Opinion – British Airways: All flights cancelled amid IT crash – BBC News – John Gelmini

British Airways has for many years pretended that it is the “World’s favourite airline” with indifferent customer service, old and frequently ugly stewardesses who think they are God’s gift to the world and whose presence on their flights should be viewed by passengers with unrelenting gratitude.

Dr Alf who has travelled more than most people will be able to see some grain of truth in this and I having been about the world a fair bit, thankfully on mostly other airlines’ flights, have seen more than enough.

BA and its CEO’s are based in London close to Heathrow for the convenience of their directors and senior managers and for years had presided over restrictive practices within their cabin crews who to this day are some of the oldest in the industry and haughty to boot.

Things have changed but others are more efficient and have moved faster with the times.

This incident with IT is not abnormal but the response was too slow and too inadequate.

BA is still prisoner to the ossified attitudes of its pre nationalised predecessor and needs to be put quietly to death by reallocating all its routes to nimbler more competitive airlines.

Its executives will doubtless find other jobs but should not be given golden goodbyes just a P45 and severance pay.

John Gelmini

Commentary: The wicked are first to complain – People’s Daily Online – John Gelmini

This piece from Dr Alf is about China’s attempt to protect itself from a strategy developed by the Pentagon called Air Sea Battle.

The strategy envisages an attack on Southern China by sea plus the blocking of Chinese shipping at various choke points including the Straits of Malacca. The Indian Navy is party to the choke point strategy and has gone on maneuvers

English: Logo of the People's Daily 中文: 人民日报题字

English: Logo of the People’s Daily 中文: 人民日报题字 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

with the Vietnamese.
China’s checkmate strategy to Air Sea Battle is to militarize the South China Sea and to develop the Belt and Road project which will see goods moved by rail and road.

It is also to work with the Russians to develop technology capable of blocking communications between American ships and to develop super cavitation submarines which are fully cloaked ,can reach speeds of 100 knots and can appear in the middle of battle carrier groups without warning.

America likes to say that it is asserting freedom of navigation but in reality it is about the freedom to exercise Air Sea Battle in time of crisis.

The Chinese are not fools and have developed the South China Sea as a countermeasure.

What we would do in their position is unlikely to be different so there is a need for dialogue and strategic thinking of which Donald Trump may not be capable.

A sensible approach might be for India to support the Belt and Road Project,America to tone down its encirclement policies a bit and China to not build nuclear reactors on artificial islands in the South China Sea.

John Gelmini