Hello. We’re OpenSkies.
And here’s what we’re up to.
In the Spring of 2008, an agreement between the European Union and the United States opened the skies for transatlantic travellers. The innovative minds at British Airways saw a unique opportunity—OpenSkies was born. As a new airline, we’ve quickly earned our wings by providing premium comfort and personalised service and an exceptional value. In the short time since our inception, we’ve been quite busy. Our first route (New York-Paris) launched in June 2008. In July, we acquired L’Avion airlines and are integrating the two airlines. Then in October 2008, we added a New York-Amsterdam route. Through our blog, we’re recording all the work that goes into creating and growing an airline, which is quite a lot. Your comments and suggestions have been a vital part helping us become—and continue to be—the airline that gets the little things right.
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Subscribe to RSS FeedGo ahead, ask away part 7
Hope all of you are enjoying your summers so far. It’s been quite busy for us, and that’s a good thing. Reading your recent posts to my blog and our Facebook fan page , there are a few questions surfacing about our next possible route as well as our lounges and I’d like to address them.
I am proud to say our current routes Paris –New York, Paris – DC are performing really well. I’ve seen questions from Sean and Charles who are curious as well as Marie and Jerome who are asking for a West Coast option. The good news is we have sensible plans to expand and are giving our new route serious consideration. It’s a complicated process, a lot of work goes into making this decision; available slots, scheduling, market logistics and receptivity and ground handling to name a few. Important to note our current fleet of Boeing 757s has a flight range that limits us to only be active in Western Europe/East Coast US. Therefore, our planning always considers this factor. So while the West Coast is very interesting to us, we are very happy with our current aircraft performance and we’re not quite ready for that yet. Stay tuned. We’re hoping to make a decision on our new route before the end of the year.
Another hot topic that comes up is about our lounges. Recently Bill and John among others have been raising concerns. The Newark lounge in particular seems sub-par when compared with business class lounge expectations. I know this is a sensitive subject so let me be honest. We do our very best to put our investment where the customer will get the most value and still strive to offer this at a low cost. That said, I understand there’s room for improvement and your feedback is a matter we take quite seriously. I can tell you there’s a joint project currently underway with British Airways that will improve the EWR lounge experience. It will take some time though, perhaps a year – but will be well worth the wait. We already share the lounge at IAD with BA and it’s terrific. We know Orly needs some work too and are currently engaged with the Aeroport de Paris with to discuss a better facility.
Lastly, Christophe wanted to know whether we could consider a flight schedule that leaves Paris later in the day to allow for a more efficient working day. I am with Christophe here, although previous experience with later departure times from Paris have been less successful, I think perhaps it’s time for us to review this again.
I love to respond to your important questions, so keep them coming.
Best,
Dale
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Let’s check-in with Marketing…
Back again. A few of you have been asking, so I thought it’d be worth sharing what our Marketing Department has been up to lately. Now, I am a strong believer in the power of marketing, but being a small company means we have to be smart about how we invest, and do so, in a targeted manner.
Our mission is to set ourselves apart from the competition and engage our customers with a sophisticated wit that rewards intellect. We call our new Marketing campaign ‘Foosion’ which uses a series of Venn diagrams, (like the one you see above) to demonstrate the new OpenSkies relationship that is created as a result of conjoining two entities. Like business class travel and attractive prices, when you join them together, your result is OpenSkies.
We also aim to build our community and invite our fans to tell us what they think makes OpenSkies so unique. Why not take a hand at playing our Foosion Game on our Facebook fan page where you can create your own Foosion for a chance to win a round-trip on OpenSkies? And, be sure to tell your friends… they can vote for you or create their own. Happy 4th of July weekend all!
Best,
Dale
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We’re turning two!
Wow, our second anniversary! Seems like yesterday our little airline started all-business class service between Paris and New York (and in some ways… maybe not). They have been two tough years! But we are not only still standing, we’ve started to grow. Some say, the more difficult the task the greater the reward. This makes me hopeful.
To our 155,000+ passengers we’ve flown, I want to extend my personal heartfelt gratitude for your active support and encouragement. Recent market research has told us 97% of you would recommend OpenSkies to your friends and family. This is incredibly rewarding to hear.
To my teammates, my deepest respect for your never ending commitment to the company, what we can become and never giving up believing.
Lastly to my family, thanks for putting up with my crazy travel and time away. Without their love, I would be nowhere.
Our mission is not to just survive, but to continue offering a superior product at a better price and keep customers coming back for more. Looking forward to another successful year ahead!
Best,
Dale
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Washington D.C. – Paris, off to a great start!
May 3rd marked a bit of aviation history as we connected Paris Orly (ORY) and Washington Dulles (IAD) airports for the first time. I personally was on the flight along with customers and journalists. We all had a terrific experience. Some of us had dinner that night in Washington D.C. at Michel Richard’s Central restaurant. It was a nice way to cap a special day. The next morning I hosted a press conference in Alexandria, Virginia. The journalists were all impressed with not only the uniqueness of business travel on OpenSkies but how spectacular the city of Washington D.C. was. No question about it, I think everyone had a most enjoyable journey.
Things are progressing nicely with our new Washington D.C. route. With the help of our advertising and word of mouth picking up every week, so are the loads. It takes a little while to build up our business class brand in a new city but we are encouraged as to where we are relative to our plan, which reflects bookings at +15%. Fingers crossed! I was on a flight this past week and one of our customers reached out to me to say, “I’m spoiled now, this is the only way to fly”. That sure does make me happy to hear.
Operationally we were challenged by the untimely resurrection of the ash cloud making for a few tough days. We are very grateful to our customers who were patient and understanding during this time of disruption. We recovered quickly and all has been well since. But running an airline has always had its operational challenge, it’s how we respond that customers will hold judgment.
We learned a lot and especially how important communication to our customers is. We have marked it as a lesson and have already put in place new procedures to ensure our communication is more timely and informative. So keep your comments coming!
Best,
Dale
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New York to Paris and back: what a week!
The past week presented some special challenges to our industry and to OpenSkies. Once again, there was special advantage in being a small company. As a small company, we can wait till the last minute before cancelling or moving flights even to another city. With just two flights a day we were more flexible in every way to adjust to the world around us. We didn’t have to think about 400 airplanes; we just had to think about getting you home.
Our team got together over this past weekend and assembled plans to take care of customers. We were in the office both Saturday and Sunday, we spent some long hours talking with government authorities, doing flight plans and calling customers among other things. We were in the office both Saturday and Sunday, we spent some long hours talking with government authorities, doing flight plans, calling customers and monitoring Facebook and Twitter to look for any problems requiring our attention. We started flying back to France Sunday night from New York and from France back to New York on Monday. The only window we had was Toulouse, so we arranged for buses to transport passengers to get them ‘home’. We advised passengers of this wrinkle and they were all happy to be on their way. It was almost like something out of a movie.
To all those customers, I’d like to personally thank you for being so terrific under very difficult circumstances. Our product was a bit makeshift that day and we had not one complaint. All the crew remarked how nice everyone was. No doubt about it we have the best customers in the world. We figured people needed to get home so we kept a singular focus…get people home safe and sound.
On Tuesday we resumed a more normal schedule of 2 flights a day. Life was a bit hectic at check-in as it was the first flights from Paris in 3 days. I know I was there the entire time for both flights. Lots of lessons learned but the good news is we were able to accommodate every passenger who wanted to go that day. It was close but we did it. First flights from Paris and no one left behind. The flight plan was a bit longer Tuesday as we needed to make a fuel stop in Lisbon. This volcano was a real pain in the “ash” (I apologize but I needed to get that in there just once). Wednesday saw a much more settled down schedule, thank goodness. Strange as it may seem, this period allowed us to show our customers just how much we care not with words but with action. Except for one day from Newark did we leave any passengers behind and even then we promptly got them on the flight the very next day. The flights have gone out very full and we got our customers where they needed to go…YES!
I can’t speak about what other airlines did during this period but I would be pretty happy to bet we were a leader. We’re all tired but satisfied with what we accomplished this week. Moreover I am very proud of all my colleagues for their tireless efforts; it’s great to work alongside them.
Now I am certain while we tried our best there were things we could have done better. I would be most grateful for passengers to pass on their comments of what they liked and what they think we need to improve on. Every customer comment is a gift and that’s the way we look at it, so please come forward. You see our goal is not just to be good, we know we have to strive to be the best.
Years ago a colleague reminded me of an old Chinese curse…May you live in interesting times. I never found it a curse… frankly I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Okay, now let’s see what next week holds for us, because the week after, we start our service to Washington D.C.
Best,
Dale
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Spring is in the air…
Finally, three days of sun in Paris. Now I am not complaining about having to live in Paris because it is such a fantastic city, but it really is nice to see the sun for a few of days in a row! Guess I shouldn’t complain about the weather after the winter New York has had? Spring is on the way though, for both cities. It may take its own sweet time but it will be here later this month (thank goodness). As the seasons swing and winter gives rise to spring, so hopes rise too. The world is still not as steady a place as we would like, but it’s slowly improving all the time, and that works for us.
It’s less than two months to go before we start our new Washington D.C. – Paris service and everyone here is all excited. Seems a lot of our customers are too. The bookings are quite strong at the moment. This pattern is most encouraging, especially considering we are just starting to ramp up our commercial activities. When I think about it… for a small company like OpenSkies to have now 29% market share between New York and Paris is pretty special and we are not even close to peaking. I am hopeful our ‘More for Less’ proposition is starting to resonate with customers more every day. As I have said before, the time is right for us now and we need to seize it.
Bill and Arch mentioned the radio program I was supposed to be on, and I had planned to make it to my brother’s radio show in Washington D.C. last month but mother nature prevailed. D.C. was literally snowed over. I am scheduling to make it back there later this month. We are currently planning to fly one of our aircraft to IAD on March 24th for a few hours for some press and travel trade to see for themselves what the product looks like. Now I may be prejudiced but I think the aircraft looks better in real life, I can’t wait to see their faces!
Please continue to tell your friends, family and colleagues in the D.C. area, there’s a better way to get to Paris from May 3rd. Encourage them to join our Facebook fan page.
Best,
Dale
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Washington, D.C. here we come…
We are delighted to announce today that we have selected Washington, D.C. as our next city to serve. We will build on our presence in Paris and add Dulles airport to the portfolio. This enables OpenSkies to connect the capitals of France and the United States with a product and experience as special as the relationship these two countries enjoy. The greater Washington, D.C. area has grown to be the 4th largest metropolitan area in the U.S. with an economically impressive resume of development even during periods of market contraction.
Thank you to all the customers who responded to our poll about the new city. Over 20,000 of you told us what you thought the city would be! There are many cities that we have on our list but we all felt that Washington, D.C. was our next best choice at this time. It was a combination of the quantitative and qualitative evaluations and of course the concurrence and support of our Board that drove the decision. There’s plenty of excitement all around our office as we continue to prepare for our launch. We plan to start on May 3rd, with a 1200 noon departure out of Paris and the return flight leaving Dulles at 6pm and returning back to Orly the next morning.
All during this recession period we have come to learn more about our opponents and adversaries. Ironically, and I also say this respectfully, our toughest opponent has not been another airline, but rather the lack of awareness we have with our new brand and it’s More for Less proposition. Here’s the logic – irrespective of who you are and how much money you have, you don’t walk into a store and say to yourself “today I want to spend more and get less”. Think about it! Now that may happen, but it would not be the choice of anyone I have ever known. So even during the most severe moments of the recession, I always felt our flights should have been full. It’s a simple axiom that must follow – customers support the best value they know of. Remember, even when our flights are full, they are never crowded. With our special 2×2 configuration and a max capacity of 84 passengers, it really is a most unique way to cross the Atlantic. It’s clear to us that we need to have a special focus this year on raising that awareness. Of course we will intensify the level of our marketing with more advertising and promotions, but no matter what we spend it will never be enough for a small company like ours. It’s here when I ask for your assistance…the power of word of mouth will trump any formal marketing campaign every time. So pass the word to friends, colleagues and family members that OpenSkies is there to serve with a great product at an exceptional price.
Please allow me to share a personal story. It’s a small world after all. At three different times in my career I was stationed in Washington, D.C. and always found it to be a growing and dynamic area. But frankly I never had any idea it would grow up as it has or that I would find a way to come back. I have always been intrigued by the ironic twists life serves up to us as we go through our journey, so to come back to D.C. with OpenSkies is so special. But there’s more…when my brother and I set off many years ago in our careers they could not have been more different. I started in aviation and he started in broadcasting. We have enjoyed a lifetime of a great brother/best friend relationship but have never dreamed of seeing our work ever cross lines. Well, later this week on Thursday, it will for the first time. You see my brother Mike is a broadcast journalist with a radio show in Washington, D.C. at WTOP. When people ask me what my brother does, I usually say he wakes Washington up and gives them the news. So Mike is going to have me on his radio show Thursday for an opportunity to talk about OpenSkies and perhaps also to finally close off this ironic loop in our lives. For those of you who would like to listen in, visit www.wtop.com on Thursday. Maybe it’s corny but I think it’s neat…really neat.
OK, back to the agenda… there’s lots of exciting work in front of us.
As always, thoughts and suggestions are most welcome.
Best
Dale
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What a year, what’s next?
What a difference a year makes. This time last year was a particularly difficult one in the aviation industry and OpenSkies was not excluded. In some ways it’s painful to look back, yet in others, so uplifting in that we’ve weathered a very difficult storm. Late last year, the good news was that the market wasn’t getting worse… hence the expression “flat” is the new “up”. But that’s not the case today. We definitely see some nice improvement in both volume and yield. Just looking around us we see businesses coming back to a more normal rhythm and that’s a very good sign for all of us. However, we must not be misled into any false spring. The recession did significant damage and the recovery will take its own time, but we remain optimistic.
As I reflect over the past year, I recognize that the recession was not really our enemy, not even our competition were that threatening… it was burgeoning our brand awareness. No customer today says “I want to spend more and get less” in anything they purchase, so why would they do that when buying an airline seat? A major issue was simply that they just didn’t know about us – which is why we’ll make this a key focus for 2010.
We must continue to make sure we spread the good word about our little airline. Perhaps you can help us? Your ideas are always welcome and your kind words as an endorsement are indeed appreciated. To help the effort, we’ve started our own community of customers who want better value and a better airline experience. Take a look at and join our facebook fan page.
Plus, there’s good news on the horizon – we are gearing up for growth! We’re all excited to be announcing a new destination to our network in the very near future. Take a moment to make your guess on which route you think we will fly next. We’re just working on ironing out some logistics, so stay tuned!
Best
Dale
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Go ahead, ask away part 6
It’s good to be back in the swing of things, I’m able to answer your important questions… so keep them coming.
Mathieu asked about our in-flight entertainment. The good news is, in October we updated all our French aircraft IFE and replaced it with a much more sleek and up-to-date Archos system. Our movies are updated on a monthly basis and TV programming every 3 months.
I also saw a few comments about our product, like this one from James who’s interested in the distinction between BIZ SEAT and the BIZ BED, which is as simple as their names. But it’s not just about the bed, the BIZ BED cabin is a more exclusive experience with additional space, privacy and preferred catering. It’s not only about sleep, but actual rest, which NASA has scientifically proven that a horizontally flat apparatus is by far the best method. This is not traditional business class New York- Paris because it’s the only horizontally flat bed on the route, and at prices that are often more than 50% cheaper. So it’s a better product and a better price, that’s the essence of the OpenSkies proposition…more for less.
Okay, onto the next route… and thanks to those with recommendations. Margaret suggested JFK/ VIE and Dave C was in favour of JFK/ MAD. Both are great thoughts and we are giving them very serious consideration along with several other city pairs. There is a lot of work that goes into route selection. Things like slots, ground handling arrangements, crew scheduling, new market logistics and the receptivity of the market. The numbers need to be there. Our brand is developing nicely so as we grow and the market continues to improve, it is our hope the launch process will be a more regular occurrence. So if we didn’t pick your favourite this time I am sure it’s coming up soon.
I’d love to hear more about your thoughts on this topic. Be sure to check back for updates.
Dale
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Newark Liberty International Airport
Happy New Year… a very special and sincere thank you to all our customers. We have flown over 125,000 passengers so far and they are the reason we fly. The expression goes – that without them… is entirely true. Thanks not only for being our customers, but also, our best ambassadors.
I really appreciate your positive comments. We certainly have a most exciting year before us and even in this market, we see some good opportunities ahead I will discuss later this month. But I wanted to chat today in response to John and James about our decision to consolidate our flights to Newark Liberty International Airport.
Consolidating to one airport made great sense for us operationally as well as presenting a stronger and more robust schedule proposition for our customers. In our research we realized the four large customer segments: financial, pharmaceutical, food and wine and fashion… all had user preferences for EWR. A decision such as this clearly was not going to make everyone equally happy…but we tried to accommodate the largest group, while not inconveniencing the others too much.
The combination of a better offering for customers, an easier airport to operate from and the chance to save on operating costs made this the right business decision at this point. When you are a small company, you must have an eye for long term strategy but short term tactics are critically important too. And, in this instance, drove the decision. EWR serves us and our customers very conveniently and will provide a nice platform for future growth. It’s a bit smaller and plays to our brand as well as Orly does at the other end of the route.
If in the future the world changes (as it sometimes does), we will not eliminate JFK from consideration…it’s a fine airport. In the end, it’s all about customer preference… and we’re doing our best to deliver it.
We are going to do everything possible to make the customer experience at EWR as pleasant and ‘OpenSkies like’ as possible…something I hope you have grown to expect from our little company.
Do come back often for more updates and keep your comments coming!
Best wishes,
Dale
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