it takes on hour. Reducing time that planes are on the ground increases the total number of flights per day per plane and so reduces costs.
The problem is that they haven't worked out a good way of managing 200 people clamoring to get on to a plane all at once. The game begins maybe 15 minutes before boarding, when people start to nonchalantly stand in the vicinity of the gate. Other people also saunter over and try not to look too interested. Then one person will walk right up to the gate and get on line, and within maybe twenty seconds there will be fifty people in line. It's really amazing how quickly the line forms. Sometimes it will get triggered too early, and the airline staff will ask everyone to sit back down, and sometimes a few people even listen.
Once the plane is ready, the staff attempts to board families with small children, people with disabilities, and elderly people. This sounds like a nice idea, but it works out poorly for three reasons. First, their definition of "elderly" is absurd--fifty years old, roughly one third of the plane. Second, the announcement is always in broken English and a lot of people don't understand it, so they just see other people getting on the plane and follow. Third, some people do understand but want to sit in an exit row, so they get on too, and the staff isn't going to accost someone and demand to know their disability. But it's good that it doesn't work, because people who get on first tend to sit in the front of the plane, and so when the plane arrived everyone would be stuck behind the elderly and disabled people on the jetway. Clearly, the best method is to let the people who walk really fast board first, because a) no one has to wait very long for them to board; and b) they will get out of the way when the plane arrives. Thus I propose a New Yorker line, and I will update this space when AirAsia adopts my idea. Anyway.
The other thing about AirAsia is that they don't allow outside food or drinks on the plane, and then they try to sell you their own stuff. In fairness, their stuff isn't especially overpriced, and it's not terrible. However, it seems like extortion to put people in an airplane with very dry air and a risk of deep vein thrombosis if they don't stay hydrated, and then charge them for water. The good thing is that while they have their stated policy, they don't seem to ever actually confront anyone about it, and so everyone sneaks food and drinks on anyway. (AirAsia is owned by devout Muslims, and so alcohol is not for sale.)
AirAsia is starting a long-haul budget service, AirAsia X. The first route will be somewhere in England to Malaysia. For the fourteen hour flight, they plan to charge not only for food and drinks, but for entertainment--one article I read said they may rent out Playstations.
I'm cynical about all of this, but except for the water bit, I think it's a good idea. These various ways of saving money mean lower ticket prices, and I couldn't afford to have traveled so much if AirAsia and the other discount carriers weren't around.
posted by arie at 8:36 AM
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