Dear John

[oz_mark]

Yup, the changes to the online booking engine would indicate that they're using New Skies. For some reason, I thought they were moving to Amadeus..?

EDIT: Slightly older article with some of the salient features of New Skies listed: Virgin Blue opts for Navitaire's New Skies | ATW Online

Didn't V-Aust head down the Amadeus path?

 

[notzac]

Didn't V-Aust head down the Amadeus path?

Yes, yes they did.

 

[notzac]

Dear John,

Please make the Virgin Blue website less rubbish. Most airline websites tend to be fairly awful, and Virgin Blue is hardly the worst offender - but it'd be really good if some UX experts could give the site(s) a once-over as a part of the New Blue strategy.

Here's some of the things that irritate me:

• I should be able to log in to my account from any of the sales-oriented websites, without having to back-track to the Velocity website.
• If logged in, I should be able to elect to pay with either $$ or points no matter where I search for flights from - currently, if I search from the Velocity site it will only let me pay with points.
• If I'm searching for flights to the US, I don't care that I should be looking on the V Australia website. Make it happen in the background (and keep me on the website I started on) - why do I need to worry about it?
• Please make it so that when I click on a flight (when searching from the Virgin Blue website), I get more information than just flight duration. Departing/arriving terminal information and scheduled metal type would be nice.
• When logged in to Velocity, I should be able to see all bookings irrespective of whether it was booked on V Australia or Virgin Blue, without having to type anything extra in..
• When searching for flights on Virgin Blue, there appears to be a bug: If I search for one set of flights, change my mind about where I want to go and try to change origin / destination on the left-hand side 'Search Again' portlet, nothing actually happens.

 

[gilby08]

Navitaire's New Skies by the look of it. Anyone know much about the world of airline IT?

What would you want to know?

 

[jsd]

Dear John,

Having now experienced DJ first hand I have made a small list of where I can see room for improvement:

The Lounge - Was absolutely fantastic and I was amazed at how much the staff seem to enjoy working there, however having been into the QC on the same day the food selection at breakfast time (and no doubt other times) was pretty dismal and has lots of room for improvement.

Leather Seats - Looked fairly run down and starting to show their age, probably not a good choice for aircraft that are used as frequently as they are.

Receipt Boarding Passes - Not a good look for and airline who is supposedly not a LCC anymore, just seems cheap if you ask me, bring in cardboard BP's.

Catering - This was not as much of a problem on my return flight but on the first flight from HBA to MEL there was only a limited selection of food available (I.e no sandwiches, crackers and cheese, anything fresh really) I wish I had of known this before I left home so I could plan meals accordingly.

Addressing PAX - Again my name is "Joshua" but I would seriously prefer "Josh" or "Mr. Devereux", again this has been raised previously but its is just something that just has not gotten right down the line yet.


Overall I was extremely pleased with Virgin Blue and would not hesitate to fly with them again, however if the things I mentioned are acted upon I would be happy to switch all my flying from Qantas to Virgin at the drop of a hat


Josh

 

[AirlineGuy]

Rumour coming out of VB is that apparently there is no plan at all to offer anything 'complimentary' in Economy...I for one will be most disappointed if this is true... I would of thought water, tea, coffee and softdrinks would of been offered as part of the new product. Maybe I wont end up with a suitable alternative to QF Economy after all

 

[1022]

Rumour coming out of VB is that apparently there is no plan at all to offer anything 'complimentary' in Economy...

If true, that's a sad rumour. I still maintain that a cup of tea and a biscuit and/or a bit of fruit would go a long way to improving the overall image and experience of flying DJ (and a hot meal on Trans-cons or >2hour sectors). If on the other hand it's still going to be pringles and coke bought off a tacky looking menu, the LCC brand with all its negative connotations won't be shaken down the back of the plane, even if there is a proper business class up front.

I'm flying a leg each on JQ and DJ in a couple of weeks (leisure route with no QF service ). In my past experiences DJ and JQ have been indistinguishable. I'll be interested to see if DJ manage to offer a more appealing product nowadays.

 

[docjames]

Agree there needs to be at least free drinks (tea/coffee/soft).

 

[YellowLemon]

Hell even a free glass of water would be a start.

 

[oz_mark]

Rumour coming out of VB is that apparently there is no plan at all to offer anything 'complimentary' in Economy...I for one will be most disappointed if this is true... I would of thought water, tea, coffee and softdrinks would of been offered as part of the new product. Maybe I wont end up with a suitable alternative to QF Economy after all

Well, if so, I would guess that by chasing business travellers, they mean chasing business class travellers. A large number of business bookings are made in economy, and if Virgin Blue are intending on targetting them as well, then some sort of product change would be required - perhaps they will offer some sort of package option, a la, JetStar International's JetPlus fares.

 

[777]

Will be interesting to see how they manage economy. There are some clues from the way Air NZ do their trans Tasman bundling - it's been made explicit that DJ intended to the same in future at least across the Tasman.

I wonder whether the simple solution is a "business economy" product that includes a cup of tea and a biscuit, seating the front half of the plane (where available) with slightly more legroom, etc. Offer it to all corporate accounts, corporate travel agents and FF's silver and above. Bikkie and beverage are guaranteed, improved seating allocated by status.

That way they are still offering a BOB service for all punters who are looking for the cheapest ticket a little more (at a marginal additional cost) to corporate accounts and regular travelers.

Seems a sensible way to go if they can manage the IT side of things seemlessly enough to identify who is who?

777.

 

[dk4]

Hell even a free glass of water would be a start.

I thought that a cup of water was free! (They certainly are on JQ. So can't see why DJ would be different?)

Paying for a bottle of the stuff is another matter however! (I thought that there were laws regarding the free availability of drinking water in F&B outlets in Australia?)

 

[dk4]

That way they are still offering a BOB service for all punters who are looking for the cheapest ticket a little more (at a marginal additional cost) to corporate accounts and regular travelers.

Seems a sensible way to go if they can manage the IT side of things seemlessly enough to identify who is who?

DJ already offers an onboard F&B credit to certain corporate customers. It is CURRENTLY in operation on some flights!

 

[777]

DJ already offers an onboard F&B credit to certain corporate customers. It is CURRENTLY in operation on some flights!

Damn it. And here i am just a humble Velocity Gold member!

 

[YellowLemon]

Unfortunately there is not even a free cup of water (for me anyway)... when my Dad asked for one, the FA tried to be helpful and suggested she could pour boiling water (they use for the coffee etc). into a cup, and add ice to cool it down. She said they didn't have any free water on board, only the bottles of mineral water to buy.

 

[AirlineGuy]

Crazydave98, if possible could you please filter my following message onto JB?

I heard from a pilot friend of mine today that VB Cabin Crew are currently undergoing some type of service training, whereby the flight attendants are being encouraged to return to some old ways, and start face painting again, and adding humour and chat into all PA's..they are being told flair must return. There has reportedly been no guidance in this training for the flight attendance with how to deal with corporate guests, act more professional at all times including how to make a professional PA, and in general how to step everything up.

This pilot, and myself included, were very confused about this.

Is Mr Borghetti even aware that such training is taking place, and what the content is of this course? No doubt the course content has slipped through - it's not expected that the CEO need to approve the content in a training course, but when it is service training for an airline which is allegedly attempting to rebrand and take on the corporate market & QF, one would think the flight attendants would be trained and given skills to move forward, rather than go backwards and encouraged to return to VB in the early days and face paint and ad-lib in PA's etc. Apparently they've been told to behave however they feel is appropriate depending on what they personally perceive the passengers might want from them. My understanding is this is how they operate now, and it doesn't work - they have too much freedom and say as to how they want to behave on the given flight. It more depends on the flight attendants mood at that time more so than the mood of the passengers. I believe they need to be told, and have it in black & white, what is and is not acceptable, and what is expected to happen onboard.

I am sure whatever department within VB that has put together this course will attempt to sell it to Mr Borghetti as the right thing, but he should not let them pull the wool over his eyes.

I am 100% onboard the new VB if they do things right. Telling their flight attendants to face paint and flair on the PA doesn't do it for me, and they wont get my business if this is true. I would hazard a guess and say I wouldn't be the only one. Yes I want my flight attendants to be friendly, but not to the point its silly. No flair on the PA, professional friendly service, clean cabins, and a complimentary soft drink and snack is all I need onboard and I'll be there.

I hope you can make your plans Mr Borghetti - it seems it may be quite a battle.

 

[markis10]

Makes me wonder how many current flyers of DJ are members of this community when one of the items yet to be presented in the AFF scavenger hunt is:

"Boarding pass printed from a Virgin Blue check-in kiosk"

6 weeks and counting!

 

[Mr Somerset]

Hi Airline Guy
Actually that description of the current training is completely inaccurate. The content is very much in line with company direction, and does not contain what is described (eg 'must bring back flair' etc). I wonder if your friend maybe has been on the end of a 'Chinese Whisper'?

Rgds

Somerset

(I've actually seen the training)

 

[JeniSkunk]

Makes me wonder how many current flyers of DJ are members of this community when one of the items yet to be presented in the AFF scavenger hunt is:

"Boarding pass printed from a Virgin Blue check-in kiosk"

6 weeks and counting!

I'm flying DJ next week and could have easily nabbed that one, if I'd not been planning on using OLCI.

Jenifur Charne

 

[YellowLemon]

When can we expect to see the effects of this new training?

On my last few VB flights, one of the female FAs was tired and acted horribly to all the pax :-|, and one of the guys was really friendly to everyone without being condescending