Aviation Week honors Boeing programs for excellence

By BA Staff

The Boeing P-8A Poseidon program and F-15 logistics program were recognized for their success at Aviation Week & Space Technology's Program Excellence award ceremony held Nov. 14 in Phoenix.

The P-8A maritime surveillance aircraft program won the System Level Production category, while the F-15 fighter jet Radar Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) Performance-Based Logistics (PBL) program was a finalist in the Sub-System Sustainment category.

Aviation Week's awards recognize management, leadership, best practices, benchmarking and other factors that make aerospace and defense programs successful.

Jean Chamberlin, vice president of Boeing Defense, Space & Security Program Management and a member of the Aviation Week Program Excellence evaluation team said:

"These nominees represent the 'best in class' when it comes to exceptional leadership and program performance, particularly when we reflect upon how far we have come since the first awards in 2005. I am proud of the improvement these programs demonstrated in customer and supply chain integration and collaboration. It is an honor to be recognized by our industry and government partners."

The U.S. Navy has called P-8A the most successful major Department of Defense acquisition program in the past 30 years. The program exceeds requirements and has achieved every major milestone to date.

Rick Heerdt, Boeing vice president and P-8 program manager said:

"We're lucky to have a great partner – the U.S. Navy – on the P-8A program, and the entire industry team deserves credit for this award,"

The F-15 Radar CLS PBL program with the U.S. Air Force provides total system support to the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar weapon system. The AESA system gives warfighters the capability to simultaneously detect, track, and engage multiple targets.

Kevin Pennington, F-15 Radar CLS program manager said:

"The PBL approach allows Boeing the ability to optimize radar system availability and performance. Ensuring radar availability provides greater situational awareness and decreased workload with increased survivability." 

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Boeing VP Jean Chamberlin receives lifetime achievement award from women in aerospace

By BA Staff

Jean Chamberlin, Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) vice president of Program Management, has been honoured by Women in Aerospace for her “outstanding career and lifelong commitment to furthering the advancement of women’s opportunities in aerospace.”

Chamberlin said as she accepted the group’s 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award on Oct. 29:

“This speaks to the power of diversity as Boeing’s calling card to the world. Our success is defined by the respect and value we have for different perspectives and everyone’s contributions. Throughout my career, I have witnessed diversity fuel the innovation that drives us to do what others dream.”

Women in Aerospace annually recognizes women who have made significant contributions to the aerospace community.

Dennis Muilenburg, BDS president and CEO said:

“We are incredibly proud of Jean as she is honored by Women in Aerospace for her many contributions to our industry that span her entire career. As one of aerospace’s great leaders today, Jean is both a true champion of diversity and an inspiring role model throughout our company and our industry.”

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oneworld takes its sixth 'best alliance' title of the year

By BA Staff

Readers of Business Traveller magazine have voted oneworld Best Airline Alliance in the magazine’s 2013 readers’ poll.

This is the sixth “best alliance” honor oneworld has received in major international industry award schemes in the past year, a record for any global airline alliance – and it comes as oneworld undergoes the biggest expansion program in its history.

Already in the past 12 months, oneworld has been named best airline alliance in:

• The 2013 World Airline Awards, staged by the Skytrax airline quality ratings agency.
• Global Traveler’s GT Tested Reader Survey 2012 Awards for the third year running.
• World Travel Awards 2012 for the 10th consecutive year.
• Australian Business Traveller 2012 for the second year running.
• The 2012 debut alliance Flight Stats On-Time Performance Awards.
• The Business Traveller award – which oneworld last won in 2005 – was presented at a ceremony in London.   oneworld Vice-President  Corporate Communications received the trophy on behalf of the alliance from BBC TV news anchor Fiona Bruce.

oneworld members also flew high in the individual airline categories of the Business Traveller 2013 awards.

British Airways took the overall top title as Best Airline, with Qatar Airways, which will join oneworld on 30 October, and Cathay Pacific also placed in the top five.

British Airways also took top honors as Best Shorthaul Airline, Best First Class, Best Frequent Flyer Programme and Best Airport Lounge.  Qatar Airways took the award for Best Business Class.

The awards, widely recognised as a benchmark for excellence, are based on a vote by readers of Business Traveller magazine – which has editions for the UK, USA, Asia-Pacific, Germany, Middle East, China, Africa, Hungary, Denmark and Poland – with the results authenticated by an independent auditing company.

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AirAsia is Business Traveller’s ‘Best Low-Cost Airline’ for two years in a row

By BA Staff

AirAsia was once again distinguished as the best in its class, when the airline was awarded with the ‘Best Low-Cost Airline’ award at the 2013 Business Traveller Asia-Pacific’s Awards ceremony, held at the Conrad Hotel in Hong Kong recently.

AirAsia, 'Best Low-Cost Airline' Award 2013

This is the second successive win for AirAsia, a nod to the airline’s growing power and its stature as the market leader in the low cost carrier segment. AirAsia first won the ‘Best Low-Cost Airline’ award category last year, when it was first introduced by Business Traveller Asia Pacific in recognition to the growing force of budget carriers in the region.

AirAsia Group CEO, Tony Fernandes said:

 “This second ‘Best Low-Cost Carrier’ award win represents the unwavering support and belief from our guests towards our services and products. We thank them for choosing AirAsia as the airline of choice for their travels. We will continue to work hard to maintain our leadership spot and uphold our pledge to present our guests with unbeatable low fares and exceptional products and services. This win is also due to the collective contributions of our ‘AirAsia Allstars, whose hard work, passion, dedication and creativity made this recognition possible."

AirAsia was chosen as the inaugural award winner through votes by Business Traveller readers, recognizing the airline as a service provider which has maintained impeccable standards and making journeys seamless and productive. This comprehensive survey was conducted annually among Business Traveller subscribers, and the 2013 results are based on data collected between April and June this year.

AirAsia is a household name which has flown over 200 million guests since it was established nearly twelve years ago with a mission to democratize air travel in the region and has been operationally profitable from day one of its launch as a low-cost carrier. The airline now has operations based in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, servicing the most extensive network with 85 destinations.

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Lufthansa receives International Five Star Diamond Award

By BA Staff

Photo Courtesy Lufthansa Group

At Lufthansa's First Class terminal at Frankfurt International Airport, Lufthansa received the International Five Star Diamond Award from the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences (AAHS). The academy honoured three accomplishments of Lufthansa's premium service portfolio: the Lufthansa First Class onboard its intercontinental fleet, the Lufthansa First Class Terminal in Frankfurt and the Lufthansa First Class Lounge at New York’s JFK International Airport.

Joseph Cinque, President and CEO of the AAHS had this to say about Lufthansa:

"The American Academy of Hospitality Sciences is renowned worldwide for awarding excellence in the global travel and luxury services sector via our International Star Diamond Award exclusively on Five Star establishments. Lufthansa’s unequaled commitment to its First Class services and onboard hospitality, its achievements and true quality is more than impressive and deserves the International Five Star Diamond Award."

Jens Bischof, Chief Commercial Officer at Lufthansa German Airlines added:

“Today marks another milestone for Lufthansa on our way to becoming the industry's leading airline for premium travel. Our customers are appreciating the numerous service upgrades we have invested in, both on board and on the ground, with the industry's leading organizations taking note of our accomplishments. Today, we are very excited to receive this award from the Academy which has evolved into an international powerhouse network that values the very highest quality and hospitality.” 

Lufthansa opened its First Class Terminal at Frankfurt Airport in 2005 and it is the only terminal of its kind. Lufthansa’s new First Class, onboard its long-haul fleet has repeatedly received highest ratings in customer surveys. The First Class is not only offering the widest seat in the industry but also encompasses a vast number of on board service initiatives featuring carefully selected wines and dishes created by top chefs, air humidification systems or noise absorbing interiors as well as a Porsche and Mercedes limousine services.

Lufthansa has had an extremely successful couple of months. Before the "International Star Diamond Award," they were awarded the title of “Europe’s Leading Airline” at the World Travel Awards. Two months earlier Lufthansa was voted “Best European Airline in the Middle East” during the Business Traveller Middle East Awards 2013 in Dubai. Furthermore, earlier this summer, the carrier received the title of both “Best Western European Airline” and “Best Transatlantic Airline” at the World Airline Awards in Paris

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Ryanair takes top spot in Bristol airport's tracker awards

Ryanair, Europe’s only ultra-low cost carrier (ULCC), today (20 Aug) celebrated receiving an inaugural Bristol Airport Tracker Award, which recognised outstanding flight performance by Ryanair aircraft at Bristol Airport.

European Ultra-Low Cost Carrier (ULCC) Ryanair has won the top spot in Bristol Airport's Tracker Awards. Find the details below.

21st August 2013

Ryanair was the best performing airline at Bristol having achieved a 100% record for correct departure routes on take-offs, minimising the noise disturbance on local residents, while Ryanair was placed first for Continuous Descent Approaches (CDA), a landing procedure which also minimises noise disturbance and reduces emissions.

To celebrate, Ryanair is releasing 100,000 seats across its entire European network at prices starting from just £19.99 for travel on Mon, Tue, Wed & Thur in October and November and these “all in” low fares will be available on over 1,000 of Ryanair’s European routes, including from Bristol to Dublin, Milan or Venice Treviso, but must be booked on www.ryanair.com before midnight (24:00hrs) Thur, 22 August.


Ryanair’s Robin Kiely said:

“Carrying over 81.5m passengers this year, Ryanair knows all about being number one in Europe, with the lowest fares, no fuel charges guaranteed, the most on-time flights, the fewest cancellations and the least mishandled bags, and we are delighted to have been recognised in Bristol Airport’s inaugural Tracker Awards for our outstanding flight performance. Passengers at Bristol Airport can be a winner themselves by choosing one of our 31 low-fare routes to and from Bristol.

To celebrate our award, Ryanair is releasing 100,000 seats on over 1,000 European routes, including Bristol to Dublin, Milan or Venice, at prices starting from just £19.99, for travel in October and November. These seats are only available until midnight (24:00hrs) Thursday (22 Aug) and at these mad prices are sure to be snapped up fast, so we urge passengers to book them on www.ryanair.com before they sell out.”

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