MH Withdraws travel privileges for AK's CEO Tony Fernandez

[SQflyergirl]

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story...373&sec=nation

[lee_apromise]

I just don't know why they are making this complicated politic situation between these two awesome airlines.....sigh...

[SQFAN]

Tony was quoted to have said :

“I’ve always preferred to fly with MAS but I guess all good things must come to an end,” he said

. A faux pas?

[huaiwei]

Tony: "discounted or free seats were a courtesy offered to fellow airline chief executive officers and this was practised even between the “bitterest of enemies”."

MAS: "according to industry practice, only airlines with interlining agreements will consider granting such travel privileges for airline employees"

So who's telling the truth?

[Nick C]

Tony: "discounted or free seats were a courtesy offered to fellow airline chief executive officers and this was practised even between the “bitterest of enemies”."

MAS: "according to industry practice, only airlines with interlining agreements will consider granting such travel privileges for airline employees"

So who's telling the truth?

I seriously can't trust what the Fat Blangah says.

[quik!]

Keep up the rivalry!

Just love the low low airfares. Are they trying to kill each other??

[Doraemon]

Tony: "discounted or free seats were a courtesy offered to fellow airline chief executive officers and this was practised even between the “bitterest of enemies”."

MAS: "according to industry practice, only airlines with interlining agreements will consider granting such travel privileges for airline employees"

So who's telling the truth?

Interestingly, both are correct because Tony is comparing apples with oranges!

What MAS says is the standard airline industry practice, ie. discounted travel privileges will be extended to the employees of another airline that has interline agreement with. 50% discount is for firm tickets and 75% discount is for standby tickets, do note that the discounts are normally taken against IATA full fares. While the discounts look attractive for First/Business Class travels, they are pretty useless for Economy Class travels because airlines always sell Economy Class tickets at substantial discounts to the IATA full fares even in the fully flexible Y booking class. Since MH & AK do not have interline agreement with each other, employees from both airlines do not enjoy such travel privileges from each other. Just an example, MH employees enjoy discounted travels on SQ and vice versa due to their interline agreement with SQ.

Tony is quite smart in his choice of words. He said it is a "courtesy", which means he knows that this is not standard practice and other airlines are not obligated to provide him with such privileges. So it creates a perception that MAS is being picky & not generous. Instead of whinning losing his personal benefits, Tony should be fighting for the travel privileges for AK employees too.