ASK THE TRAVEL MANAGER
Putting your questions to corporate arrangers.
Given the airline tragedies of last year, and the continuing pressure on travel budgets, this is a question that has been put to us a lot recently, and I expect will be for some months to come.
We do everything we can to make sure all employees are safe, be it in the air, on the road or in a hotel. As you’d expect, there are lists of carriers with poor safety records, and companies sometimes have their own lists over and above these, perhaps because they are relying on information provided by third-party security companies that they employ.
What’s troubling about the most publicised cases from the past few years is that none of the airlines involved would have been on any such list prior to the event and, until then, had very good safety records.
After the Malaysia incidents, some companies did not compel flyers to use Malaysia Airlines, even if it offered the cheapest fares. But then I think it’s clear that, regarding flight MH17 over Ukraine, Malaysia Airlines was following an killed in a private jet crash last year, since although their travellers might be flying with their private jet company, they can’t determine the level of safety and security at the airports used.
That incident would seem to confirm what we have always been told – that the most dangerous part of a flight is takeoff and landing. Yet, since the Air France incident out of Brazil in 2009, there have been several accidents that occurred at altitude. From an infrastructure and pilot training perspective, as more pilots are needed to handle the increase in aircraft coming online, I think that’s something that needs to be looked at.
Some frequent flyers might feel that their travel manager is a little naive when it comes to booking airlines, because many are desk-based and aren’t out in the field seeing what some of those carriers are like. But it’s equally true that many managers are themselves experienced travellers, and all of them exercise due diligence.
No manager would put their travellers at risk to save money, but both the Malaysia Airlines and Air Asia cases