EyeInTheSky
Veteran
Bankrupt in the lap of luxury
http://www.tripso.com/archives/2006/02/lap.html#more
I was in Montreal last week to deliver a speech, and I stayed at the incomparable Loews Hotel Vogue — “The Best Hotel in Montreal,†according to Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure and the Mobil Travel Guide.
All was right with the world. After all, I was presenting to the Circle of Tourism, one of the most prestigious travel-and-tourism groups in Quebec, which had invited me to discuss ways they could market Quebec’s winter offerings to the American market. You would think they would want to show me their best — and they did. Hey, I’m entitled to some perks every once in a while.
The hotel lived up to the poetic billing on its Web site:
Imagine a place where Late Empire style and Old-World European charm mingle with hip, chic urbanity. Boulangeries neighbor trendy boutiques. Fashionable, modern buildings blend with medieval-like stone structures. The best of the luxury hotels in Montréal, Quebec, this downtown destination captures the spirit of the city. It’s the Paris you’ve always dreamed about. Right here in Montréal.
This is the hotel where top corporate executive stay when they come to Montreal to close million-dollar deals. This is where high-ranking politicians and diplomats relax in luxury paid for by campaign contributions or taxes. This is where top hockey players, rock stars and baseball whiz-kids with seven-figure contracts come to unwind after a hard day on the ice, stage, or diamond.
This is the hotel where I sat down to breakfast to find an airplane crew sitting at the next table. Not just any airplane crew. An airplane crew from one of the airlines that has been involved in a painful Chapter 11 bankruptcy during the past 12 months.
After seeing workers laid off by the thousands, after seeing hard-earned pensions slashed with the stroke of a judge’s pen, after seeing friends’ investments in the airlines reduced to rubble, after a seemingly endless series of pay cuts - after all the misery this bankruptcy has caused — hearing the cheerful banter of pilots and flight attendants over breakfast at a luxury hotel was jolting to say the least.
My flight-attendant friends have often told me that if you are going to work on an airplane crew, international flights are the way to go. Even during the downsizing frenzy, international routes have maintained their good crew scheduling and upscale accommodations.
There are even pilot committees that travel the world to make sure that hotels booked for the pilots meet certain luxury criteria and are in the middle of the action. In some cases, I believe, pilots are put up at far more upscale hotels than the flight attendants. In other cases, the crew and pilots share luxury digs and breakfast together before the flight. Even today, after all the bloodletting.
While these pilots and flight attendants joke over their omelettes et croissants, former employees worry about their lost jobs, their lost pensions and their lost investments.
I find it amazing that airline workers and airline executives still cling to their perks, even as they decry the cuts their industry has had to make. I think they would rather see their best friend lose his job than lose their own favorite hotel or preferred flight schedule.
No commentary here. The situation speaks for itself. I almost fell out of my chair.
February 13, 2006 | Link To This Article | Email This Page
Printer-friendly version
http://www.tripso.com/archives/2006/02/lap.html#more
I was in Montreal last week to deliver a speech, and I stayed at the incomparable Loews Hotel Vogue — “The Best Hotel in Montreal,†according to Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure and the Mobil Travel Guide.
All was right with the world. After all, I was presenting to the Circle of Tourism, one of the most prestigious travel-and-tourism groups in Quebec, which had invited me to discuss ways they could market Quebec’s winter offerings to the American market. You would think they would want to show me their best — and they did. Hey, I’m entitled to some perks every once in a while.
The hotel lived up to the poetic billing on its Web site:
Imagine a place where Late Empire style and Old-World European charm mingle with hip, chic urbanity. Boulangeries neighbor trendy boutiques. Fashionable, modern buildings blend with medieval-like stone structures. The best of the luxury hotels in Montréal, Quebec, this downtown destination captures the spirit of the city. It’s the Paris you’ve always dreamed about. Right here in Montréal.
This is the hotel where top corporate executive stay when they come to Montreal to close million-dollar deals. This is where high-ranking politicians and diplomats relax in luxury paid for by campaign contributions or taxes. This is where top hockey players, rock stars and baseball whiz-kids with seven-figure contracts come to unwind after a hard day on the ice, stage, or diamond.
This is the hotel where I sat down to breakfast to find an airplane crew sitting at the next table. Not just any airplane crew. An airplane crew from one of the airlines that has been involved in a painful Chapter 11 bankruptcy during the past 12 months.
After seeing workers laid off by the thousands, after seeing hard-earned pensions slashed with the stroke of a judge’s pen, after seeing friends’ investments in the airlines reduced to rubble, after a seemingly endless series of pay cuts - after all the misery this bankruptcy has caused — hearing the cheerful banter of pilots and flight attendants over breakfast at a luxury hotel was jolting to say the least.
My flight-attendant friends have often told me that if you are going to work on an airplane crew, international flights are the way to go. Even during the downsizing frenzy, international routes have maintained their good crew scheduling and upscale accommodations.
There are even pilot committees that travel the world to make sure that hotels booked for the pilots meet certain luxury criteria and are in the middle of the action. In some cases, I believe, pilots are put up at far more upscale hotels than the flight attendants. In other cases, the crew and pilots share luxury digs and breakfast together before the flight. Even today, after all the bloodletting.
While these pilots and flight attendants joke over their omelettes et croissants, former employees worry about their lost jobs, their lost pensions and their lost investments.
I find it amazing that airline workers and airline executives still cling to their perks, even as they decry the cuts their industry has had to make. I think they would rather see their best friend lose his job than lose their own favorite hotel or preferred flight schedule.
No commentary here. The situation speaks for itself. I almost fell out of my chair.
February 13, 2006 | Link To This Article | Email This Page
Printer-friendly version
The only foreign thing they see is the room service menu!!
