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Watchdog Poll Results

A few weeks back we mentioned that the BBC Watchdog program was carrying out a poll about peoples feelings about airlines and air travel. Well the results are now out, they were aired on BBC One last night. The whole program will be on the BBC iplayer until the 18th November and is worth watching if you have time.

The top two airlines where British Airways and Virgin, I have included the graph in the post. For full details of the report visit the BBC website

QE2 ready to set sail for final voyage

The QE2 will set sail this evening from Southampton and take is final voyage to Dubai. The trip was sold out almost instantly, with the highest-priced berths going for more than £28,000.

The ship & its boarders will stop and hear a pre-recorded message from her master, Captain Ian McNaught, which will also be broadcast on a specially-erected screen in Southampton's Mayfair Park. There will then be a firework display and the QE2, with whistle blasting, will move away from Southampton for the last time.

The QE2 will arrive on November 26 and will then be handed over to the Nakheel company, which is part of Dubai World and the creators of the Palm Jumeirah, the largest man-made island in the world. The ship will then undergo extensive refurbishment before taking up a permanent docking on a specially-constructed berth on the Palm Jumeirah.

Yahoo! News covers the story well here and also where the QE2 hit problems coming to shore this morning. We couldnt let this story pass without a mention, so bon voyage!

TravelMoles’ top Story today - Ryanair profits nosedive by 47%

This is such a massive drop in profits that we wanted to share the story with you. The Travel Firm saw its half-year profits slump by 47% to €215 million as a result of soaring fuel costs.

Chief executive Michael O'Leary said “If oil prices remain at approximately $80 per barrel next year then our earnings will rebound strongly. We have a significant cost advantage over our competitors many of whom have hedged fuel next year at significantly higher levels than current market prices. This will force competitors to further increase air fares and widen the price gap between them and Ryanair's lowest fares.“

Read the full news story on TravelMole/RyanAir

Travel Recruitment remaining 'grounded' for time being

An article we read in the recruiter news is, in our opinion, very refletive of the current market-place;

The travel recruitment sector is waiting for business to ‘take off’ again, a recruiter claims.
Julia Fuell, managing director at travel staffing firm New Frontiers, told Recruiter that there were still lots of jobs and skills shortages across the industry but many firms are holding off on recruitment for the moment.

Fuell said: “The travel industry, like many other industries, is paralysed by not being able to 'read the future', and so vacancies are on and then they're on hold and then they're on again. Candidates, meanwhile, are taking jobs then worrying about being 'last in, first out' and changing their mind! This uncertainty isn't good for business, but is very understandable.

“Having been in business for the last 15 years and been through one recession, two Gulf Wars, the 9/11 disaster and SARs outbreak, I've got my battle jacket back on!”

What are your thoughts in this? Is it a complete reflection or are you doing particularly well at the moment?

Take Watchdog Airline & Travel Survey

"We take more than 56 million flights abroad every year. Whether it's scheduled, budget or charter, a short hop or long haul, more than 250 companies now fly us in and out of British airports every day. We've never had so much choice when it comes to who we fly with. Now Watchdog wants to find out what you think about the airlines."

Take the survey; BBC - Watchdog - Airline Votes

Businessman sues tour operators after skiing accident leaves him in wheelchair

British businessman Graham Anderson, 46, is suing his tour operators for millions of pounds after a skiing accident where he collided with a tree during a holiday left him needing a wheelchair. The full article can be found on CPD Webinars.

Mr Anderson who is now tetraplegic, is suing the Cambridgeshire-based tour operator Snowbizz, for breaching the terms of the holiday contract that services would be provided with reasonable care and skill.

Snowbizz deny any liability, saying Anderson was himself careless is attempting a slope he should have known he was not capable of tackling safely.

Have a read of the article, will only take you a minute and let me know what you think. For Tour Ops jobs visit TravelJobSearch.com/touroperators

Save Fuel - Go on a diet!!

The Travel Counsellors travel news recently reported that Airlines (well the crew) are going on diets to lose weight in a bid to save fuel during hard times for global economies!! This is based on an article written by the times that airlines are seriously looking at measures to "lower on-board weight from non-essential equipment and facilities". Some of the measures are;

- BA are replacing their canteen trolleys with low-mass models and reducing the weight of in-flight meals, alongside eliminating cabin crew paperwork

- Virgin Atlantic is incorporating less packaging in its meals to reduce weight and eventually hopes to offer a meal free from packaging

- Shaving millimetres from cutlery

- Cutting the stocks of sachets

- Removing earplugs from planes

- Lightening seats

- Using paper drinks stirrers instead of plastic

- Many airlines are also cleaning out the soot deposits from engines to improve efficiency

It is reported that BA currently spend in excess of £8 million per day on fuel and each plane typically carries around three tonnes of catering equipment and food! Wow. A spokesman for British Airways said "we are reviewing our catering and looking at how much it weighs and looking at how much meals weigh. Airlines are having to look at absolutely everything. At some point our in-flight magazines could be electronic."

Any recommendations?

Qantas Cabin Crew; Featured Jobs

"Our flight attendants are the face of Qantas, representing our airline around the world. We pride ourselves on providing customers with an exceptional service experience from the moment they step on board to the time they depart the aircraft. Qantas flight attendants are selected for their natural, genuine, engaging and confident personalities and their ability to use their initiative in any situation.

The airline industry is highly competitive and the service we provide is what differentiates us from our competitors. Our flight attendants have a significant opportunity to influence our customers' perception of our airline, through their ability to provide high standards of service in a sensitive and empathetic manner. "

For full details and the latest Cabin Crew Jobs at Heathrow Airport visit TravelJobSearch.com/Qantas

XL fallout; some stories

We’ve read loads in the press over the last 10 days since the collapse of travel from XL. Here we share some of them with you;

Blackpool Firm, 60 Job Losses - at a Blackpool-based travel company have lost their jobs as part of the collapse of holiday giant XL. Employees at Travel City Direct arrived at work yesterday to be told they were being made redundant. Read the Full Story

Dream Job became a Holiday nightmare - A holiday rep has told how she lost her dream job and was left stranded in Kefalonia after the collapse of travel firm XL Leisure. Jenna Wood, had been employed for just five months with Kosmar Villa Holidays – a tour operator which was bought by XL in 2006. “I have wanted to do this since I left school at 16. It was my dream job and my first full season. Even though I am at home I feel lost being back here”. Read the Full Story.

Redundant Staff Sue for Wages - STAFF who lost their jobs when holiday firm XL collapsed plan to sue their former bosses, the Western Mail can reveal today. Around 150 staff at XL subsidiary Travel City Direct in Swansea's Enterprise Zone which sold XL holiday packages lost their jobs when the firm announced it had gone into administration on Friday. They are among around 1,700 cabin crew, engineers, baggage handlers, sales staff and check-in staff across the UK to have lost their jobs. Read the Full Story.

Collapse of Holiday Company Throws Thousands into Confusion - The UK’s third largest holiday group, XL Leisure ceased trading earlier this month, with the loss of 2000 jobs and countless holiday plans ruined. It is anticipated that more companies in the travel industry will follow, so what are your rights and remedies if either the tour operator or the airline you’ve used to book your precious annual holiday goes into meltdown? Read the Full Article.

That’s enough I think!! Tell us your story by EMAIL

XL Travel in administration

UK Travel firm has gone into administration today resulting in all the companies air plans being grounded. The firm, which is the third biggest travel company in the UK has blamed rapidly rising fuel costs and the economic downturn for the crises. XL flys to 50 different destinations mainly in Europe and the Caribbean. The collapse of the firm has left approximately 85,000 people stranded aboard and an estimated 200,000 losing out on holidays that have already been paid for.

XL Travel’s porfiolio of firms includes the following:

- XL Leisure Group

- XL Airways UK

- Excel Aviation

- Explorer House

- Aspire Holiday

- Freedom Flights

- Freedom Flights (Aviation)

- The Really Great Holiday Company

- Medlife Hotels

- Travel City Flights

- Kosmar Villa Holidays

The XL group, which is based in Crawley, West Sussex and has has 1,700 employees worldwide. If you are looking for work now, as a result of this collapse, please visit www.aviationjobsearch.com

If you have suffered due to the business folding, please let us know.

Thai Travel Warnings

It is rife in the news at the moment with plenty of warnings for people not to travel to Thailand, after a state of emergency has been declared in Bangkok. At least one death has been reported and there is the threat to close 7 airports (Hat Yai, Phuket, Surat Thani, Krabi, Samui, Trang and Nakhon Sri Thammarat).

Thousands of holidaymakers were delayed because of anti-government demonstrations at the weekend. It is also planned to block all roads leading to the south of the country and railway services in the northern region have been stopped after all northern line train services in Chiang Mai were suspended on Sunday following protests from rail workers.

For more on the Story, see Sky News

Fancy working 4 days a week?

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, CITY

£30,000 SALARY FOR 4 DAYS PER WEEK

This varied role requires a team player with excellent communication skills who can effectively evaluate training needs, support, develop course objectives, deliver training and successfully manage projects and multi-task in a demanding and fast moving environment.

The successful candidate will have proven experience and an understanding of a variety of learning and development initiatives, ideally coupled with knowledge and understanding of the corporate travel industry and if need be, be able to deliver coaching to individuals and training to small groups of people.

For full job details and how to apply: TravelJobSearch/Training Manager

Celebrities and their Travel Stories

We found this on Telegraph.co.uk where the rich & famous share their best & worst holiday experiences. They have loads of celebrities listed including John Barrowman, Brian Blessed, Kelly Brook, Ian Botham and Naomi Campbell – that should be interesting!

The complete ‘Celebrity Travel Index’ is worth a look when you get time. Gordon Ramsay was interviewed about his travel experiences and his best holiday was a recent trip to Thailand, where a local chef was invited to the hotel restaurant to cook each night. He said “We trekked through rainforests, went diving, visited the local spice and fish markets and saw a school of dolphins when we went sailing.”

His disasters include – a hotel in Florida, where they expected a pretty lagoon with dolphins, but the reality was “a stagnant pool with toxic waste”. Gordon said that everything in the restaurant was served with chopped pineapples and sauteed potatoes! He also lost his luggage on his honeymoon (well there’s an excuse!!) and the island the were staying on was evacuated due to a hurricane.It is an amusing interview: read it in its full glory: Gordon Ramsays Heaven & Hell

What is your best & worst holidays & travel experiences?

Anyone looking for a Passport Application?

If you are planning on having a passport interview or getting an application today or for the next 3 days – bad luck, the passport workers are on strike. Around 3000 of them are on strike across 7 passport offices and 68 interview offices. The closure is due to industrial action over government plans to cap public sector pay and close offices.

Public and Commercial Services Union general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "It is disgraceful that long serving passport staff should receive no pay rise for the fifth year in a row and that efficient hardworking staff should be rewarded with a pay cut in real terms. With food, fuel and housing costs soaring, the government's policy of below inflation pay has further incensed the workforce uncertain about their future but passionate about the service they provide."

Travel Mole Poll

I am sure you have all heard of TravelMole - the online community for the Travel and Tourism Industry. They do great polls and i thought i'd tell you about the latest one: "'BA offers booking via new iPhone' - Would you book an airline ticket via a phone?"

I voted no - as did 64.58% other people. Other recent polls on there include: "'Credit crunch fears hitting two-week summer holidays' - Have you noticed a drop?", and "Ryanair freezes pay of senior managers as fuel prices rise - Good move ?".

Worth registering on this site if you havent already.

Featured Job - Spa Therapist Dubai

Spa Therapist - Dubai

Guide, advise, consult and provide a full range of professional services to the customer ensuring that various services such as relaxation and treatment facilities are provided.This position will be the primary contact within the spa and will carry out the appropriate safe health, beauty and spa treatments, which have been agreed with individual guests and to consult and recommend the sales of a wide range of health and beauty products.

To read more about this job and to APPLY click here

Stuarts Favourite Film: True Romance

In light of the recent news that Four Weddings and a Funeral was voted best ‘brit flick’ I thought I would let you know what my favourite film is. It is ‘True Romance’. My review would be; “One of the most underrated films ever made and easily my favorite. A classic Bonnie and Clyde storyline with fantastic direction from Director Tony Scott and Quentin Tarentino. The beauty of this film is that it has something for everyone, a perfect love story with more Drugs Sex and Violence than you can shake a stick at. Its funny too – some of the dialogue is pant wetting funny. The soundtrack is a fantastic mix of panpipe melodies which go perfectly with the Detroit skyline, mixed with Jailhouse style rock from the 50’s. The all star cast is second to none with top performances from Christian Slater, Brad Pitt, Gary Oldman, Christopher Walken, Val Kilmer, Patricia Arquette and many more. What more can you want? Some of the best actors in the world, a thought provoking love story with more violence than Goodfellas and great soundtrack. True Romance for me is cinema perfection, a classic example of when all the right elements come together at once.”

Work Life Balance

I am sure that working in the Travel Industry you may find it hard to get the right balance between your career and your personal/home life. This is such a popular topic and always emphasized in job adverts as a major benefit to you – the employee. ‘Working to live not living to work’. Forward thinking employees embrace the move to re-organise workloads and hours. What is your opinion on this subject? Have you ever been refused your ‘flexible working’ requests? Do you feel you have a good balance?

Here I am typing up this article on a Sunday evening when I should be chilling out ……… but then work-life balance is a difficult thing to achieve, especially with the demands some employers place on you.

In the 1950’s comic strips and throughout the last century the arts thought that automation and computers would take the strain, leaving us with a world of leisure, liberating us for rich, rewarding and balanced lives. But it has failed to materialise. Instead, those of us in employment work harder and longer. The world has become a whirl of 24-7 communication, and time pressured delivery.

You only have to watch a couple of reality TV shows like Super Nanny or Wife Swap to get a get an understanding of how unbalanced most of our lives are in favor of work. The stresses and strains of keeping the wolf from the door often result in far too much work and very little time to live.

The government is keen to stress the importance of work/life balance. They define is as:

“Work-life balance is about people having a measure of control over when, where and how they work. It is achieved when an individual's right to a fulfilled life inside and outside paid work is accepted and respected as the norm, to the mutual benefit of the individual, business and society.”

The reasons for this are three fold:

* employees can reduce stress, and become more productive and motivated, and happier, as they achieve a better work-life balance

* companies can boost staff morale, and introduce practices which are more efficient and effective

* socially excluded groups who of necessity have to prioritise home life (e.g. because of caring responsibilities) may gain access to employment opportunities with companies which allow a better balance.

What do you think? Is working in the travel industry as glamorous as it can look or are you constantly run ragged with juggling those balls!?

Qantas Cabin Crew (UK) Ltd: LONG HAUL FLIGHT ATTENDANTS

Qantas is Australia’s leading airline, a global brand recognised for its award-winning inflight services. Flight Attendants employed by Qantas Cabin Crew (UK) Limited operate onboard Qantas flights from London Heathrow to South East Asia and the Far East. They are currently looking to recruit Long Haul Flight Attendants, for full details of the job and how to apply visit: Travel Job Search/Qantas.