Turbulencia?

After some wonderful sun and warmth in recent weeks, winter is back.

For Iberia turbulence and rough weather look forecast for some time yet. Flying with Iberia regionally and internationally has never been a particularly pleasant experience regardless of whether we have been at the back of the plane or managed to slip up the front. Today's news included an update on their ongoing difficulties, "Iberia ha perdido 620.000 pasajeros en España en 9 meses . El beneficio de la aerolínea se ha reducido un 83,5% entre enero y septiembre pasados."

In the inimitable style of the coddled and uncompetitive flag carrier - see Olympic, Alitalia, Air India, Garuda, Aeroflot, the old AirFrance etc - Iberia has been a hotbed of poor management, unmotivated staff and bad customer service. The recent debacle at Barcelona Airport that left thousands of passengers stranded for days was a great example of all that is wrong.

We can only hope that they follow the example of Air France and poach a talented executive team from some of Spain's many successful multinationals to revistalise the company. Air France is now competing effectively with the low cost carriers and a perennial basket case has been given has a new lease on life. At least Iberia's website seems to work well, fewer people involved I guess.





In the meantime there's always Ryanair...they don't pretend to offer more than a bench on a bus. Here's some artistry with flight patterns...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPv8psZsvIU