Boeing recently announced its latest development, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, is about to enter the final stages of groundtesting before its very first flight. During the past months Boeing has worked hard testing the airframe through intensive groundtests and consequently tried to catch up with the planned schedule. By now, Boeing is confident to get its first 787 airborne in the second quarter of 2009 (probably somewhere in June), which is almost a year after it first achieved the power-on milestone in June 2008. If Boeing succeeds to achieve the upcoming deadlines, chances are great that first deliveries will follow in early 2010.
Business travelers are seen as the most profitable customers an airline can accommodate. In fact, in the early 1980’s, American Airlines discovered that only 5% of its customers accounted for 40% of its business. This means that every business traveler, or frequent flyer, was more than 10 times more valuable than an occasional flyer. Obviously, questions were raised on how to keep luring these highly lucrative travelers to the product the airline has on offer and consequently build brand loyalty. One of the answers was Frequent Flyer Programs. The success of these programs is illustrated by the fact that American Airlines’ AAdvantage program had 28 million members, 15 years after its introduction.
Just like earning points at grocery stores in order to receive free products or discounts, a frequent flyer is rewarded with miles which are redeemable for free or discounted travel, car rentals, and other services. Recent research revealed that customers want to be rewarded for their loyalty expressed with repeat business.
A rare incident happened on the 21st of April when a fully laden Airbus A300 took off after aborting its three previous attempts. Although none of the 340 passengers aboard the aircraft suffered from this "inconvenience", most of them demanded an other aircraft to take them to Taba, Egypt. After it third attempt the aircraft was once more checked by local engineers and a fault in the electrical system was discovered.
A rare incident happened on the 21st of April when a fully laden Airbus A300 took off after aborting its three previous attempts. Although none of the 340 passengers aboard the aircraft suffered from this "inconvenience", most of them demanded an other aircraft to take them to Taba, Egypt. After it third attempt the aircraft was once more checked by local engineers and a fault in the electrical system was discovered.