The three big Middle Eastern airlines – Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways – have driven so many improvements in air travel in recent years. Thanks to them (and a handful of other carriers), we now enjoy better experiences in the air, more route options and lower prices than ever before.

One reason the gulf airlines have done so well is their massive investment in new planes, fitouts and other infrastructure. For passengers at the pointy end, this splurge has brought luxurious lounges, spacious seats, on-board bars and showers, and many other stylish innovations.

This trend is set to continue. Qatar Airways is about to roll out its business class ‘QSuite’ which, for the first time ever, gives business class passengers the option of booking a double bed in the sky. Emirates has also announced it will launch first and business class seats by the end of the year.

In these ‘physical’ aspects – the lounges, seats and other infrastructure – the gulf carriers are among the best in the world, and that’s helped them capture a big slice of the market. But there’s one important part of the passenger experience that often lets these airlines down, and that’s inconsistent customer service on board – particularly in business class.

On one flight you may be served by a warm and attentive crew, and on the next a crew that just doesn’t seem to care. If you’re flying in economy, you may not expect that much, but in premium cabins that attract a hefty price tag, customer service is a big deal.

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about. My partner and I have flown with Emirates in business class three times over the past year. The first two times, the crew were quite friendly and efficient. Earlier this week, however, they were disinterested and even rude (one curtly told my partner to turn his IPad off for take-off, even though it was in flight mode, as permitted), and the service was careless and inefficient (for example, three of our food orders came out late and wrong, with no explanation or apology).

You don’t encounter this kind of inconsistency on other premium airlines in the region. When I board a Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific or Japan Airlines flight, I almost always get the polite and polished service I’ve come to expect. When I fly with Qantas, the crew tend to be more relaxed, but still generally very friendly and attentive.

But with the Middle Eastern airlines? I can’t be so sure.

Before writing this post, I spoke to quite a few travellers who regularly fly through the Middle East, and their experiences are similar to mine. This issue seems to come up with all three Middle Eastern carriers, though perhaps less frequently with Qatar Airways than the others (based on the conversations I’ve had, at least).

I understand that the gulf carriers have a huge staff who come from a variety of cultures and with potentially different views about what constitutes good customer service. Very few other airlines face the challenge of integrating so many diverse people. But even accounting for that, I feel the airlines could do more to train and encourage their crew to meet the high service standards set by other premium carriers.

Since customer service in the air is so important to me, I’ll now think twice about flying with a Middle Eastern airline if there is another, more dependable option. In today’s competitive market, there are plenty of carriers that offer great seats and lounges, and can be counted on to provide top-notch service on board.

This week’s stories look at scientists developing electric airplanes, the world’s most beautiful airports, if there ever was a ‘golden age’ of air travel, travel experiences you can only enjoy on a budget, and aviation in Australia from 100 years ago to now. Enjoy!

• The age of electric airplanes is just 30 years away. As everyone obsesses about electric cars right now, how long will it be until we’re jetting around in planes that don’t need jet fuel? Flying requires extraordinary amounts of energy, and doing so under electric power will take a huge leap forward in technology. This fascinating article from Wires surveys some of the issues scientists are grappling with right now.
• Marvel at 12 of the most beautiful airports in the world. A new class of airports is leaving the dark terminals of the past behind, opting instead for light-filled spaces that provide both function and inspiration. Take a look at 12 of the most beautiful, and pray that one day Australia gets airport architecture it can be proud of.
• There was no ‘golden age’ of air travel. After raft of highly publicised incidents in America, people are longing for the ‘good old days’ of air travel from decades past. But were things really that good, and are things now so bad? I think we’re living in the golden age of air travel RIGHT NOW, and this New York Times opinion piece by a pilot seems to agree.
• Travelling on a budget can buy you amazing memories that luxury travel can’t. To quote the author: “Luxury travel is a holiday. It’s a break. A buffet of international cuisine is not an experience, and it is not a story. If you want a story … you have to go budget.” And he has a point: how much of a culture can you really experience when you isolate yourself in high-end hotels, resorts and restaurants? Not much, usually.
• A conversation about Australia’s aviation market right now by Runway Girl Network deputy editor John Walton and Jamie Freed, a Reuters senior correspondent covering aviation and business in Sydney. They discuss how Qantas and Virgin Australia are faring, what’s in store for both in the future, and the peculiarities of air travel in Australia.
• How aviation has shaped Australian society. As we near 100 years of aviation in Australia, a new project by the University of Canberra will examine how air travel has transformed Australian places, communities and cultures. This 12-minute interview on ABC’s Drive program with one of the research leaders describes the project and some of the little known stories it wants to explore.

Happy reading!

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I read so many interesting news stories each week, but very few become a topic for one of my blog posts. With so much great content out there worth sharing, I thought I’d start a regular weekend post highlighting some of the stories that caught my eye, and which you may find useful or entertaining. This is the first of such posts, and I hope you enjoy it.

• Meet three small business owners who are point-hacking gurus. Learn from and be inspired by three Australian SME owners, who share their experiences and strategies for earning points through business purchases. This can be very lucrative source of points if you know how to leverage your business spending.
• The ATO warns business owners over loyalty points. This story is actually a few weeks old, but it ties in nicely with the one above. There are rumours the ATO wants to tax business owners who earn large quantities of points through business spending. I think this is unlikely, because it would be extremely hard to develop a fair methodology for valuing points and redemptions, but then again, I also wouldn’t put anything past the ATO. This article is behind a paywall, but you can google “ATO warns business owners over loyalty points” to get around it.
• Virgin Australia reveals research that shows credit card use is motivated by loyalty rewards. That’s not big news, but some of the stats are interesting – including that more people prefer using points for vouchers rather than flights (crazy!) and Gen Y (20 to 35 years) is the most points-hungry age group.
• The Qantas Frequent Flyer program is the airline’s biggest money spinner. We’ve known this for a while, and now Qantas has said it wants to double revenue by 2022 by selling even more points to companies, from credit-card operators to supermarkets. That’s great for Qantas but not so much for those of us who already struggle to find award seats. Let’s hope they all opt for vouchers instead!
• Malaysia Airlines massively devalues its frequent flyer points. Yes, massively. If you hold some Enrich miles, I suggest you start spending them. You have until 10 June to lock in the current redemption rates.
• Star Alliance Is Working On A Shared Award Flight System. The world’s biggest airline alliance is reportedly working on a new IT system that will make searching and booking awards across the whole alliance much easier. This is pretty ambitious when you consider how antiquated many airlines’ booking systems are. I’ll be very impressed if they can pull it off – and apparently they want to have it ready by the end of the year.
• Cathay Pacific announces big job cuts as it struggles to remain competitive. This is the first step in the Hong Kong carrier’s three-year reorganisation plan. With so much competition in the region, Cathay Pacific needs to make serious changes to turn its fortunes around. Let’s hope it’s successful, because it’s one of Asia’s best airlines and a key Qantas partner.

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Footage of a man being forcibly removed from a United flight in America has gone viral. The passenger was dragged off a plane in Chicago, which bound for Louisville, after refusing to disembark to make room for United staff.

The airline had overbooked the flight and allegedly needed to get four of its staff members to Louisville to work on another flight. United asked for customers to voluntarily disembark and make space, offering them compensation and a flight the next day. As there were no takers, the airline began ‘involuntarily’ bumping passengers off the flight, as they are legally allowed to do.

The passenger in question – reportedly a doctor – was one of those told to leave but he refused to go, claiming he had to be at a hospital in Louisville the next day.

The police were called in and then brutally dragged the man off the flight, knocking him out in the process and causing facial injuries and bleeding.

Here is the shocking footage recorded by other passengers (two videos are shown side by side).

What a horrible way to treat a human being – let alone a customer.

Things took an even stranger turn when the doctor was allowed back on the plane, with blood all over his face!

When news of this incident started going viral, United’s CEO, Oscar Munoz, issued a statement that just made matters worse – apologising for overbooking the flight but not the way the passenger was treated.

While being bumped from a flight in America isn’t uncommon, it’s crazy that United allowed all passengers to board the plane when it knew the flight was oversold. The man had a confirmed seat and – understandably – stood up to the airline’s greed and thuggishness.

This fiasco has angered people all around the world, and struck a chord in America as yet another example of law enforcement brutality. As one American blogger said today, this incident shows “a shocking and horrifying lack of empathy that, for many, encapsulates 2017 in a nutshell“.

We have our own problems with government and law enforcement in Australia, but nothing like this – and I’m thankful for it.

I’m also thankful that Australian airlines haven’t succumbed to the policy of constantly overbooking flights and bumping passengers. This incident in America is going to cost United big time, and it’s a cautionary tale for Australian carriers of what could go wrong if they adopted a similar policy.

Australian travellers in America should be aware that US airlines can ‘involuntarily’ bump you off a flight. This is more likely to occur if you don’t have a seat allocated to you prior to check-in. Be prepared for the possibility.