Web logs

 Europe is contemplating cuts in fiscal spending and US is headlong into jacking it up...

There’s something about Singapore Airlines. Over the past four decades, it has earned a stellar reputation in the fiercely competitive commercial aviation business by providing customers with high-quality service and dominating the business-travel segments. SIA has won the World’s Best Airline award from  Condé Nast Traveler  21 out of the 22 times it has been awarded and Skytrax’s Airline of the Year award three times over the past decade. What’s not so well known is that despite the quality of its services, SIA is also one of the industry’s most cost-effective operators. From 2001 to 2009, its costs per available seat kilometer (ASK) were just 4.58 cents. According to a 2007 International Air Transport Association study, costs for full-service European airlines were 8 to 16 cents, for U.S. airlines 7 to 8 cents, and for Asian airlines 5 to 7 cents. In fact, SIA had lower costs than most European and American budget carriers, which ranged from 4 to 8 cents and 5 to 6 cents re...

Throughout the 1990s, U-Haul, Ryder, Hertz-Penske, and Budget waged a fiercely competitive battle in the U.S. consumer-truck-rental business. U-Haul, long the dominant player in the industry, appeared to be at a disadvantage. With its older fleet of trucks, it had higher maintenance costs than its rivals, and it charged lower prices. Barely breaking even in truck rentals, it seemed fated to fall from industry leader to industry laggard. But the numbers on the bottom line told a different story. U-Haul was actually the most profitable company in the industry, its 10 %  operating margin running far above the industry average of less than 3 % . Ultimately, in fact, the number two competitor, Ryder, abandoned the consumer rental business, selling off its fleet in 1996 to a consortium of investors. What explains U-Haul’s success? Answering that question requires us to step back and examine not only U-Haul’s strategy but also its industry’s profit structure. U-Haul prevailed because it s...

Good god..  He didn't actually travel to Pakistan in this trip.  This is the second country he is visiting since he assumed office. Goes on to show how influential Indian businessmen and Indian diaspora ( apparently, 5% of population) have become back in Britain.

The last time you had a Tory in No. 10 and a Centrist Dem in the White House, the relationship was pretty frosty..  U have a left of centre Prez, this time around..  The next 2 years will be good fun...