A Protectionist Open Sky

I know, somehow it does not sound right, but bear with me.

In the last few days a row between Saudi Arabia and Egypt Civil Aviation Authorities erupted over traffic authority for NAS and SAMA to operate between Madina and Cairo.

The MENA region is moving towards Open Sky no doubt, however protectionist policies have put a twist on Open Sky. UAE, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Egypt among others have open sky policies.

However, Egypt has always had a protectionist policy towards Egypt Air. The row erupted because NAS and SAMA wanted to operate Madina to Cairo under the terms of the Open Skies bilateral between the two countries. Egypt, has declared that Cairo International Airport does not receive LCC flights, which is a strange way to get into open sky.

Egypt CAA has refused Air Arabia access into Cairo in 2003, forcing Air Arabia to operate into Alexandria's secondary airport Al Nozha. This has actually improved traffic into Alexandria from three carriers (Egypt Air, Lufthansa and Olympics by the way Lufthansa pulled out) to having every regional carrier operating there on daily basis or seasonal summer traffic (Emirates, Royal Jordanian, Gulf Air, Etihad and a few others demonstrating the power of open skies, recently Air Arabia Egypt, with an Egyptian AOC was refused access to Cairo and will operate from Alexandria.

The whole point of restricting LCC and other traffic is to protect Egypt Air. Even Egyptian unscheduled carriers have restrictions imposed on them.

The question is does Egypt Air require protection? Egypyt is a country of almost 80 million inhabitants and a large expatriate population spanning the globe. For a long time the largest Arab carrier and has recently joined the Star Alliance. So why does a world class airline require protection?

Egypt Air did not have the reputation of being an efficient and lean carrier. This has changed and even though they are not the leanest airline in the MENA region they have improved enough to join the Star Alliance and to have a robust MRO that does cater to foreign carriers' maintenance requirements.

So is that an Egypt Air requirement to be protected or is it a government authority that kept doing whatever it was doing for decades. Open Sky is good for a country witness the growth in Alexandria.

It is about time the Egyptian CAA changes its protectionist policy towards Egypt Air (this protectionism does not extend to other Egyptian carriers) and embrace a true Open Sky policy.

Memories

It is cool to have an aunt who is a published author. A Nun without a Convent is the first part of an autobiography of my maternal aunt Ms. Nuha Batchone, written in Arabic and published by Dar Ward for Publishing and Distribution. I read the book on a flight back from Amman, I just could not put it down.

Reading about her chilodhood and early adulthood life and by extension my mom's and the rest of their family in Yaffa (Jaffa), Palestine brought tears, smiles, laughs and revelations.

It is nice to know that they were as mischievous as us, even though their ways differed.

The book brought memories of family members who have passed away decades ago, those who I knew when I was very very young, during my teenage years and beyond. It brought memories of gatherings at my grand parent's house and of great aunts and uncles that were in the back of my memory

Their lives were a part of a tragic episode in Arab History, the start of the Palestinian Diaspora and learning how they coped with the difficulties of being uprooted and starting again and what they have endured and how events shaped their lives and eventually mine brought an insight and answers to questions I never knew existed.

I look forward to the second part, her life and work in Bahrain, that is when I come in.

Thanks Nona

Royal Jordanian, the Brand

To start with I am biased, I have worked for Royal Jordanian eighteen (18) years but I left fourteen (14) years ago. Further, I have not flown with RJ for almost three (3) years. Having said all this, I will try to be as impartial as possible.

I traveled from Dubai to Amman and back on a Y/J ticket (staff ticket with a confirmed economy seat upgradeable to Crown Class subject to load).

At Dubai I checked in and requested an upgrade, the RJ supervisor was very courteous and I got my upgrade on the spot. The Crown Class was full I must have taken the last seat.

This was a morning flight on an A321 which had leather seat and IFE. The aircraft could have looked better, but it was clean and bright. The breakfast service was a little bit disorganized, but the Cabin Crew smiled and were very courteous. One thing I missed on that flight was the Ya Hala Service (the cabin crew wearing a modern traditional dress) which branded the Crown Class for years.

At Queen Alia International Airline I checked in at the Crown Class Check in which took a few minutes. I was invited to the Lounge pending the change of my boarding pass. The Crown Check in has its dedicated security check point and takes straight to desk 1 at immigration. the whole process took a few minutes and everyone was friendly.

The new Crown Lounge is awesome, spacious and overlooks the apron. It has a game room with a pool table and kids playing room. Hot food and snacks are served. It is a great improvement over the previous lounges and provides free wi-fi and dedicated TV viewing stations. It is a pleasure to spend time there.

The flight back was a night flight, the service was similar to the breakfast service and the Cabin Crew were as courteous, efficient and friendly as their colleagues.

The service and equipment are great and it is a far cry from what they offered a few years back.

However, Royal Jordanian needs a more definitive Brand, something that will make it stand out in the crowded MENA region and among its partners in One World.

Kudos Royal Jordanian, keep it up

AMMAN

I never knew how much I have missed AMMAN until this visit. No work , no meetings and no audits, just visiting.

AMMAN has changed new buildings, new areas were developed yet it is still the same.

I remembered what I actually was missing. The weather is warmer than usual, windows were open to allow a gentle cool breeze, no rumbling of air conditioning as yet and in the early morning one wakes up when the sun filters in along with the sound of birds. The chirping of birds is what I missed most. Throughout the day, as long as the window is open, you hear that natural twittering.

I grew up in AMMAN, a chaotic city with underlying order. The streets that resemble village roads, no lane dividers yet there is some kind of an insane order. I fell in love here and raised a family.

AMMAN is where I lived my formative years, both as a child and as an adult and a professional.

I will never forget these hills, the houses surrounded with trees and most of all the quietness accompanied with the songs of birds.

Turning Points

I always maintained that as long as the itch for doing something new, exciting or innovative persists one will endure all difficulties. However, as life goes on and we navigate through it, the challenges grow and one is pushed to the limits.

Recession is a good excuse for incompetent management to hide its inadequacy, just dump on your staff. Remunerations are cut in the name of savings and unrealistic targets are set at a whim and every one is left to his own devices without leadership. The leadership is busy undermining its staff.

Professionals manage, they know what they have to do and they will always find a few who will carry the day and meet the challenge of an impossible target. Sadly, success is met with silence at best or petty complaints and childish outbursts.

As long as the itch persists you don't care, you are still loving the challenge and actually enjoying the work. Until, incompetency and delusions of power and grandeur set in and they, they being very senior management, stop listening, or use selective listening (only what they want to hear) and believe their own version of reality.

What goes round comes round and sometimes faster than we like, what was great a few months back like savings, cutting down and not listening to those who deliver, catches up with them. The impossible target was delivered and the rest of the organisation that was taking it easy failed to deliver. The project is at a standstill and we are in headless chicken mode trying to recover the situation.

The nightmare starts, tantrums and outbursts become the norm and one is faced with a TURNING POINT, is what remains of that itch and the challenge worth the crap?

Turning points are terrible things, they hit and arrive at the wrong time. Nevertheless, they are good, they provide us with the opportunity to reassess things, do we zig or zag. Going through life is like navigating the Mississippi, you never know what is behind each turn.

Yes, a turning point is upon us and will see......