Should We Take Global Airlines Seriously?

I am writing this just as the inaugural Global Airlines flight takes off from Glasgow. There have been so many opinion pieces on this airline, James Asquith, and whether that A380 will ever get up in the air. Well, she is in the air and well on her way to New York City, where I am off to next week funnily enough… but flying Virgin Atlantic on a points redemption! 

Global Airlines A380 departing Glasgow

For those who don't know, Global Airlines is a British start-up founded by the travel influencer James Asquith with the aim of "revolutionising commercial flying" with a fleet exclusively made up of Airbus A380's, flying from London Gatwick to the USA. Sam has previously written about their travails, but I thought I'd give my ten cents.

Anyone who knows me well is aware that my all time favourite plane is the A380. The “dreamer” part of me agrees with Mr Asquith in that having an airline exclusively made up of A380's would be sick as heck. I would love for “Helena Airlines” to operate exclusively of A380’s. However, the part of me that lives in the real world knows not to do that. 

It has been fascinating, for everyone in the industry, to watch this story unfold. But there has been something that has just grated on me for the last few months. It wasn’t the fact that he had chosen an A380 (even if that is a poor decision). It wasn’t the fact that all they did was change the carpet colour in the planes, although technically speaking it kind of feeds into my irritation.

It’s the potential to squander this opportunity. I want this to succeed. If we get even half of what James has promised, that’ll be an amazing opportunity for passengers. 

But therein lies the problem, the amount that’s been promised. 

We were told to expect a revolution in air travel, with four A380’s in service by now, all new interiors, “Gamer class”, more space, and world class food and beverage. But what’s been served up is an old China Southern A380 with red carpets, no IFE apparently, and a cupboard labelled Sky Pub. Paired with an explanation on James' personal Instagram page to say "Lets take a moment to remember that things will never be perfect on day 1". Is that not surely something to strive towards? It's as if he has given up on perfection and being a "game changer" before the flight had even left the ground.

Global will talk about “supply shortages” of X this, and Y that, thus not allowing them to fully refresh this plane, which is partly true. But they’ve had years to make this a reality, so it comes across as Global Airlines have not taken the task at hand very seriously. 

I can't comment with authority about the costs of running an A380, but when airlines such as Qatar, Malaysian, China Southern, and Thai have struggled to operate this beast profitably, then that should help you comprehend the monumental task at hand.

I do not condone online bullying, and I am certainly not about to do that myself, but the lack of professionalism displayed by both their owner/founder/CEO and their business is laughable. Whilst he's had to endure the entire story unfolding in the media - and especially on social media - he had the opportunity to skilfully turn public opinion into his greatest weapon. But what did he do instead? 

He has been defensive, and passive aggressive in the worst way, posting 20 slide carousels on Instagram complaining about the treatment he has received. This is just defending against naysayers on the internet but I hate to think how Global’s customer service will handle 500 Brits delayed due to air traffic control delays. As one of the original’s in the travel influencer space, James should have known how cruel the internet can be, but also the power it has to shape opinion.

Do not get me wrong, we should never put down a person who dares to dream, and who actually manages to get his dream off the ground… Aiming to be the new Branson is an admirable task, but a lot has changed since the 80’s, and the expectation of the travelling public has moved accordingly. I daren’t think about when this A380 inevitably breaks down, how can Global possibly recover their operation with only one of the world largest aircraft in their fleet?

As I finish writing this, 4,437 are following this flight on Flightradar as 9H-GLOBL crosses the Atlantic, down from over 13,000 who were watching as she took off. I hope everyone on board is having a great time, and I wish everyone at Global all the success in the future. But they’ve got a long way to go before they reach the lofty heights their founder promised.

Helena