Kulula Airlines are a low budget, no-frills airline based in South Africa.  This new livery was designed in-house for their fleet of . . . → Read More: Kulula Airlines New Livery]]> You've got to hand it to the designer of this new livery for Kulula Airlines.  They certainly have a sense of humour.  Don't you think it somehow humanises (is there such a word) the aircraft?

Kulula Airlines are a low budget, no-frills airline based in South Africa.  This new livery was designed in-house for their fleet of Boeing 737-800s and the design is entitled" Flying 101."

Click each image to enlarge.  I particularly like the arrow pointing at the loo!

Here's the press release they broadcasted earlier this year.

kulula’s 'Flying 101' plane design achieves global fame

Jo'burg, 08 February 2010 kulula's latest plane design has been a worldwide hit after being seen by plane-spotters en-route to South Africa. Photos of the new livery dubbed 'Flying 101' have since been viewed by millions having appeared on some of the world’s leading blogs, spurring a frenzy of online comments. All this before it even touched down in South Africa.

The design covers the planes exterior in a tongue-in-cheek guide to the various parts of the planes interior, such as the 'Mile-high initiation chamber'. The plane is just one of a fleet expansion of eight state-of-the-art Boeing 737-800s (each with a unique livery). As these planes will be replacing the 737-400's currently used in kulula's fleet, South Africans can look forward to spotting the new 800's during this year.

"The 'Flying 101' was conceptualised and designed by kulula's in-house design department. This branding idea is a result of our 2010 strategy to demystify air travel for our fans," comments Nadine Damen, kulula Marketing Manager.

"Initially spotted by plane-spotters across the globe, our 'Flying 101' plane has become famous on the world wide web before touching South African soil," continues Damen. "We'’ve been amazed by the number of blogs that have posted 'Flying 101' images as well as the large number of people talking about the new branding on Twitter."

The first Boeing, branded with the 'Flying 101,' landed in Johannesburg on Monday, 8th February 2010 and will start operating from 13th February 2010. The second Boeing is currently undergoing its transformation and will appear to kulula fans much like an oversized container box, with the words 'this way up' printed on its side, is scheduled to start operating on the 8th February 2010.

The show, called Fly Girls, will follow the lives of five “beautiful Virgin America flight attendants jet from one glamorous location to the next … while pursuing good times, great parties, adventures and love” in eight 30 minute . . . → Read More: Love is in the air for Virgin America cabin crew]]> A NEW reality show based on the lives of flight attendants has been cleared for take-off on US television.

The show, called Fly Girls, will follow the lives of five “beautiful Virgin America flight attendants jet from one glamorous location to the next … while pursuing good times, great parties, adventures and love” in eight 30 minute episodes.

Kristen Vadas, who oversees reality programming at CW, the television station that is broadcasting the show, says the programme reflects the real lives of the flight attendants.

Handsome Strangers

“This show is about real, down-to-earth young women who happen to have landed in an exceptionally glamorous, high-flying career filled with exotic locations and handsome strangers,” she said.

She said their personal lives are filled with “romance, family, friendships and more than a few roommate conflicts”.

The programme features flight attendants:

* Louise Nguyen
* Farrah Williams, who has flown with Virgin America as a flight attendant since its inaugural flight.
* Tasha Dunnigan
* Mandalay Roberts, who has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show promoting WiFi services available to customers of Virgin America.
* Nikole Rubyn

The program will also deal with their work lives including demanding and fascinating passengers, long hours in the air and layovers.

Exotic Locations

“We’re thrilled to be working with Virgin America for this unique peek into a whirlwind lifestyle that shows how tough it is to be grounded when you work 35,000 feet in the air,” Porter Gale, Vice President of Marketing at Virgin America, said.

The show will be filmed at various US locations including Las Vegas, South Beach, Las Angeles and New York City.

Fly Girls is due to premiere early next year.

During in September Ryanair took to the air with 1.4 million passengers, while British Airways flew with 1.6 million.

Ryanair carried 36.4 million passengers in the six months to September 30 – a 15% increase on the . . . → Read More: Soaring Ryanair set to take over as UK’s top airline]]> Ryanair is flying high and may soon jet past British Airways as Britain’s No1, claims chief executive Michael O’Leary.

During in September Ryanair took to the air with 1.4 million passengers, while British Airways flew with 1.6 million.

Ryanair carried 36.4 million passengers in the six months to September 30 – a 15% increase on the previous six months. The airline is already the biggest carrier in Europe.

Michael O’Leary said: “It is hard to know when we will overtake BA because it is hard to keep up with how fast BA’s passenger numbers are declining.”

“We will overtake them at some point — and I am not talking about months when they have a strike.”

Ryanair tries to land 200 more aircraft

The airlines future growth seems to depend on a deal with aircraft maker Boeing.

Ryanair is trying to strike an agreement with Boeing for up to 200 new aircraft, with 100 on order for delivery by 2012.

If Ryanair cannot take the extra 100 aircraft, the company’s strategy will adapt to grow profits and return cash to shareholders.

“There is a relatively small gap between us in terms of pricing,” Mr O’Leary said. “The problem is that we cannot get a decision out of Boeing. If we cannot get the deal, we will reach 2012 and change strategy to maximise profits and cash and distribute it to shareholders.”

Many industry experts see this announcement as an attempt by O’Leary to leverage a £3.6 billion deal for the additional aircraft from Boeing as the company has chased growth in passenger numbers rather than profits to return to shareholders in dividends over the past 15 years.

"O’Leary should go easy", says Sir Stelios

The UK’s other big budget airline – easyJet commented that Ryanair’s expectation of continued large-scale growth is unsustainable, especially with the recent airport tax increase across the country and the continuing recession.

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, easyJet’s founder, has already taken the profit rather than chasing growth strategy, agreeing with the airline’s management to contain growth to no more than 7.5% a year.

“I have been telling everyone that would listen for the past year that this do-or-die mission O’Leary is on to buy more and more aircraft will end up in tears for his shareholders,” he said.

It's an all too familiar story. The company has made a loss and now it . . . → Read More: 800 jobs to got at Aer Lingus]]> After yesterday's news about 1,700 jobs being lost at BA comes the news at that Aer Lingus are to let 800 people go. Higher paid staff will see their basic salaries reduced and all staff can expect a drop in allowances.

It's an all too familiar story. The company has made a loss and now it has to cut costs. This is where the knock-on effect of the recession really takes hold, even when people are talking about recoveries and growth.

There's always a lag while the impact of a bad period of trading gathers momentum and just when you thought things were looking up, news like this is announced.

Pay freezes are not unusual and many companies have frozen pay or at least allocated only allocated pay rises to those who've been waiting the longest. So if you're . . . → Read More: British Airways to cut 1,700 jobs]]> Grim news on the job front as BA announce they're going to cut 1,700 jobs and a two year pay freeze for cabin crew.

Pay freezes are not unusual and many companies have frozen pay or at least allocated only allocated pay rises to those who've been waiting the longest. So if you're recently has a rise i.e. in the last year, you can expect to wait another three years before you'll even be considered for another rise.

A pay freeze is effectively a pay cut as your net pay won't keep pace with inflation and as all your household bills and other regular expenses increase then your money has to stretch to cover it all, but take some comfort in the fact that you still have a job.

"Revenues are down, so we must reduce costs and restore profitability," BA said. It's the same old story. It makes sense if you're at the top of the pyramid but at the bottom it means the loss of your job and your livelihood.

BA made a loss of £401m in the financial year ending March 2009 so this may not be the last you hear on this subject during the next twelve months.