It’s been a while since my last update, but I’m back in the swing of it. And the good news is I’ve got some great news to share. We’re marking our one-year anniversary!

As those of you who’ve been following the blog know, a lot of hard work went into making our first year such a success. We launched OpenSkies in record time, partnered with L’Avion to strengthen our offerings, and added the first all-business class Amsterdam-NYC route. When other airlines increased their costs and reduced their capacity, we increased our capacity and reduced costs. Over the year, our market share has grown and there are few empty seats. That means a healthy airline.

In the past twelve months, we’ve welcomed 92,000 passengers aboard our flights. That’s a solid feat for a new airline, even in the best of times. We’ve not only endured during a tough economy, we’ve continue to show improvements every month. Why? Because we truly are a unique airline whose time has come. All business class, all the time—and at an exceptional value.

It feels pretty good to look back on all we’ve accomplished this past year, but we’re not just sitting around the offices congratulating ourselves and slapping each other on the back. There’s an American baseball player who said it best. He said, “It’s okay to look back, just don’t stare.” We’re not staring at the past.  We focused on the future, making OpenSkies the best flying experience out there.

And what we’re focused on right now is bringing you some great deals to celebrate our anniversary. You’ll see that topnotch service and complete comfort don’t have to come at a lavish price.

If you’ve flown with us over the past year, drop me a note and let me know about your experience. If we’ve yet to welcome you aboard, I look forward to seeing you in year two.

Dale

October 15, 1:20pm at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam marked a tremendous day for us—our first commercial take off from the Netherlands. The flight was an unmitigated success, but you’d expect to hear that coming from me.

For good measure, we invited a few journalists and bloggers aboard our first NYC-AMS flight to give us a good, hard look. And they weren’t your ordinary pressmen, these guys are most-seasoned of travelers—tough, no-nonsense critics that aren’t easily impressed. Those are the kinds of folks we wanted kicking the tires.

Will Allen from Raleigh, North Carolina writes, “I think OpenSkies has broken the code on what international business class travelers want and need between the USA and Europe, and they offer it at a price that will satisfy even the strictest and stingiest corporate travel departments.”

And Joe Brancatelli writes, “The creature comforts of the OpenSkies PREM+ cabin are the latest and best-articulated developments in the nearly 20-year evolution of a fourth and entirely new class of international airline service.”

We’ve been hard at work putting together the best value flying. The seats, the meals, the entertainment system, the service and the small details in between—are all adding up to much larger experience.

But it’s not all strawberry shortcake. David Rowell enjoyed his flight and had some good things to say about the PREM+ cabin: “A business class experience for much less than a business class price.” He did note a few points about the service that we’ll focus our energies on improving. We are certainly grateful for David and critics like him for pointing out the small details that may get lost or forgotten. That’s an important way we’ll continue to get better.

Service, comfort, and legroom at a great price—if you can think of a better value, let me know. And the good news is that we’re always improving. So if you have something to say about our airline, service, seats, pillows, any detail will do—please say it! This airline was made for you. Our job is to keep you loving it.

Dale

We don’t want anything to compromise the integrity of this mission – not even a tough economy. We are in a fortunate position to have the strong support of an airline that has seen global economic dips and flips before: British Airways. But even though we fall under the umbrella of BA, we are still responsible for making careful and prudent decisions to ensure a superior experience.

We’ve been hard at work prioritizing our plans, putting first things first. And by “we”, I mean the OpenSkies team and the team at L’Avion. Both of us have been working together as one team expressing our mission in new and unique ways.

Here are a few of the specific items we’ve carefully considered and are acting on today:

- Reservations system integration: This is a top priority so OpenSkies customers will be able to book on L’Avion’s website and vice versa.
- Management decisions: Even though you may see two different logos, two different-looking aircraft, two different websites, we are making all decisions with one voice.
- French Operating Certificate: We fly 3 of every 4 flights out of Paris, so we are basing our operating certificate there. Plus, we have vast and numerous future route opportunities under a French AOC.

Here are a couple of planned items that will be put into action once the global economy steadies:
- Repainting the L’Avion aircraft with OpenSkies colors.
- Adding routes: We would like to stay focused on the routes we fly today. When economic conditions improve, we’ll dive back into expansion.

As we become one airline, we not only want to make sure the transition is smooth, we also want to make careful, prudent, sensible decisions moving forward, moving up the items we need now, and de-emphasizing the items that can wait.

Until then, you can expect what you always have: a delightful flight. If you have any questions, please ask.

Dale

I like to think that OpenSkies is full of creative problem solvers. And when circumstances are beyond our control, that’s when we truly shine. You may be asking,  how does an airline with only one aircraft handle disruption? It’s a good question, and one we knew we’d have to support. As part of the British Airways family, we have the resources and reach to handle most any situation on the spot.

For example, when those summer thunderstorms diverted our Paris-New York flight to Boston, the storms lingered over JFK long enough that the flight crew had to be relieved of duty by law. The flight was canceled, and that cancellation caused a domino effect of other cancellations. But that doesn’t mean our travelers were left stranded.

We were able to connect directly with our British Airways teams in Boston, London and Paris to provide all the assistance to our travelers to ensure they arrived at their destination safely, and as quickly as possible.

I like to think of us as a little airline with a lot of support, and that we can call on our BA colleagues when we need to. But that doesn’t happen very often. Our operational record is quite good. If a flight arrives within 15 minutes of the scheduled time it’s within the industry standard. Since launch, we’ve been hitting this mark over 92% of the time. Even better, over 80% of our flights have arrived within 3 minutes.

You’ve heard me say that we’re dedicated to a great flying experience, but we’re also dedicated a reliable one.

Dale

It’s been said that our cabins and seats rival—if not surpass—the best in the industry. The quality and value of PREM+ has been blogged about and written about in the New York Times. Many people have commented on the fantastic food, the plush seats, and the roominess of the cabin.

But all this means little if the service isn’t equally stellar. Our crew makes the difference. I can’t say that enough. Without good service, a seat isn’t as comfortable, a meal isn’t as memorable, and a flight becomes just another flight.

Not only is our crew knowledgeable and attentive, but they’re passionate about creating the best experience possible. Have you heard of a cabin crew being trained by expert chefs so they can ensure your meal is properly served? Ours have done just that. And being that our meal service is a la carte, you can get your meal the way you want it—and you get it served on china with a linen tablecloth!

Another aspect that differentiates them is their teamwork. From start to finish, the crew works together to ensure the comfort, safety, and wellbeing of everyone on board. You’ll never experience a “That’s not my job” attitude.

A great example of their unique style of service and dedication in action came to me from our Cabin Services Manager. She told me she’d received many suggestions from the crew themselves on how to improve the overall OpenSkies experience. She stated that “many of the suggestions involved much more work for the crew. It really demonstrated to me just how customer-focused the crew is. They came up with the ideas themselves—ideas that will have a big impact on their workload!”

As you can see, our crew is tireless in its pursuit to provide you with the best possible experience. They bring you personalised service and attention like no other airline—and bring it to you every time you fly.

Let me know about some of the OpenSkies inflight experiences that made an impression on you. I’d love to hear them.

Dale

Well, that’s exactly what we did!

We invited Randy Peterson, the founder of FlyerTalk.com, and 20 members of the frequent flier community to join us on our inaugural New York-Paris flight and enjoy the OpenSkies experience first-hand. These are the type of fliers we had in mind when we launched OpenSkies—globetrotters who really know the ins and outs of flying.

(photo courtesy of Brian Cohen @ The Gate)

As those of you following this blog know, we’ve worked hard at creating an exceptional experience in all our cabins. Brian Cohen noticed. He reports: “I had the filet of beef for dinner, which was very good. The flight attendants offered great service.” And Jared Blank of Online Travel Review has this to say: “All of us were blown away by the value of the Prem+ product. Seriously, it is a steal for what you get. I cannot overstate how much better it is to fly with so few people on board – the whole process (even if you were in economy) is so laid back and leisurely, without the insanity of boarding 250 other people.” And GBA of Flyertalk.com filed this trip report and even took photos!

I’m pleased that all of Flyertalk.com’s frequent fliers had such a great flight! And speaking of frequent fliers, if you’re a member of BA’s Executive Club you can earn and redeem BA miles on OpenSkies flights. If you aren’t already a member, I’d recommend signing up now.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the experience and we’re looking forward to more of Flyertalkers’ upcoming Trip Reports. And just like your comments on this blog, we’ll take all suggestions to heart. We’re always looking for ways to improve your experience—we don’t expect to be perfect right out of the gate, but we certainly hope to make a few new friends.

I want to personally thank the Flyertalk.com folks for joining us. As I’ve said before, we’re committed to continually improving and making your flight memorable—for all the right reasons!

Dale

Our site is up, reservations are being booked and our first flight is just weeks away. So what do you think is on my mind right now? Food! Specifically, beef tenderloin with fresh vegetables, buttered spinach and parmesan tuiles. Chicken and artichoke pâté with a beetroot and fig salsa. Tea and crisp, delicious macaroons.

Does that sound like airplane food to you?

I’ve just been scanning our menu and I feel like I’m right back at the restaurant I mentioned in an earlier post. It’s truly inspiring to see all the creativity going into our food service. But beyond the imaginative chef-work, we are working hard to ensure that whatever we serve is healthy for you, and the environment.

* We are committed to using locally available, seasonal ingredients.
* We will serve fair trade coffee and chocolates on board.
* We are determined to use eco-friendly packaging to reduce waste.

Taking advantage of all the great seasonal produce, our menu will change throughout the year. So if you’re a frequent flier you’ll enjoy a nice variety of good, healthy meals. Hopefully you’ll agree that an OpenSkies experience is more than just getting from point A to point B.

All this talk of our meals has made me hungry. Is it dinnertime yet?

Dale

(OpenSkies crewmembers on the first day of training – April 11)

If there’s one thing I’ve learned after more than 30 years in the airline business it’s that the plane can be the fanciest and sleekest flying, but without the right crew, (as Gordon points out) the experience won’t be memorable—or memorable for the wrong reasons! That’s why we’re taking our hiring process so seriously. We’re out to make your flight exceptional, and to do that, our crew has to not only be hospitable and eager to get the little things right, but they also have to have a passion for being part of something premium, new and exclusive.

So how did we find our crew? It started with our call for OpenSkies crew members back in January. Let me tell you, I was surprised by the response—we had over 600 applications in the first week alone. And like Joshua and Mark, all the applicants showed great enthusiasm.

Over a ten-day period in early February, we conducted multiple-tiered interviews with some 300 people. Being a small company our success comes down to our people, so I asked that each member of the management team participate in the interviews. What’s great about the crewmembers we hired is that they bring a diversity of experience and backgrounds to the job, but they all share a deep sense of hospitality, a commitment to providing great service onboard, and a fresh attitude to all they do.

That’s one of the things that I feel really defines us—our difference in attitude. And it’s not just our crewmembers who have it, but everyone here at OpenSkies. From how we treat our guests, shareholders, and even each other, our different, caring attitude can be seen in every detail. We’re out to earn your admiration by delivering day in and day out.

So what’s next? Induction Day is today! Then our first cabin crew will be off to the UK for their safety and service training. Soon, we’ll be ready to fly!

Dale

For starters, there are only 30 seats in Econ, which means no issue of overcrowding. You’ll be able to board and disembark the plane quickly and easily. We also put a lot of thought into the seats themselves and came up with the leather Econ seat that’s actually comfortable. And to S.M.’s question, each Econ seat offers our AVOD personal entertainment system with over 50 hours of audio and video. Add to that the fact that you get great tasting, healthy meals, exceptional wine service (something not seen in most economy class cabins), and personalized, attentive service.

Those may sound like small details, but they’re all a part of building a lasting impression—they’re all a part of how we’re out to make Econ a whole new experience.

Let us know what you think.

Dale

“So Dale,” you might be saying, “extra space is great, but what about the seats themselves? What about the overall experience?” Glad you asked! We’ve put a lot of thought into the Prem+ cabin. Newly designed with premium features and comfort, the leather seats offer two universal power plugs for computer and personal electronics (good news to Dave C), a convenient coat hook and our AVOD personal entertainment system with over 50 hours of audio and video. As for the experience, there’s our premium wine service, specially prepared meals that are both healthy and tasty, and—with no more than 28 passengers in the cabin—highly personalized service from the crew.

Louis is right—we’ll be the only airline with a premium economy cabin flying Paris-New York. To top that, prem+ will be the only premium economy cabin with so much space and comfort flying from cities throughout continental Europe to NYC.

So no matter how you spend your flight—getting a great night’s sleep, watching a fantastic movie, working on that important presentation, or comfortably easing into your holiday—Prem+ is business-class flying that’s surprisingly easy on the wallet.

Dale