A380 Irony

Sorry I haven't updated for so long. I've been busy with the army life, which will end pretty soon!

Anyway I was on Yahoo and I saw something rather ironic.



An advertisement on "A Class Beyond First", sharing the same page of a news of the A380 fuel pump defect.

More On Singapore Airlines

I noticed that I've got quite a handful of comments regarding the new Singapore Airlines livery.

Not too long ago, I emailed Singapore Airlines regarding the new livery and perhaps you might find this very interesting.

Good day! My name is XXX from Singapore and I travel with Singapore Airlines almost once a year and am very proud of our national airline.

Here I have are very simple and straightforward questions regarding some changes with the airline over the course of 3 years.

Firstly, why did Singapore Airlines scrape the dubbing of its aircrafts ie, Jubilee for the 777, LeaderShip for the A340, and most prominently, Megatop for the 747. The Megatop in particular, strikes a chord with many and I find it a shame that it has been dropped. I've even heard of people referring to a NorthWest 747 as a Megatop!

Secondly, why did the management decide to not complete painting the tail of the new aircrafts, leaving a white "stripe" at the bottom of it? The white stripe at the bottom gives an illusion that the back of the fuselage is thicker than it really is. Is it in line with the modernization of its fleet, hence the minor changes to the colors? Or is it for some other technical reasons such as weight/fuel savings?

Lastly, why did the management decide to drop its legendary "Raffles Class" name, renaming it Business Class just like most other airlines? Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles is the modern founder of Singapore and many prestigeous commodities/goods/services are named after him, ie Raffles Hotel, Raffles Institution, Raffles Girls' School, Raffles Junior College, Raffles City, Raffles Place. It would be most appropriate for business class to continue with its name of "Raffles Class".

These questions do not challenge the management's decisions, instead they are merely trivial questions I'd like to know behind these subtle changes that in a way, changes the course of how Singapore Airlines will be perceived and remembered by in the future.

Their reply

Dear Mr Liau,

I refer to your earlier email queries.

The main reason why we stopped giving our aircrafts specific names is so that we can streamline our brands. As you rightly pointed out, different aircraft types were given various names, like MegaTop, Jubilee etc. What we found was that these names ran the risk of becoming more "remembered" than the SIA brand. While we recognise the affiliation many have towards the MegaTop, it was a necessary change that had to be made from a branding perspective.

As for why Raffles Class has been renamed Business Class, the logic is simple -- the best way to let a customer know what product he's buying is to call it what it is. Afterall, First Class and Economy class are known as what they are.

The decision to change the paint design of the tail is to acheive a visual effect, so as to make the tail of the A380 less heavy in proportion to the rest of the plane.

Thank you for taking such a strong interest in Singapore Airlines; we certainly owe our success to customers such as yourself.


Mabel Lee
Public Affairs Department
Singapore Airlines Limited

And then I asked again

Good Day! Thank you so much for taking the time to reply my queries.

However I do have one more question that I left out in my previous email, I am just curious where the word "Kris" is derived from in "Krisworld", "Krisflyer", "SilverKris", etc.

Once again, thank you so much for the answers!

And their reply

Dear Mr XXX,

SilverKris is named after the kris, a fabled Malay weapon used in the 14th century. Legend has it that the kris possessed many qualities, the greatest was its ability to anticipate danger and protect its owner. The kris was treated with utmost respect and often became a family heirloom. Today, its function is purely ceremonial. In choosing a kris made of silver as the symbol of our service, we acknowledge both the quality and reputation of Malay silverware and our roots in Malayan Airways, which began operations in 1947.

Thank you for writing to Singapore Airlines.


Mabel Lee
Public Affairs Department

I hope you found that quite insightful!

Changi Plane Spotting

if you happen to drop by Singapore and want to do some great plane spotting, you would like to pay the factory area near Changi east a visit.

i drove there today (by chance) and saw some low flying jets. unfortunately i did not have the luxury of time, otherwise i would have stayed longer and taken better pictures.


my car, a Lexus ES300. i blured out the number plate since every website seems to do that.


a picture taken from the car when i was driving with the camera on my right hand and steering wheel on my left. very dangerous, do not try this at home! but i was so excited that i took the risk anyway, a landing Lufthansa 747.


an Approaching Tiger Airways A320


A Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400. and 20 seconds later, my hair was messed up due to the wake turbulence.

the pictures do not really tell the actual story, perhaps because there are no other objects to compare its height with. believe me, the aircrafts were flying much lower than it looks! and the sound of the engines was deafening right under it. one either love it or hate it. i'm for the former.

Singapore Airlines Ugly Livery

on the new Boeing 777-300ER, i've come to terms with the bigger "Singapore Airlines" title. the tiny circular Singapore Airlines logo being moved to the centre of the engine is fine too.

but what i still find utterly unaccaptable and extremely annoying is the tail! i don't think that this sentiment of mine will change anytime soon!





My GOD i've never seen anything more hideous than that!

why. Why. WHY can't they just paint the dark blue background all the way down to the fuselage!! is it for any technical reasons? are they going to save some cash with less weight of blue-paint? is that white thing there going to make the aircraft more aerodynamic? I DON'T THINK SO!

the thing now looks incomplete with that white "stripe", don't you think? i really reeally hope that somebody do something about it! whoever suggested this new design truly deserves a beating!

Boeing 787 Technology

i was browsing through some aviation forum and came across this funny picture.



for some background knowledge, the DC-9 is an extremely old aircraft model that was prevalant in the 70s and 80s. now the company that produces the DC-9, McDonell Douglas no longer even exists.

the Airbus A320 on the other hand, is the pioneer of technologically-advanced civilian aircraft developed in the late 80s to early 90s and is still popular with many airlines today. it harnesses "fly-by-wire" technology and most of the flying is done automatically.

THEN i decided to make a cartoon of my own using some picture editing!



if you're wondering what my picture means, since the Boeing 787 (due to enter passenger service in 2009) is supposed to be EVEN MORE technologically-advanced where everything is automatic, i think that there'll be a dog in every cockpit, where the pilot will be there to feed the dog and the dog will there in the cockpit to bite the pilot if he touches any button.

Changes

sometimes, changes are welcomed. sometimes, not very much.

a few days ago, this came in the mail.


"The Romance of Travel Lives On"
the new Singapore Airlines product brochure


the new first class


the new business class. it seems like they designed the seats with extremely wide people in mind indeed


other new changes


the last page showing the aircraft that will introduce the new products

other impressive pictures from the Singapore Airlines website...









so i see that Singapore Airlines have decided to go orange. their current fleet consists of mainly blue and purple seats with the exception of first class, being brown.


old blue and purple seats

there are some other changes that were made along with the introduction of the new products.

firstly, notice that its no longer called Raffles Class anymore? it's unfortunate that they have decided to conform and call it Business Class just like every other airline.

secondly, they no longer dub their aircrafts anymore. remember the Jubilee and Megatop? that was how people identified Singapore Airlines aircrafts with but they have decided to drop that.

lastly, the subtle changes to the livery, some of which are not exactly very pleasing to the eye.


this is the "old" Singapore Airlines livery, nearing perfect.


this is the "new" Singapore Airlines colour, in my opinion moving backwards from perfect.

notice that the new "Singapore Airlines" title is much bigger and more forward to the front than the old one? its totally copying the other airlines that have also increased the size of their titles on their fuselage. i think huge titles are ugly, they make the plane look smaller and disproportionate.

other changes include the missing "Jubilee" title near the front of the aircraft. the tiny circular Singapore Airlines logo on the engine is now on the centre of the engine instead of the corner. that is fine.

but the ugliest change has got to be the tail! if you notice, the dark blue background on the new tail doesn't go all the way down to the fuselage anymore unlike the old one. instead, there is a white stripe there, making the back of the new fuselage look bigger than the actual svelte figure that the back of the B777 has.

the new seats are an improvement across all classes but there are some changes that have been made that i wish they rather not. Singapore Airlines is supposed to be "originators", not imitators!

Superstitious

the 19 Boeing 777-300ER that Singapore Airlines ordered last year (and due to arrive later this year) have already been given designated registrations. i was looking at the list and found something rather odd.


the B777-300ERs have been given the "SW" series

if you look at the table, its 9V-SWA, 9V-SWB and then on to 9V-SWD and so on... why did they skip 9V-SWC?

i seeked to find out the reason behind this mysterious phenomena and the information i got is bent more towards the superstitious side than a practical one.

Singapore Airlines is extremely superstitious. i also noted that no aircraft has "X' in its registration, and that there is no row 13 on any aircraft on its sitting plans. of course SIA is not the only airline that does this. China Airlines' registration do not have the number 4 or 13 on any of their aircrafts, for example.

so what does WC stand for that is considered such a taboo? based on wild speculations, if you consider the fact that it's standard practice for SIA to paint the last two letters of the registration on the nosegear doors, then painting WC would imply that the entire aircraft is...


nosegear of 9V-SMA

A TOILET!!!

WC is short for "wash closet" and to paint WC on something which the airline spent nearly $200 million for would be extremely degrading.

or worse, WC can also stand for "wash chamber" (a place to clean/wash up dead bodies), and painting WC on the aircraft would imply that the aircraft is flying a planefull of dead people!

this practice of avoiding the acronym "WC" is mostly exercised in Western countries where it is considered bad luck.