Can Lufthansa compete with the newer airlines?

I always eagerly look forward to my first business trip at the beginning of the month. A fresh issue of the Lufthansa magazine has always been a joy to go through given the high quality of its contents, variety and coverage. From in-flight magazines to well maintained aircrafts, efficient ground handling to on-the-dot flying...Lufthansa has not given many reasons to complain. Till yesterday.

Off late, few incidents gives me enough reason to smell trouble brewing for the airlines, internally. Delays are suddenly not as efficiently managed as it used to be. Thanks to a ageing cabin crew, short haul flights can no longer complete the service before landing. Aircraft cleanliness is not as impeccable as it used to be. Inflight entertainment is still way behind Air Berlin. And onboard meals have never been Lufthansa's strongest points.

Now consider how it measures up to the threats that are external...

Anyone who has flown between London->India or Brussels->India/US by Jet Airways would testify the re-definition of service levels in International flights. I have learnt, Jet revolutionised the Indian skies when it broke the monopoly of state run airlines 15 years ago by sheer efficiency in operations, customer satisfaction, services standard, gourmet meals and a unique loyalty program. Now Kingfisher, who is giving Jet a run for their money now, is known to have upped the ante a few more notches higher. Despite a slew of lowcost ( I mean really cheap ) airlines ferrying the bulgeoning middle class in India, Jet and Kingfisher continues to reap profits with premium pricing.

Both the carriers have very aggressive International expansion plans, slash of cash, a flourishing business in the world's densiest skies and vision to be one of the TOP5 in the next five years. Airliners.net says, Kingfisher's first (of the many) AB340 is ready for delivery which will kickstart its international foray. There are 6 firm orders for AB380 with options to add more. Plans to have an European hub at either Düsseldorf or Munich. Jet is consolidating from its Brussels hub, has equally large orders with Boeing ( 777s, 787s ) and is also rumoured to take over Brussels Airlines.

I have not yet compared with Skyteam members (AF, KLM) or British Airways, as I seldom fly them.

Does is mean bad days ahead for Lufthansa? How can it cope with the threat from the new international players?

Forgive my asking, but what do you mean by "Is there anything it learn to cope the threat from the new international players ? " ??

You dont seem to be 'som-Schreiben-olist'
When you come back by the last flight of the day (before the airport closes) after enduring a sky-service that sucks...get on to TT for solace.

som-Schreiben-olist : a anglo-deutsch word for a person who writes in sleep.

Is this an advert for the Indian burgeoning economy or a serious question?

Lufthansa is an excellent technical airline, i wonder where the new airlines you have quoted have their servicing done?

Neither fly within continental North America, densest skies ? Bugger off and redo your propaganda techniques before you float this crap here.

They are both India service airlines and that's all at the present time.


Source.

Come back when you've grown up son.

I flew Air Berlin for the first time yesterday. White man talketh out of hith arth, I sayeth.

Pigs-arse! I would have to say that in general the cabin crew on Lufthansa flights would have to be one of the youngest, average age of around mid to late 20's. Compare that to airlines such as United (if they're under 40, i would be amazed).

I fly across the pond a few times each year on business -- but we only get economy class booked... Flown both United & LH.
Christmas/New Year 2006/2007 took family for first time - full jet-lag torture to Hawaii... FRA=>SFO=>HNL with United.
Back to SFO again United & SFO=>MUC with LH. I told my wife up front that she would notice the difference on LH. Smiling stewardesses
half the age of United's. Even better food & you get offered wine to drink.
"Mannergeschichte" she said - until we were seated in the LH A340 in SFO. "Every word you said was true" she now said...

Is DK working in a travel agents and getting a bonus from other airlines?
Of course Indian airlines are going to grow. But I don't see the writing on the wall for Lusthansa.

Personally I don't give a rat's arse how old my cabin crew is.
As long as they are trained in first aid, know where the exits are, how a door works and what to do in the emergency plus can handle the in-flight service without spillage and with an occasional smile, I'm happy.

This is drivel. Lufthansa has excellent crews and among the best food and drink available in business.

I Agree.

From my experience KLM is the worst.

I definitely prefer to fly LH over UA, BA, AA, etc.

Thats true. I recently flew with Swiss Air ( which has merged with Lufthansa) and also with Lufthansa before. Onboard meals aint that great and other things were just normal, nothing special. But what else could you ask for? I had more than enough good service from them and so, I'm content with that.

I also flew a couple of times with 'JetAirways' and 'Kingfisher'. I found the service was better and also the onboard meals. 'Kingfisher' has much similarities with 'Virgin Airways', not because of the way it functions, but because it is a private airline company and owned by a flamboyant person. This guy who owns 'KingFisher' is called 'Vijay Mallya' and is from Bangalore city in India. He's also the head of 'United Breweries' and is into many other things. Kingfisher is more like splashy/showy stuff. Ofcourse, the service aint that bad. On the other hand, JetAirways flies fast, service is good and it has been in the business for good enough time.

But you cant really compare Lufthansa with these emerging airlines. KingFisher is still a speck when compared to Lufthansa. And it aint that big in the international market yet. Any new venture in the business (like Kingfisher) starts this way. Once it grows big enough, lets see how it serves.

Also, its interesting to look at the 'world's top 10 airlines' list. Lufthansa aint there in the list and there is no airlines from the US too. Most of the airlines are based in Asia. Singapore Airlines was named as the best airline for 2007.

That's coz it is! Hands down, no contest.

You are right there. I missed my Lufthansa flight on New Year's Eve from the UK to Munich a few years back. Wanting to be back in Munich in time for the celebrations, I booked the next connection that would get me back in time. It was horrendously expensive and necessitated changing at Amsterdam and waiting for four hours for the connecting flight.

After take off from Amsterdam and being a bit ruffled but also relieved at finally sitting on a plane destined for Munich, I smiled at the stewardess and asked for a double whisky. "Sorry sir, we don't serve alcohol on KLM." Fucking New Year's Eve and I can't get a whisky? Champagne? Meths? Ah well, such is life I thought and, seeing as the plane was from Amsterdam, asked jokingly if she had a joint on her. Jesus fucking Christ, you would have thought I'd asked if I could defecate on her head. Didn't even deign to answer me and walked off with a face like crushed genitals. Give me Lufthansa any day.

1) Lufthansa operates in a different segment than airberlin. For a proper comparison, use LH's LCC arm, germanwings ( which I think is definitely better than airberlin) And inflight entertainment in airberlin! Wow, thats a discovery

2) For airlines like Jet or Kingfisher, there's a long way to go before they match Lufthansa's fleet size and coverage. Airlines from the Middle east are a bigger threat to Lufthansa these days not because of any of the reasons you mention, but because of

2.a.) the ease with which those airlines get operating slots in Europe ( while Lufthansa gets beat up while trying to use Middle east hubs

2.b.) the cost game those airlines are playing. Fuelled with oil money and relatively intransparent governance measures( No body knows if Emirates or Qatar actually make money). Is this sustainable, I'm afraid no!

3) Lufthansa's service level beats all other European and American carriers any day. If you want to see bad service, try Air France. Last summer, a group of us made the mistake of travelling from Berlin to Shanghai by Air France ( we were students and they were the cheapest). First the flight from Berlin to Paris gets delayed, then we landed into chaos at CDG ( queues, anyone?) and the stewardess from Air France sent to guide us into a faster checkin ditched us when she found that the crowd was just a bit too much for her and when we finished checking in we werent allowed to board because we were too late. Excuse me ! and then the flight we were scheduled to fly is delayed by three hours because they are trying to get all our luggage off it ( 20 of us). Then we get split up even when we insisted we had to reach Shanghai together and one group ( mine) was put on a partner flight the next day( the less said about the hotel the better) where one of the lights fell off the ceiling as the aircraft was taking off. Singapore is the only one I can think of as a GLOBAL CARRIER whose service levels are better, but then its not a competitor of Lufthansa(www.staralliance.com)

So its not just the age of the stewardesses ( and What exactly do you mean by 'can no longer complete the service before landing') or delays when planes are being swept off runways or new planes that makes an airline good or bad.

I couldnt resist it, airliners used to be my customers at my last job...

When I get stuck at CDG I make it my own business to get myself through the lines; why was it the stewardess's job to get you through?

If you wait for the airlines to take care of you you'll never make it.

CDG is especially shitty.
I've flown Air France, long distance and European, in economy and business class.
In the air, they are goo,, on the ground, C'est le rubbish!

Because there was like 20 of us coming from Berlin on their connecting flight from Paris to Shanghai, they sent ( what I first thought was great) a stewardess to pick up the passengers from the delayed flight...Normal Procedure...

The funny part was when she walked up to one of the attendants handling the crowds, flashed her Air France badge and asked for a separate transit queue, he gave us a 'are you kidding me' look and just walked away. And this when Air France manages CDG! ( in partnership of course)

Was a first at CDG and with Air France...lesson learnt!

@Cookieman

Ah.

Yeah, the best way to get through those lines is to argue and flirt, argue and flirt, argue and flirt.

Before anyone moans about Lufthansa - United (who havn't supplied food US-internal for some time - Canada is counted as US here) will stop serving econ PAXs with onboard meals between Washington & Europe from 1st October 2008 (see United Airline web page). OK - United food was never that great but now you have to pay extra for it.

Also seems that they will start charging econ PAXs for their checked-in luggage within US (Canada counts also...). Only way out is if you have Star Alliance Gold/Silver status...

Paying for checked-in luggage is becoming standard across North America, and I've never been provided with anything more than a packet of peanuts on a US domestic flight. But to stop providing food on trans-Atlantic flights is breathtakingly poor service. And this affects us in Germany, because if you book through Lufthansa you may find yourself on one of their Godforsaken planes.

By that you mean UA... AT least you can tell that by the code / looking at the LH web.

Its been a Golden Rule to avoid LHR for transit anyway - now IAD (at least with UA). Gets worse all the time. At least my next trip is with LH to DEN (econ of course)...

Dude, who are you pimping for? Everyone knows Air Berlin is going bust.