Tuesday 31 May 2016

WHY are CHILDREN still DROWNING?


Today, a very hot, less than perfect day for cycling, nevertheless found me riding along the Thames River parkway, finally stopping at Tim’s for refreshment.  Not being a home recipient of newspapers, I still find it comforting to sit down with one as a companion for my iced coffee and chocolate croissant.

It was the turn of the National/Financial Post today, and the front page headline was, “WHY are CHILDREN still DROWNING” (Their quirky use of Caps, not mine).

The text pointed out the latest sad loss of hundreds of drowned migrants in the Mediterranean Sea, accompanied by a photo of another dead young boy.  Focussing on the question, “WHY ?” I continued to read about the little effort being made by the overworked U.N. High Commission for Refugees.

Whoah!  I said to myself, firstly, they are just migrants until a second country, after some examination, awards some of them refugee status.

Jumping onto my bike I tried to rush home (Yes, John, I still rely on 20-inch wheels), rudely awoke my computer from ‘Sleep’ and googled ‘National Post’.  Unbelievably, following an exhaustive search, the article in question could not be found.  

Newspaper - dominant front page news.  Webpage - nothing ... nowhere.

I assumed that they were avoiding unwelcome ‘comments’.  This was quite annoying because I wanted to answer the, apparently, difficult but, in fact, easy question.

The obvious answer is, of course, SEND THEM BACK.

Thousands more prospective migrants are waiting in North Africa to travel to the gold-paved sidewalks of Europe.  They know that it is possible because no one returns to tell them otherwise.


Any more questions?

Monday 23 May 2016

Aerospace 14 - The Right Profit Metric


ⓒ Bombardier, Montreal, May 2016

It's useful to know what Boeing and Airbus wouldn't tell you.
What’s the Right Profit Metric? 
Cost Per Passenger.
Traditionally, the airline industry has concentrated on a cost-per-seat strategy because it was the only way to extract margin.  As a result of the lower cost-per-seat pursuit, many airlines were driven toward purchasing larger single-aisle aircraft.

But one size does not fit all.


On many routes, seats were flying for free.  Empty seats.  And if not free, the seats were on sale. And as everyone knows, sales procure low yields.  Consequently, a large part of the secondary market was dropped, or even ignored.


On the other hand, medium-haul markets are reaching a certain level of saturation.So where is the next level of growth?  What’s the best way to stimulate traffic and increase the number of passengers travelling through hubs?  Secondary and tertiary markets are the key.  In other words, it’s time to go deeper in the regions.


What really matters when looking for high yields at low risk is simple: the cost per passenger on board.


Right-Sized for Opening New Markets


Free from design constraints, the Bombardier C Series 5-abreast platform was developed specifically for the 100 -150 passenger market.  It is not a stretch, nor a shrink of a legacy program.  It’s the right aircraft at the right time.


A Low Risk Solution


With a 25 to 35% lower cost per passenger on board, the Bombardier C Series aircraft are the ideal complements to the larger A320/A321 and 737-800/737-900. The C Series family provides the freedom to think differently about network planning. Which means, airlines have a new way to grow and focus on the next opportunity for expansion.


Increase Your Yields


Entering into service in July of this year, the Bombardier C Series is the right tool to help you be the first to grow these new markets profitably. Now, you can return to these once deserted markets with the right sized aircraft and start increasing your yields.


Be the first to serve those markets where there is no competition, but plenty of opportunity.

Grateful thanks to Bombardier for producing this article.

Sunday 1 May 2016

Politics 18 - Syria


The U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov continue a laborious series of discussions regarding Syria but, here, it is worth considering the game of 'chess' being played by Russia.  The Kurds and Turkey are well established on the game board although not in the forefront.  The future of Turkey in Europe is very weak (One could suggest, humorously, that the future of all countries in Europe is quite weak) but Russia's desire for a strong arm extending down to the Mediterranean, requires tokens of friendship towards Turkey and thus, temporarily, Syria, while ignoring the Kurds.  The EU should never imagine Turkey as a part of Europe.  For such an extended influence it would be wise to remember the over-extended Roman Empire ... advice, obviously, equally applicable to Russia.

A complicated scenario, but who are the chess masters?