Fear of Flying - Welcome Onboard by Veritas Airways

http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=7884654

Welcome aboard
Sep 7th 2006From The Economist print edition
In-flight announcements are not entirely truthful. What might an honest one sound like?

“GOOD morning, ladies and gentlemen. We are delighted to welcome you aboard Veritas Airways, the airline that tells it like it is. Please ensure that your seat belt is fastened, your seat back is upright and your tray-table is stowed. At Veritas Airways, your safety is our first priority. Actually, that is not quite true: if it were, our seats would be rear-facing, like those in military aircraft, since they are safer in the event of an emergency landing. But then hardly anybody would buy our tickets and we would go bust.

The flight attendants are now pointing out the emergency exits. This is the part of the announcement that you might want to pay attention to. So stop your sudoku for a minute and listen: knowing in advance where the exits are makes a dramatic difference to your chances of survival if we have to evacuate the aircraft. Also, please keep your seat belt fastened when seated, even if the seat-belt light is not illuminated. This is to protect you from the risk of clear-air turbulence, a rare but extremely nasty form of disturbance that can cause severe injury. Imagine the heavy food trolleys jumping into the air and bashing into the overhead lockers, and you will have some idea of how nasty it can be. We don't want to scare you. Still, keep that seat belt fastened all the same.

Your life-jacket can be found under your seat, but please do not remove it now. In fact, do not bother to look for it at all. In the event of a landing on water, an unprecedented miracle will have occurred, because in the history of aviation the number of wide-bodied aircraft that have made successful landings on water is zero. This aircraft is equipped with inflatable slides that detach to form life rafts, not that it makes any difference. Please remove high-heeled shoes before using the slides. We might as well add that space helmets and anti-gravity belts should also be removed, since even to mention the use of the slides as rafts is to enter the realm of science fiction.

Please switch off all mobile phones, since they can interfere with the aircraft's navigation systems. At least, that's what you've always been told. The real reason to switch them off is because they interfere with mobile networks on the ground, but somehow that doesn't sound quite so good. On most flights a few mobile phones are left on by mistake, so if they were really dangerous we would not allow them on board at all, if you think about it. We will have to come clean about this next year, when we introduce in-flight calling across the Veritas fleet. At that point the prospect of taking a cut of the sky-high calling charges will miraculously cause our safety concerns about mobile phones to evaporate.

On channel 11 of our in-flight entertainment system you will find a video consisting of abstract imagery and a new-age soundtrack, with a voice-over explaining some exercises you can do to reduce the risk of deep-vein thrombosis. We are aware that this video is tedious, but it is not meant to be fun. It is meant to limit our liability in the event of lawsuits.

Once we have reached cruising altitude you will be offered a light meal and a choice of beverages—a word that sounds so much better than just saying ‘drinks’, don't you think? The purpose of these refreshments is partly to keep you in your seats where you cannot do yourselves or anyone else any harm. Please consume alcohol in moderate quantities so that you become mildly sedated but not rowdy. That said, we can always turn the cabin air-quality down a notch or two to help ensure that you are sufficiently drowsy.

After take-off, the most dangerous part of the flight, the captain will say a few words that will either be so quiet that you will not be able to hear them, or so loud that they could wake the dead. So please sit back, relax and enjoy the flight. We appreciate that you have a choice of airlines and we thank you for choosing Veritas, a member of an incomprehensible alliance of obscure foreign outfits, most of which you have never heard of. Cabin crew, please make sure we have remembered to close the doors. Sorry, I mean: ‘Doors to automatic and cross-check’. Thank you for flying Veritas.”

2 weeks

So many happenings in the past 2 weeks. my friend has got a just nice GMAT score, congratulations! Been to Wharton's reception held at BCG office. A crowd of 30-40, an alumni couple (very interesting background, but not going to share here personal details). I was a bit late so didn't catch the name of the male admin officer. Nothing much exciting & he sounded a bit cocky, maybe it's just my wrong perception or lack of interest. One thing for sure, they don't quite bother such a small place like Singapore & this basically one-man-show was not well prepared. They even forgot to open up the refreshments afterwards. What a waste!

BTW, I've also been doing some interesting projects for L.A.!

Feedback from SG & LD

About two weeks ago, I sent out email enquiry to both Insead & SAiD. Within a week, I got a quite comprehensive but not-so-warm reply from SG. Yesterday, had a nice phone conversation with Ginny from SAiD followed by her very detailed & personal reply. I guess the difference is probably Insead had a much bigger applicant pool (several thousands / batch, 2 batches / year) than SAiD (about 800 / year). Later saw SAiD's latest brochure, very cool design & unique concept, can't help ordering 1 print copy:-) At the same time, requested from IMD, Kellogg also. Tried to make an appointment with IE for 1-to-1 interview during the MBA tour, yet to get the details. Cheers!

Who Holds Tomorrow?

Haven't touched this blog for a long long time, 1st blog - May last year, 2nd blog - Jan this year, now 2006 is about to enter the last triplicate. Where does my future head? What I really want to do? What satisfies me & fulfils my purpose?

Currently, I focus on realigning my working attitude & applying for MBA programs. Give myself 4-5 weeks for the 1st try which is SAiD - Sep 28 to finish the draft, just one month before their deadline of round 1:-) But there're several things I need to sort out during this period of time, besides a P.S. which should be applicable for all schools, of course with changes here & there, finding suitable recommenders, hope my friend will also get a handsome GMAT score, etc. In between, I will attend a couple of info sessions, Sep 6 Wharton, hopefully Stanford will also come to town soon. Plan well, live well.

Let's see how...as it's SAiD or rather sung, I don't know where my future heads but I do konw who holds tomorrow!

Shalom

苹果Apple vs. Cola可乐

商业周刊大幅报道纽约大学（5万学生）宣布取消所有的可口可乐自动贩卖机，起因是两年前哥伦比亚工厂的劳工被披露人权问题……很难想象这事情是如何关联的吧？请阅读吧：
BIGGER PROBLEMS? Hancock says CKC (Campus Kick-off Cola) is still hopeful that Coca-Cola will address its concerns and institute "a new and transparent human-rights policy." Tannenbaum says the university will lift the ban if Coke agrees to an investigation as proposed. Coca-Cola's University Commission has been at a standstill since early November. The five student representatives who resigned in protest have not yet rejoined. "We need to make a decision about how to proceed," says Scott Nova, executive director of the WRC, who sits on the commission. "That will happen relatively soon." A Coca-Cola representative says the company is willing and open to further discuss the issue. But Coke may find itself in a bigger predicament as time passes. In the two years since the NYU campaign began, allegations that Coca-Cola permitted human-rights abuses and environmental degradation in countries like India, Ghana, Turkey, Indonesia, and Guatemala have gained media attention and support on college campuses in particular. Three weeks after NYU announced its ban, the University of Michigan followed suit, citing questionable behavior by the company in India and Colombia. Coca-Cola says it's developing a global workplace-rights policy that it will adopt at the end of the first quarter of 2006.

PR NIGHTMARE. The cost of losing a customer like NYU, which doesn't have an exclusive contract with Coca-Cola, is difficult to gauge. (An NYU spokesperson didn't know the value of its business with Coke.) But the public-relations hit of losing such a trend-setting school might make any executive wince. "Just like Coca-Cola, NYU is a brand. We're a dream school, the school of [TV series] Felicity, and we make news," says Hancock. Soon Cadbury Schweppes (CSG ) brand RC Cola will replace Coke and Minute Maid in NYU's vending machines and dining halls. Will the preferences and buying behavior of NYU students follow? "Coca-Cola better pay attention to these students," says Tannenbaum. "They're going to be [its] consumers for the next 40 years."