In case you haven’t heard, my brief time here in New York is over, as I have been appointed CEO for CityJet.

In case you are unfamiliar with CityJet - as many Americans may be - let me provide you with a brief introduction:

    1)      CityJet is a wholly owned subsidiary airline of Air France and KLM that has its operations based out Dublin and is the biggest airline operator out of London City Airport

    2)      CityJet offers over 600 flights a week to 15 major European cities, including five hub airports (Dublin, London City, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Rotterdam and Antwerp)

    3)      With just a 15 minute check-in time at London City airport – we have the shortest check-in time of any UK airport. Not only that, but we were voted the Most Punctual Airline in Europe this past Summer

    4)      We offer two kinds of on-board product, CityPLUS – what we call our premium Economy product, and CityVALUE – our regular Economy product. What we can boast, is that we are a full service airline and do not charge for onboard services – something that we offer for at a competitive price. Plus, you are still earning your Flying Blue miles

    5)      CityJet is a fun and engaging airline: you will find us at all the Leinster Rugby games (as we are their official sponsor), and online from Twitter (@CityJet) to Facebook (CityJet) to YouTube (CityJet). Trust me, we may be a smaller operation, but we’re committed to engaging with our customers at every possible opportunity.

I cannot quite express how excited I am about my new position and challenges that I will be facing. Some of my top priorities at CityJet that I will begin working on immediately include: refining the organizational structure, following our recent acquisition of Belgian airline VLM; striving for profitability in an economy that is currently lagging behind that of the U.S.; and of course, consistently working on achieving the highest possible standard in product and consistent customer experience.

So as you can see, I’ll be just as busy, if not more so, in my new position as this is just the beginning of my check-list that I have already begun working on.
 
I have enjoyed my experience in New York, so much so, that my family will actually remain in New York for the rest of the year. So I am still a semi-New Yorker as I will be back every week; plus I am still training for the New York marathon (I have a number, so it is definitely happening). I may not have been in the U.S. for very long, but I made strong connections with many people, both professionally and personally, and I can honestly say that this past year has been one of the best of my career.

Though I am sad to be departing so soon, I know I am leaving the U.S. Air France and KLM team in good hands with Patrick Roux, who is the new Senior Vice-President of the Americas. Patrick has spent over 20 years working for Air France and KLM in a vast array of responsibilities, and I have no doubt that he will continue to ensure that we are providing our customers with the best in service and network with Joint Venture partners Delta and Alitalia.
 
I am energized and thrilled about the new adventure of the year ahead, and would like to invite you to continue to follow me on this upcoming trip. I will be continuing ‘Skywriting with Christine,’ but will be taking a very brief break as I transition. But, I promise you that I will re-launch very soon with just a few cosmetic changes. Rest assured that in the new iteration of my blog, I will still continue to update you on my job and life – just that I will be taking on a completely different market. 

See you all very soon from the other side of the pond.

This week has been spent busy at the National Business Traveler’s Association’s (NBTA, though it is changing to GBTA we found out) annual convention that took place this year in Houston. The self-declared ‘Business Travel Event of the Year’ – the convention is a time for all the members of SkyTeam to band together and show our strengths to clients, press, and attendees.

Not only is it a good time to meet face to face with our top clients and press, but the convention serves as the perfect conduit for varied discussions about the current state as well as future of the travel industry with a variety of educational sessions, panels and featured speakers. Plus? It’s the best and easiest way to see what the latest products and offerings are being put forth by a variety of vendors and companies to the travel community – from hotels to small travel agencies to even insurance companies.  

What made NBTA unique this year was the feeling of positive energy and discussions about the recovery of the business travel industry. Everyone said that compared to last year everyone was much more positive and optimistic, and that there were in fact many more attendees compared to last year as well. I think that this feeling can be generalized to feeling of the travel industry in general about the upcoming year: optimistic.

Every year, as a group, SkyTeam provides what I believe is one of the best booths beyond showing our premium products (everyone loved trying out the Air France Premium Voyageur seats and the latest KLM World Business Class seats), from soft carpeting (it’s unbelievable how hours on thin carpeting is cement floors can become uncomfortable), refreshments (wine, cheese, fruit and crackers), an oxygen bar (get rid of that headache and recharge for the rest of the day!), special massage chairs, and plush leather chairs to relax. This, of course in addition to providing free SkyTeam gear (the blackberry and iPhone bumpers were the most popular) and daily drawings for free tickets.

I arrived Monday morning and went straight to the convention so that I could catch the keynote speaker for lunch, Condoleezza Rice, who everyone seemingly had a different opinion on. Though I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, I do think that she is a very accomplished orator. Afterwards, I had back to back meetings with journalists and clients. With so many people in attendance it is one of the best opportunities to meet with everyone and share our latest updates all at one time. Even if it does mean that there isn’t much time to wander.

After our successful first day, we had an Air France, KLM, and Delta team dinner at Artista, the restaurant at the Hobby Center where we would be having our SkyTeam event the next evening. Despite the 105 degree heat, many of us sat on their balcony enjoying the view and the opportunity to catch up with those we hadn’t seen in awhile as our teams are spread across the country. From the brief tour of the Center I knew that our party would be a success.

Lather, rinse, repeat. Starting early Tuesday morning I had more back-to-back meetings with top clients and contracts with my break being lunch where Richard Branson was the featured speaker. I was really looking forward to hearing him speak as I think it is safe to say that he is a visionary and marketing genius who has had quite an interesting career. After lunch I had additional meetings with journalists and clients – in fact you can read one of the interviews here that I had with “Elite Traveler” magazine. 

After closing the Convention again, it was time for our SkyTeam party titled “Let Us Entertain You” that was crazy. Let Us Entertain You we did. If you’d like to read an article about the party in a local, online magazine you can do so here. But some of the highlights, which are featured in this week’s slideshow include: a dance floor that was lit-up to the beats of the music, magicians, and fire jugglers, a “Champagne Chandelier” where a woman was suspended overhead and refilling guests glasses, a Henna station, multiple green screens for videos and flip-books, stilt-walkers and veritable feast that included hand-spun crepes, a cheese garden, and create your own paella stations. The dancing continued until 1 a.m. (if you look closely you can see me in some of the photos) when they finally had to kick us out after extending the party for an extra hour.

NBTA (or I should say GBTA) – I’ll see you next year.

One of the first personal goals that I set for myself upon moving to New York was that I was going to run the (in)famous New York City Marathon. And I do mean run, not walk. Well, at least most of it. So I’ve been training to the best that my schedule allows me to – somehow being in a city only half of the week on a regular basis isn’t conducive to being a member of a training group – and have embraced a new passion for running.  

There is nothing in the world like the running culture in New York – you will always see people running outside in the city, from the crowded mid-town streets to the paths in the park, in the morning to the middle of the night, the weather always as an afterthought. Because of course, there’s an outfit for that. This is something that you would never see in Paris and I never saw in London either. Sometimes I think that running is a requirement for living in New York.

Training for the marathon has really opened my eyes to the drive and dedication long-distance running takes. My training has taken on the same aesthetic as my business philosophy: “Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” Success is only achieved through continued hard-work, dedication and drive. The same can be said about the industry and our business in general.

So, in preparation for November, I decided to run my first official half-marathon in San Francisco, where we’re currently enjoying the success of Air France’s second Summer frequency and had the added benefit of being a respite of running in the humidity of the East Coast.

Success is found not only through dedicated, dynamic team-work, but also by setting clear, achievable goals. My two personal goals for the half-marathon were to finish within two and a half hours and to not have to stop and walk at any point. Both of which I achieved (2:16), and was happy doing so with Air France crew members! (You can watch a Runner’s World video about the half-marathon here).

Running the marathon in San Francisco was such an experience as its residents, both those running (in leather pants! Heels! Underwear!) and those watching (motorcycles, residents, flag wavers cheering ), made it an interesting experience. All this in addition, of course, to the natural topography of San Francisco that is both unique and unforgiving. I had thankfully been forewarned by friends that I should start off slow as the infamous hills of the city can take a toll. At the end though, I was able to reward myself with ice-cream from the delicious Humphry Slocombe before hopping on a plane back to New York where I proceeded to fall asleep for most of the flight.

San Francisco, you really are the best sister city of Paris. Hopefully, we’re returning the favor by providing some of the French touch to the skies. With 40% more space this October with the introduction of Premium Voyageur on the route!   

From my running mix (uptempo is mandatory), the song of the day:

La Roux – Bulletproof (Copycat Italo Remix)

Today was a good day (and not just because it is Friday). I was officially presented with Executive Travel Magazine’s Leading Edge Award 2010 for being their reader’s first choice for “Best Airline to Western Europe.” As Janet Libert, the Editor-in-Chief, explained to me, this not only meant our services and products on-board, but also for our schedules.

At both Air France and KLM we are always striving towards providing passengers with the best in service, products, and innovation (see: iPads in the KLM Crown Lounge in Amsterdam!), so we are always grateful to receive an award. So, of course, would like to also take this time to also thank all of those who voted for us. We promise that there wasn’t any vote stuffing!

All joking aside, it is a big honor for us to receive this award, and so have added photos of the award that will be placed proudly on display in our front entrance at our offices here in New York.

In my continual quest of also introducing my latest favorite music, I have another song of the day: Future Islands “Tin Man.”

Usually when I travel for business, it is essentially assured that I will be wherever I am for a few days at most and in some cases, less than a day. Which means that I often do not have the time to pick up my favorite treats in any of the cities or visit my favorite places. Due to the fact that I had two major events, a quarterly Air France, KLM, Delta Joint Venture meeting and a requirement of staying in France in order to renew my visa, I spent the last two weeks in France.

As a brief refresher to the Joint Venture (as it was just our one year anniversary), together, Air France, KLM, Delta and now Alitalia, we have: 250 daily transatlantic flights, some 500 destinations to North America and Europe, over 104,000 Air France-KLM staff, over 70,000 Delta staff, and over 14,000 Alitalia staff. Some rather impressive figures.

Since the beginning of the Joint Venture, worldwide quarterly meetings have taken place, which we have named, “Joint Venture week.” It allows all of us to discuss how we can better further our synergies and offerings to passengers so that we really are providing our passengers with a travel experience as seamless as possible. What was exciting about the meetings this week, was that Alitalia joined us as the meetings took place shortly after it was announced that Alitalia officially joined the Joint Venture. We’re very excited to have the Italians join us as they bring much to the table, including: 250 daily flights and 55,000 seats including 20 daily transatlantic flights from five US gateways to Rome or Milan-Malpensa.

With Alitalia, the Joint Venture represents approximately 26% of the overall capacity on transatlantic routes with an annual income estimated at over 10 billion dollars. The arrival of Alitalia into the fold officially adds the Italian market, which represents the third largest market in Europe.   

Though I cannot reveal much, I can say that the meetings were very successful and we’re continuing to move full steam ahead as the world’s largest joint venture. As I had to remain in France as part of renewing my working visa here in the US, I decided to visit my hometown of Avignon. It may be a small village compared to New York (there are fewer than 100,000 residents, so approximately the population of the Upper East Side), for me it is always a joy to return home. While there I visited a special Miquel Barceló exhibit that is on display at the Palais des Papes (the Pope Palace) to celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Collection Lambert and will be on display until November 7th. The Palais des Papes is a must when visiting Avignon – it is one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in Europe and is also an official UNESCO World Heritage site.

Of course a visit to the coast of Rhône would be incomplete without visiting a winery. I met with Marc Perrin, who is part of the fifth generation of the family to own and run the Domaine de Beaucastel winery where I was able to taste some of their fantastic wines as well as discuss some partnership opportunities. As well as some interesting facts about wine production in Avignon: in 1321, under the reign of Pope John XXII, four barrels of wine were brought from the papal cellar in Avignon to be filled with wine in Châteauneuf where the Beaucastel winery is located. After this, the Popes increased their vineyard holdings in the region and papal wine gained in fame. According to Jay McInerney from “The Wall Street Journal,” who has more qualifications to talk about wines does a great job of discussing the particulars of the Beaucastel wines in this article.

My visit happened at an ideal time as the In and Off theater festivals take place in July. It is difficult to describe but the city is flooded with different plays, the program is often as thick as a phonebook, the plays always hit or miss – but it’s always an experience to go. The Festival OFF is a bazaar, party, fair, a theatre supermarket all wrapped into one. The shows often take place on the street with passersby watching, and spectators will often become involved in the production. For this reason alone, I would highly suggest visiting Avignon during July. 

A restaurant suggestion if you do stop by is the Restaurant Christian Etienne located in the Place du Palais. It is run by a friend of mine, and has a unique tasting menu that features tomatoes as the main ingredient in every course of the meal – even dessert! Of course there is an À la carte option as well, but what other opportunity would you have to sample a tomato sorbet?

A last suggestion: for dessert or a sweet treat, Amorino, a boutique that started in Paris, has fantastic gelatos and sorbets. I myself like the chocolate flavors.

I may have missed the heat wave in New York, but I was finally able to pick up a few of my favorite things to bring back, including my favorite tea (Vert Provence) by Mariage Frères. A winning situation all around. I’m back in the city now and ready for the full Summer ahead.

The name San Francisco conjures up many memories and responses in people, from architecture to art to music; but it is always positive. Even the infamous quote by Mark Twain, “The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco,” is held with nostalgia rather than being true criticism. And actually that sounds fantastic right now with the heat that is currently smothering New York.

Both Air France and KLM have quite a storied history with the sister city of Paris – Air France has been flying to San Francisco since September of 1986 while KLM service began a short while afterwards in 1993. And as of June 22nd, just a few days ago, Air France is bringing even more of the French touch to the Bay Area skies for the Summer. As hopefully many of you have already heard, we have added three additional flights each week. With a later departure time (6:25 pm), passengers can have both a full day at work before leaving, and ample time to shop upon arrival in Paris. Something that can be enjoyed relatively guilt-free with the exchange rate between the dollar and the Euro being so agreeable at the moment.

In addition, we’re also upgrading the capacity on our regular daily flight by introducing the original double-decker: the Boeing 747. This means we’ll be able to pamper 3,800 passengers a week! We’re particularly delighted because in a time where most carriers are cutting back on their capacity, we’re continuing to meet demand by adding to ours in San Francisco. I’m confident it will be a success, and hope that it will be so successful that we’ll be able to add it to the schedule year-round. Something that my entire team is working hard to ensure.

In fact, earlier this month, in celebration of the additional flight as well as to show our dedication to the local community we threw a joint cocktail party with the French Consul General. For us, it was a perfect opportunity to speak directly with our biggest clients, customers, and broader Bay Area community. As well, of course, as being a perfect occasion to catch up with local co-workers, with the direct benefit being that it was an opportunity to visit. During my graduate studies I worked as a sales intern for French companies to build their businesses locally in the Berkeley area for 6 months so I relish any chance that I get to return to the Bay Area, for business or pleasure. The event was a fantastic success; we were even able to surprise the French General Consul with a cake, in recognition for his birthday which was that day, as well as the fact that he was leaving the next day for his new post.

As June 21st traditionally says, Summer is now in full swing, and I hope that all the readers in the Bay Area are planning to try either of our Air France flights this Summer or our daily KLM flight (to buy your tickets, just click either tab on the left). It may seem like we’re just trying to make the airspace over the Bay Area as French or Dutch as possible (which we are) because our heart is definitely in San Francisco.
 

April was a busy month for us – though one of our proudest achievements was opening the new Business Class (‘Affaires’ in Air France speak) lounge at Boston Logan airport.

This new lounge features a bevy of the beloved amenities, including distinct work and private areas, high-def TVs, free wifi, and the high standard of food and beverages for which Air France is renowned. Plus? We’re the only lounge in the international terminal that has windows, and actually faces the boarding gate so you can keep your eye on the aircraft.

If almost a half century of service to the Boston community didn’t already show it, building this lounge further confirms our dedication and long-term commitment to Boston and the greater New England area.

Not only do we believe that the lounge does one of the best jobs in our history of representing the style and class of our service both on-board and on the ground, but it is the largest lounge in the US (all within 90 days of making the decision to go ahead with the project). So, say ‘hello’ to your new monster, hopefully one day it might be equally as beloved as the Green Monster.

Fun insider fact: the lounge, which is a culmination of many years’ hard work, would not have come to fruition without the dedication of our hard-working Boston station manager Daniel Graf. Daniel retired this month after spending over 45 years at the company, and we couldn’t thank him enough for his hard work and so decided to pay tribute to him by dedicating this lounge in his name, officially naming it the “Graf Lounge.”

I am on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So when the staggering effects of volcanic ash shutdown our operations worldwide, I was there on the frontline at our ticket office here in New York helping stranded passengers and maintaining constant communications with all of our personnel at our 13 airports across the US.    

Up until this point in the airline industry we had never seen anything have such an impact on travel as the ash from a volcano that barely anyone can pronounce correctly (according to NPR that checked with the Icelandic embassy in DC, it is: AY-yah-fyah-lah-YOH-kuul). Alone in the US, for Air France and KLM, we transport 9,000 passengers a day. None of whom were able to get home, or leave for their vacations. This meant we moved into full crisis mode to provide our passengers with the most information and help as possible.

Saturday found me at our Manhattan ticket office speaking with those trying to re-book their flights at a later date or find alternate routes to their final destination, listening to their stories, handing out bottles of water and serving pizza (after being on your feet for hours, it’s amazing how wonderful pizza can taste). Though there was nothing I could do directly in terms of re-starting our service – just listening to people and their stories and empathizing can make a huge difference. Not to say that we weren’t doing our most to get them to their final destinations as soon as possible, sometimes by alternate routes, or trying to help their lengthened stays be as comfortable as possible by liaising with the multiple Consulates to try and help those that needed it. So I spent the weekend at the ticket office with all of our reinforced staff, where we began staying open until midnight so that we could accommodate as many passengers as possible who were standing in line.

I’ve often found that crisis situations will test the mettle of an individual – and I can’t tell you how proud I am of all of my staff who were working 19 hour shifts, from those working at the airports, to call centers and customer relations, to the ticket office in order to help everyone that was affected by the volcanic ash. Without any knowledge of when the cloud of ash would disappear and flights could resume, everyone was in the role of trying to help our customers to the best of our ability and help keep the situation calm. I think that everyone did an amazing job – and I can’t thank them enough for working such long hours, even on a weekend when normally they’d be spending time with their families and relaxing. No one needed to be asked twice (or even once as we had so many volunteers), and for that I know my US team is one of the best. I was also impressed and grateful at how calm all of the passengers were while waiting and dealing with the extraordinary situation.

I can’t tell you how happy I was to be able to personally take the bullhorn on Monday and inform those waiting in line outside the ticket office that flights were resuming and they could all go to the airport. I know it’s been a relief to everyone working at the airports as well. We’re still working as hard as we can to get all those home, but I know it’s been easier with how efficiently and quickly we were able to resume our regular long-haul service.

Perhaps now I might be able to learn the pronunciation of Eyjafjallajökull.

Spring seems to be the time of year we dedicate towards thinking about the environment, from Earth Hour at the end of March (I hope you remembered to turn off your lights for an hour! Seeing New York participate by turning the lights off the Empire State Building was pretty cool), to Earth Day on April 22nd, to Air France celebrating Corporate Sustainability Week and KLM announcing that fish served on-board is in fact sustainable.

One of the (many) things that makes me proud to work for both Air France and KLM is how dedicated they are to their corporate social responsibility. Europeans do have a tradition of being very environmentally focused (have you noticed the proliferation of separated public trashcans for the sorting around Europe?). Both Air France and KLM have been extremely dedicated to sustainability even beyond the environment – in fact we’re proud to be the only airline group to be listed on both Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes for the past 6 years (that would be the DJSI Stoxx and DJSI World) and was named “Super Sector Leader” in the wider Travel and Leisure Sector. Just in the past few months we have also won the “Marianne D’Or” award for Corporate Sustainability. Talking about awards can be pretty boring though, so how about I tell you about some of the exciting things we’re doing for the environment (otherwise I could write a novella on everything under the CSR umbrella).
 
Serving Sustainable Fish: because there isn’t any need to deplete our natural resources. So KLM is in the process of phasing out endangered species step by step, starting with our fish served on-board. What’s cool is that we’ve received support from WWF (the environmental group, not wrestling) and the Marine Stewardship Council. So think about how you’re doing your part to save our wildlife the next time you’re eating seafood on-board.

Air France’s First (Transatlantic) Green Flight: close to 6 tons less of CO2. You’re probably asking what we mean by ‘green,’ so I’ll explain. The flight, from Paris to Miami, was the first where all procedures – from taxing to arrival at the parking stand – were optimized to reduce noise and gas emissions. The flight was operated by a B747-400ER and had 436 passengers and 18 crew members on-board. You can watch the video about our special flight below.

Biofuel: the future in travel. In October of last year, KLM was the very first airline to run a passenger flight powered with biofuel. The aircraft, a B747, runs on a 50% biokeresene mix. The flight, filled with passengers, circled for an hour before landing at Schiphol and proving that biofuel is technically feasible option. So don’t be surprised when we’re the first to operate regular flights with biofuel.

CO2 Calculators: making sure that offsetting your own travel is so easy an adult could do it. Both Air France and KLM have CO2 calculators available so that you can easily figure out how much CO2 has been produced by your travel, with separate programs where you can donate to offset your own travel. Air France is partnered with the GoodPlanet Association, where your donation will help save hectares of forest in Madagascar while KLM’s calculator invests in CO2 reduction projects approved by the World Wide Fund for Nature.

I could go on and on (really), but I’ll finish with our combined AF-KL Climate Action Plan to explain our ideological goals regarding the environment:
We support the Kyoto Protocol and the efforts to reach a  new deal in Copenhagen. We take part in initiatives aimed at ensuring a fair contribution of the aviation sector to collective efforts, which is based on a global approach adapted to the development level of each country (Kyoto Protocol) and on the fair treatment of airlines (Chicago Convention).

We continue to renew our aircraft fleet and support aviation research on improving energy efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions.

We promote research programs for renewable energy sources such as sustainable  biofuels for aviation

We support NGO environmental protection programs.

We provide our customers with transparent and reliable information on their CO2 emissions and opportunities to compensate them.

And, just in case you’re wondering, we do in fact offset our own employees’ travel.

Since arriving in the US I’ve discovered that Washington, DC is beyond being just a ‘city.’ Washington is many things to many different people. To some it is the iconic symbol of America, to others it represents where all of the laws and regulations that guide the country take place, and to others still it is the cultural capital of the country or finally just the ‘Capitol.’

Previous to moving to the US I regret to admit that I had never had the opportunity to visit the Capital city. I had heard much about it, but it is a totally different experience.

Washington is a district unto itself. It is difficult for many to understand that it is a city-state itself as opposed to being just a city or just a state. I have learned since then that is both more than a city and a state, with diverse and interesting populace. Nowhere else in the country are individuals as interested in discussing politics, which I do find to be very interesting.

Interestingly enough for a ‘relatively’ small city (state), it is also one of the most international communities that I’ve discovered so far in the US, from the multiple embassies to the international companies such as IMF and World Bank and the headquarters for many international organizations, to the governmental organizations. Something that works out well for us.

With such a demand for an international market, how can we not be the best fit to service everyone’s needs? People can sometimes forget, but we have very strong networks beyond Paris and Amsterdam. In fact we’re often the best way to get to Africa, the Middle East and India (Europe is of course implied). Which is in part how we’ve remained successful in the Washington market for so many years.  For Air France we’ve been around since 1962 and with KLM we’re just celebrating our 20 year anniversary.  We’re dedicated to the Washingtonians and to providing them the best in service with the most possible options. 

Examples? Washington is one of only five gateways in the US where passengers can experience First Class on their way to Paris. Washington was the second city in the US where Air France introduced our new Premium Economy product, Premium Voyageur (just last month!) for Air France. Continued premium service on-board – we’re the only airline you can take where you have complimentary Champagne in all classes of service (just as one example). With KLM you can choose from three different classes of service as we also just introduced our enhanced economy product: “Economy Comfort.” On-board, complimentary beverages are available in every class of service. Plus, with three flights to choose from each day – you can choose the flight that best fits your schedule.   

So Washingtonians, we’re looking forward to welcoming you on-board.