Aid flight to Haiti

Posted on February 5, 2010 by Runway |

On Sunday morning, 17 January, the telephone rang and we learned that Finnish Red Cross (SPR) needed an aid flight to Haiti. The Flight Department immediately began preparations, and that same evening we already had a plan ready and were on stand-by to depart on an aid flight to Port-au-Prince. Early in the week Finnair’s SVP Cargo Services Antero Lahtinen, the company’s acting Emergency Preparedness Manager, led a number of preparatory emergency situation meetings, in which individuals in positions of responsibility from various Finnair support organisations gave the OK to the operation in their own areas of expertise.

Finnish Red Cross aid personnel, complete with hospital equipment, were also ready to depart, but it took us a few days to finally get under way, because a German group assembling in Berlin with its own supplies was not ready to depart until Thursday.

A flight to a crisis area is always slightly different from normal, and when planning aid operations many factors must be taken into consideration: for example the limited availability of fuel at a destination to which many other agencies are also bringing emergency aid by air, and delays on the ground due to makeshift loading equipment and cargo handling facilities. In addition, congested parking space does not permit long stopovers on the ground, let alone overnight stays by aircraft or crew. Because of this it was decided to transfer to Berlin on Wednesday the flight crew which would fly the second and third legs, to ensure that we would be able, within the maximum working time restrictions, to fly the aircraft and crew away from the crisis area.

Late on Thursday evening a Finnair MD-11 aircraft, with a flight crew reinforced by loading experts and mechanics, departed from Helsinki with its Finnish load towards the Berlin stopover, where the aircraft was refuelled with a greater than normal amount of fuel and the flight crew exchanged for a fresh one. The MD-11 is an excellent aircraft for such an operation: it can carry more than enough fuel and cargo, and the aircraft’s speed facilitates the performance of time-critical flying tasks.

Our original destination was Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, because the U.S. Airforce managing the crisis area’s airspace did not give us a slot directly into Port-au-Prince. The previous day only two larger civilian aircraft had managed to land there. It turned out, however, that despite our original plan, we were able to land directly at Port-au-Prince in Haiti. SPR Transport Supervisor Pauli Immonen’s indefatigable effort on the ground was decisively important in obtaining the last-minute change of destination, which allowed our supplies to reach Haiti a day or two earlier than would have been the case.

Landing on a restricted, narrow runway in a busy crisis environment and taxiing around a congested airport presented its own challenges, because the numbers of helicopters, aircraft, loading equipment and aid material far exceeded the normal handling capacity of the airport.

The exceptional one-hour ground time granted to us stretched into a more than three-hour stopover, which in itself was a supreme effort in the prevailing conditions for unloading the amount of cargo we had brought with us.

The Finnish Red Cross aid flight carried around 30,000 kilos, consisting of an emergency hospital operating theatre and wards plus related aid supplies. Also along on the flight were 56 Red Cross emergency personnel and media representatives, of whom half were from Finland and half from Germany.

The various building blocks in terms of preparation, flying and ground activities snapped into place and the operation succeeded as planned. We shared an wonderful sense of achievement on the ground in Haiti.

It was great to be involved in an aid operation as part of a dedicated team who represented only a fraction of the Red Cross aid effort in Haiti. Thanks to everyone who participated in the operation and to those who are working still in the crisis area!

Rabbe-Holger Wrede
Flight Captain

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Finnair Technical Services changes its ways

Posted on January 20, 2010 by Vesa Paukkeri |

Globally, aircraft maintenance is called MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) activity and its worldwide volume amounts to more than 30 billion euros per year. A number of companies operate in all of the four main areas of MRO business, namely line maintenance, overhauls, engines and components. Finnair Technical Services does so as well.

In terms of size, Finnair Technical Services, with its turnover of just over 200 million euros, is rather small compared with the sector’s large operators. Nevertheless, there is strong global demand for high-level expertise, and Technical Services, which has grown alongside the airline, has an excellent reputation. The utilisation rate of Finnair’s wide-bodied aircraft has been very high and this has been noticed around the world.

The sector has been in upheaval, however, for many years – partnerships, acquisitions, consolidations and joint venture have become commonplace. Aircraft and engine manufacturers want to be involved in the secondary market, while companies that make a living selling spare parts and components are expanding their operations into services. The common denominator for everyone is perpetual cost hunting and intense competition for work, which in turn is a consequence of the merciless competition under way for flight passengers.

In this operating environment Finnair Technical Services has been creating and implementing a new strategy for some time now. The objective is to develop above all into a strong player in the growing Russian market, while not forgetting the domestic market and other neighbouring areas. Russian operators have rushed to acquire western aircraft, and it is natural to offer the maintenance services they require from their neighbour Finland. A key element is getting the product portfolio exactly right. There must be demand in the market for the offered products, and companies must be able to invest in them in order to achieve the necessary expertise, resources and volume.

As a natural part of the strategy, Finnair Technical Services was incorporated into two independent legal companies at the turn of the year. Finnair Engine Services will focus mainly on engine and landing gear repairs. Finnair Technical Services will keep within it overall support for operators as well as the other areas of MRO activity mentioned above. The goal of the incorporation arrangement is genuine financial monitoring, but above all to put the companies in a better position to acquire external customer relationships. An important new initiative is to target cooperation with operators offering those areas of the business that Finnair Technical Services cannot because of its size.

The development of MRO business is a long-term effort. Becoming a professional in this field requires many years of suitable training and job experience. In a year or two it’s simply not possible to establish oneself as a credible operator, but it’s also possible to lose one’s way very quickly.

Technical Services personnel have admirably committed themselves to the strategy. Last year’s theme was that the current difficult economic conditions can be overcome through hard work. A wise man once said: “Opportunities are usually masked as hard work – that’s why people don’t necessarily recognise them”. It seems to me that now at least we are trying the grasp our opportunities – with no fear of work.

Vesa Paukkeri

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A colourful life

Posted on January 5, 2010 by Helena Kaartinen |

During the autumn, on a flight from Helsinki to Beijing, a passenger wanted to give me a personality test. Many of the questions involved colours. In the test I had to consider, for example, which colour I would assign to a cube in a desert.

It made me start to think of people and emotions as different colours. I see trees of green…red roses too… and listening to “What a Wonderful World” seemed orange! The result of the test didn’t reveal that I tend to become firmly attached to things that interest me until something new comes along.

On a flight from Oslo to Helsinki I went to serve in economy class, where the passengers were sitting reading and looking out of the window. My attention was drawn to a group of India couples around my age. The women stood out in their magnificent, colourful saris, although they seemed very subdued. By chance I noticed that one of them had spilled tea on her hem and was discreetly trying to dry it. I took a bunch of serviettes from my trolley and made an effort to help. The passenger, in return, seemed rather irritated. Her immaculately red mouth repeated: “No problem. It’s OK!” Well, it was OK for me, too, but my curiosity in this colourful party was aroused.

Calcutta, their home city, was like a black hole to me; no information. I recalled how I had proudly displayed to an Indian colleague my knowledge of India, saying that Mother Amma was a frequent visitor to Finland. She asked me politely: “Really? Who is he?“ So it really didn’t work…

Later, on the recommendation of a shopkeeper, I had bought the Bollywood classic Om Shanti Om as a souvenir of Mumbai. I had taken a careful mental note of the name of the male lead Shar Rukh Khan. Or actually the abbreviation SRK. This name was also familiar to my colleague. Of course, to her mind SRK was REALLY old. Meaning over 40. This comment discomfited me to some extent, but I forced myself to nod in agreement.

I decided to try the impact of the name on this party. Bull’s-eye! They all at once ignited into an orange sea of flame. Word spread like wildfire. I stood thunderstruck at the bar of my trolley, listening over and over to the phrase: SHE KNOWS SRK!

The leader of the group looked at me with a smile and a wobble of the head: “Of course, SRK is not the best of our actors.” This was followed by a host of other names. I quickly gave her a pen and serviette on which to put black on white.

Everyone wanted to participate in the discussion and to express their own favourites.

In this effusion of ideas, the dark tea stain also dried. Together we went through the movies on the napkin that were simply ‘must see’! There were a lot of them and I realised that it could be spring time before my own film festival would reach a conclusion. A joyful buzz of voices and a yellow sun gleaming through the window accompanied my landing preparations.

As the party left the aircraft, I received in surprise a small bag of Indian snacks and still another serviette, bearing the message: “Thank you and welcome to Calcutta!” After I had wiped a tear of emotion from the corner of my eye, I could only see a hem of aniline red disappearing into the bustle of the airport.

At home I spread the serviette on the table and began to Google furiously. I also opened Messenger and Facebook. I really wanted to share the experience with my Indian colleagues. Social media combined with serviette communications worked. I obtained video clips, music and additional information about both Calcutta and the movies. I also received a tip about the blogs of the Indian Shobhaa De, where the writer does not look at issues through rose-tinted spectacles.

So now I am in the situation that I mentioned at the beginning; hooked on a new subject. I look at our flight offers and schedules to Delhi. My colour palette is a mess. I feel a great need to know more. Cultural exchange! I would scarcely bring the famous Finnish novel ‘The Unknown Soldier’ as a gift, but Finnish thoughts and attitudes, for sure.

Despite my ‘official invitation’, I won’t rush to Calcutta. What if I start instead with the Bollywood city of Mumbai? So I’ll write on serviettes invitations to Finland and perhaps someone like me will take the bait. My family is showing the green light to my travel plan, so I’m pretty sure I’ll soon be heading towards some colourful Indian adventures!

Helena Kaartinen

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Christmas on my mind

Posted on December 23, 2009 by Helena Kaartinen |

It began in August. Christmas planning. What if this year we travelled somewhere for Christmas? What is it that’s so special about Christmas? You know, we eat good food all year round, and we are fairly regular shoppers, too. I laid the thought to rest.

In October the idea was stirred once again, spiced with the word “perhaps”.

In November the dish was ready. Christmas lights began to appear around the town and “perhaps” changed into the word “no” as the first Christmas songs began to play.

At the beginning of December the children arranged a Christmas film day at home. In dreamy silence they enjoyed, amongst other things, the Christmassy mood of “Home Alone”. It was a perfect sight: lights, a decorated tree, red, green, gold, silver and snow gleamed in the movie in just the right way. If a sound could describe them, that sound would have been Aaaah!

I, however, uttered a long, deep sigh. And then another! We were once again heading full speed towards our traditional Christmas: our family traditions, developed over the years.

I only buy a few presents – until I see airports and aircraft filled with people carrying beautifully wrapped presents. Inferring from their self-confident strides and joyful bag swinging that they have bought excellent gifts, my own choices languishing in the cupboard seem insignificant. I therefore decide to buy a few more myself. Yet another thing that’s become a tradition.

Preparations advance and the tension mounts. Two days before Christmas we decorate the tree and roast the ham. And as always we notice with dismay that we forgot to buy new lights for the tree. Its looks suffer slightly when the broken third of the lights are hidden against the wall. On the other hand, the children’s hand-made decorations have amassed to the extent that the working part of the light series doesn’t really do them justice.

The aroma of ham fills the home. It is the smell of Christmas, which you don’t get from a plastic tree. The tree, moreover, doesn’t generate problem waste, which is precisely the dilemma posed by fat that dripped out of ham. What to do with it? Scared of blocking up the pipes, father performs the disposal task. The neighbours may believe there are gnomes when they see him creeping into the adjacent forest, which is surely flourishing from the impact of its annual lubrication.

We sing a few Christmas songs. Anything really. Not, regrettably, just the ones that best suit our vocal ranges. The day ends in a dispute over the rules of a board game. Classic. Both the dispute and the board game.

Christmas Eve is hustle and bustle, and full of yet more family traditions, enhancing the mood. The tension is maintained until the evening. Sometimes more disputes arise, sometimes less. We eat more. We eat too much. We complain that we have eaten too much. We are happy and surprised to receive our annual gift of new pyjamas. At no stage of the evening do the children sit in a row on the sofa wearing red velvet dresses and ribbons in their hair. But that’s because two of them are boys. They also don’t stand in ascending height order to sing for Santa, because the two eldest are already reached full age. But they are still children to us and hopefully they’ll remain children at heart. That’s another tradition we hope to maintain.

On Boxing Day we take the decorations off the tree. I pack those broken lights carefully away for safekeeping. The return to everyday life is very welcome. On the radio they sing: “I wish it would be Christmas every day.” But realistically I know this can’t be so. The romantic in me awakens, however, with the thought: “I wish we could all be a bit more childlike and spread goodwill throughout the year.”

In conclusion I venture, in the best tradition, to wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Helena Kaartinen

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Seven Shopping Wonders of the World

Posted on December 15, 2009 by Runway |

Take care of your Christmas gift shopping and see the world at the same time. You can find great places to shop in the Finnair destination network. In all these places you can save the equivalent price of your air fare by purchasing Christmas presents for the whole family and all your friends!

1. Delhi – Central Cottage Industries Emporium
Here you can find everything under one roof – all the Indian handicrafts, gifts, silk, scarves and rugs you can dream of. Prices are reasonable and fixed, the quality excellent and no need for haggling, as is the case just about everywhere else in India. The shop is maintained by the Indian Government. www.cottageemporium.in

2. Bangkok – MBK Center,
Mixture of small shops and bazaars offering knock-down prices. www.mbk-center.com. Another one of my favourites is China Town with its two shopping centres offering a staggering range of jewelry, shoes and clothes.

3. Beijing – XiuShui Market
Everything from a quilted jacket and wool shirts to scarves and bags. You can never be certain of authenticity in China, but when you are careful, you can find good quality silk and excellent Kashmir wool at low prices.

4. New York – Woodbury Commons
Premium Outlet located an hour by bus from Manhattan (Port Authority).  You get rebates on top of discounts and the dollar-euro rate is excellent for Europeans. www.premiumoutlets.com.

5. Hong Kong – Mongkok
The Mongkok markets are both an attraction and a place to shop with infinite variety. My favourites are Ladies’ Market, Bird Market, Goldfish Market and the Flower Market. Much to watch, wonder at – and buy.

6. Stockholm – Barkaby
The largest Nordic Outlet Center, located a half-hour bus ride from downtown. Prices are 30-60 per cent cheaper than usual. www.qualityoutlet.com. Around Arlanda Airport you can also find some Outlet shops. www.arlandastadoutlet.com.

7. Helsinki – Aleksanterinkatu
Best shopping street in Finland where you can find most things that are really necessary in life. Complete a wonderful day of shopping with a coffee at Fazer, Strindberg or Cafe Engel.

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A festival of light in the sky

Posted on December 11, 2009 by Jussi Ekman |

At some time, all of us have surely admired the lights of aircraft blinking in the sky. Some of us have also wondered, perhaps, what the different lights mean.

The navigation lights on the wingtips and at the rear end of the aircraft help pilots orient the aircraft. The right wing has a green light, which is directed to the right and forward. The left wing, on the other hand, has a red light, which is directed to the left and forward. The aft sector at the rear end of the aircraft is illuminated by a bright white light.

These fixed lights have therefore been positioned only to show a specific sector. The sectoring means that pilots of other aircraft are able to determine the orientation of an approaching aircraft and the direction in which it is flying.

For example, if an aircraft shows green and red, the nose of the aircraft is oriented towards the observer, i.e. the aircraft is flying towards the observer. If, on the other hand, the aircraft shows green and white, we know that the observer sees the right aft sector of the aircraft almost from the side, and therefore the aircraft’s flying direction is slightly away from the observer. It does not, however, tell whether or not the aircraft is moving away from the observer, because the aircraft flying behind may have a much higher speed that the aircraft flying in front.

Ships have very similar navigation lights. These lights must always be used in dim and dark conditions, but often they are also used in day time and sometimes even when the aircraft is parked. The power of the light bulbs in navigation lights is only a few tens of watts, and the lights are not visible from very far away – rarely more than ten kilometres.

Red rotating beacons on the aircraft fuselage, typically one on the top and one on the bottom, mean that the aircraft is moving. These lights flash once or twice a second and they are switched on just before the engines are started or before the aircraft is towed. The lights are switched off when the aircraft reaches its parking spot and the last engine is shut down. Although the power of the beacons is similar to that of the navigation lights, their visibility is better due to the flashing. The human brain has developed to notice changes in the environment. That’s why a flashing light is easier to perceive than a fixed one.

The lights best seen on the ground when an aircraft is at cruising altitude are the white flashing strobe lights. Their xenon bulbs can release energy from a few tens to even a couple of hundred joules in a fraction of a second, thereby achieving an emission power of up to one kilowatt or more. These flashing lights are startlingly bright when seen from close at hand. That’s why they are used only in the air or on the runway – not on the apron, for example. Due to their flashing, intensity and contrast in the dark, these lights are easily visible in clear weather all the way to the ground from cruising levels of less than 12 kilometres.

In addition to the above, landing lights are used during take-off and landing. These halogen lights, a few hundred watts in power, strongly illuminate the sector in front of the aircraft. The lights are used to illuminate the runway surface during take-off and landing, and to improve the aircraft’s visibility in the vicinity of airports. The lights are typically used at altitudes of less than three kilometres. These high powered lights become very hot and cannot be touched by hand.

Aircraft also have many other external lights: generally, the front edge of the wings and the engine air inlets of commercial aircraft are illuminated, the Finnair logo on the tail is illuminated with a logo light, and runway turn-off lights, providing side and forward illumination, can also be used when turning during taxiing.

In addition to illumination and enhanced visibility, lights have a third task. Light signals can also be used to some extent for communication in the case of extremely rare loss of radio communication. An international signal language exists for this.

As I mentioned above, the human brain has developed to perceive movement. If contrast is good, it is possible to see really far by eyesight alone. On a clear night, it not difficult to see aircraft. At best, with a little patience and luck, one can pick out from among the stars other kinds of sky travellers – satellites, moving at altitudes of hundreds of kilometres, when the light of the sun from the other side of the Earth strikes them at the correct angle.

For myself, one of the finest things about flying is to look from above onto the lights of some large city on a clear night. I never tire of admiring this sea of millions of lights.

Jussi Ekman

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Finland – Finnair

Posted on December 4, 2009 by Helena Kaartinen |

I’m an honest Finn. As a nine-year-old I wrote an essay entitled “My Teacher”. It was actually a long eulogy on my teacher’s attributes, although I finished it by saying that she also had her bad sides, only that I had no wish to list them just then. Oops! Evidently my idea had been to keep my teacher’s feet on the ground or perhaps I had simply underestimated her intelligence. To people of sound mind and in full possession of their faculties it is undeniably clear that there is always another side to everything. And not even in the name of honesty is it necessary to exclaim every truth.

If I were now to write an essay entitled “My Finland”, it would be a eulogy with no end. No “Oops!”. In this essay, I would tell about my fellow Finns. I would write about my foreign friend who feels that the best thing about Finland is its people. In her opinion, shyness combined with a willingness to help is charming. Initially her comments astonished me, but then I realised how right she is.

My own best memories of my times abroad are encounters with people – not visits to tourist sights. I don’t necessarily recall their clothing or how stylish their homes were, but the mood that prevailed between us: confusion, curiosity, joy, warmth, awkward silence or exuberant chatter. Photos tell the same story. The local sights are only partly on show; it’s the people in the pictures that really matter.

So let’s accept ourselves as we are! A favourable disposition towards oneself is outwardly apparent. It radiates. It even captivates. Inadvertently one finds oneself drawn to those who radiate acceptance and a healthy self-esteem.

I read somewhere that, in the opinion of a working group aiming to raise the image of Finland, Finland’s most important resource is what Finns are and what they say and do. Professor Laura Kolbe, a member of the working group, would tell foreigners that here in Finland live honest, reliable and innovative people. I can go along with that.

When we Finns travel abroad, we are calling cards for Finland. Nowadays this presumably also applies to websites, YouTube clips and Facebook profiles. When we, as crew, pass through airports, we are often asked the question: “Where are you from?“ The answer “Finland” does not necessarily always register with the questioner, despite our famous ice-hockey players, conductors, Moomins and heavy metals band. If the message at some stage final hits home, then more often than not the answer is: “Oh… Finland! It’s so safe there. Such a clean country. So peaceful. It’s so good to work with Finns,” to which we nod approvingly. We know, we know. The best place in the world.

Home sickness, moreover, can strike anywhere in the world. The thought of dark silence and of rain, snow and even slush seems uplifting. Imagining the taste of Finnish food makes the mouth water. We look at children’s pictures on our Nokias. We show a picture of our pet dog to a work colleague and are offended if he doesn’t remember the doggie’s name. I have recognised this regrettably often, and many suffer from it. Many a time that a customer steps on the plane and says: “Ah, wonderful, finally! It’s as if I were already at home.”

It’s absolutely necessary and healthy to acquire external perspectives. To listen carefully, to thank people for their attention, and accept matters humbly. Sometimes it’s also necessary to travel. Distance clarifies the mind and however problematic a matter seems, sometimes it looks much better from afar! We surely benefit from participating in the logistics of interaction.

It only remains for me to wish a lively Independence Day to all of you wonderful Finns!

Helena Kaartinen

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Finland’s biggest kitchen

Posted on November 20, 2009 by Runway |

Finnair Catering is not only Finland’s biggest and most international kitchen, but also a huge logistics company that handles a massive amount of raw materials, equipment and sales goods.

Finland’s biggest kitchen makes 18,000 meals for flights every day. With the food is served one million bottles of wine a year, and the world’s best champagne. Catering’s most visible activity is providing in-flight meals, but it is also the source of all those fine bottles, jars and chocolates that are given as homecoming presents.

Catering to favourite tastes

A meal is an essential part of a flight. On Japanese flights, stylish sushi is served; on the Korean route, spicy bibimpap. On longer flights there is time to enjoy a more extensive menu. In business class up to three starters and main courses are offered.

“Each nationality values the fact that local tastes are catered for,” says Finnair Catering Vice President Kristiina Asplund.

Every new route opening creates a learning environment in Finnair’s kitchen. Catering’s chefs and cooks are harnessed to explore the myriad aspects of new cuisines under the guidance of local experts.

The challenges of flight food begin with the basics. For example, so simple a thing as cooking rice and its varieties is completely different in Finnair’s various Asian destinations.

“In Japan they use sticky rice, in India simmered basmati rice, and in Thailand fried rice is preferred,” explains Asplund.

Fine cuisine at altitude

Menus are planned with a panel of experts. Twice a year candidate meals are proposed and the menu for the coming timetable season selected. So that passengers that fly frequently on the same route receive some variety, each destination’s menu has a number meal options, which are rotated regularly.

The logistics chain for in-flight food is a long one. It sets special requirements for raw materials as well as transport and serving equipment. A portion might be made up to a day before it is served. It is also consumed in completely different conditions from where it is prepared – literally at 10 kilometres up.

“Our customers are all world’s nationalities, religious persuasions and age groups. The food must be universal, but at the same time tasty. This is about as challenging as cooking can get,” says Asplund.

Not to mention the passengers who have special diets or some food restriction.

“The number of special foods is always growing; they can account for up to ten per cent of the meals we prepare. To some destinations they may be ordered for nearly the entire aircraft, such as on Indian flights, where vegetable dishes are extremely popular.”

Always wide awake

The old labyrinthine Catering building gave way last spring to the terminal extension development of Helsinki-Vantaa. The total floor area of the new Catering building is nearly 14,000 square metres, i.e. equivalent to two football pitches. The freezer is the size of a three-room flat, i.e. 75 square metres, and the refrigeration space 760 square metres, i.e. the size of around three one-family houses.

Catering never sleeps. Flight meals are prepared 24 hours a day, all year round. A total of 18,000 meals are delivered daily to more than 200 flights operated by Finnair and many other airlines flying from Finland.

Environmental friendliness is emphasised at every work stage. Energy efficiency was part of the plans from the very beginning of the design of the new Catering building. Much was invested, particularly in sorting waste and saving energy and water.

Everything possible on flights is recycled. In the cabin, aluminium, glass and some plastic waste ends up back at Catering for reprocessing. On domestic flights, energy waste is also recovered. Finnair Catering Oy was one of the first, and is still one of the few, flight kitchens in the world to be awarded an ISO 14001 Environmental Certificate.

Every gram is important

Preparing for a long flight is no easy matter. Nothing can be forgotten, because stocking up at cruising altitude is not an option.

“For example, Catering supplies for one wide–bodied flight around 45,000 individual items, ranging from forks and knives to coffee cups and children’s toys as well as perfumes and sweets for sale,” says Asplund.

The machine that would do all of Catering’s work has not yet been invented, so manual work is invaluable. A significant part of the price of in-flight food consists of its transportation. Catering uses custom-made elevator vehicles. During the rush periods for traffic, every member of the 30-strong elevator vehicle fleet shuttles back and forth between the Catering building and the departure gates.

Carrying every gram across the sky costs money. Work aimed at optimising the weight of aircraft is never-ending. Serving dishes are always made out of the lightest possible manufacturing material. The amount of equipment is also kept under scrutiny.

“An aircraft might be in the air every day for up to 18 hours. It is easy to calculate how big a sum a weight reduction of one hundred kilos, for example, will save on fuel costs.”

A professional in three fields

Finnair Catering is actually a professional in three fields. Firstly, it is a huge logistics company, which orders vast amounts of raw materials, equipment and sales goods. Secondly, it is the biggest kitchen in Finland making airline food. Thirdly, it handles retail sales at the airport and on flights.

Finnair Catering employs 700 people, among whom are 30 nationalities. The Catering building echoes with a spectrum of languages, because the company is Finland’s most multicultural working community.

Air traffic is susceptible to disruption and flights are sometimes late. Punctuality is affected, among other things, by the weather, congestion at airports and movement of other traffic. One place, however, is always open when the airport has customers: the Finnair Shop.

“We extend our opening hours according to the flow of traffic whenever possible. For many customers, airport shopping is an important part of travelling,” explains Magnus Hannukainen, who is responsible for trading operations.

Although the tax-free system has ended in Europe, airport shop prices are still lower than in city centre stores.

On land and in the air

Sales are made on the ground, but also in the air. In-flight sales in particular are planned in cooperation with the cabin service department. It is usually part of the flight programme. In-flight sales are increasingly considered part of the service and an enjoyable flight. Passengers can select chocolates and gifts, for example, that they had no time to buy at the airport.

“For almost all of the return legs of international flights, passengers can take advantage of the pre-order bag service. For our customers, this is the easiest, trouble-free option of all; there’s no need to worry about awkward liquid rules or carrying the purchases on to the aircraft,” explains Hannukainen.

If, for some reason, there is no time during the flight, the Arrival Shop provides one last opportunity to remember to buy that important homecoming present.

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Pulsating

Posted on November 5, 2009 by Helena Kaartinen |

sweatWe have readers! Now I am absolutely sure of it… despite the fact that my mother doesn’t have a computer.

I had a flight to Istanbul. During the evening rush, our aircraft was parked at a distance, so the passengers were brought to it by bus.

I stood at the door and wished them welcome. A tricky moment cropped up when my phone rang. It was my Finnair phone, the one I use to communicate with the gate attendant and vice versa. Answering the phone and welcoming passengers at the same time, however, is rather difficult. It’s not worth nodding at a phone, because it does not offer visual contact – at least yet. But if you are speaking on the phone, I guess you simply have to welcome the passengers by nodding? It results in perspiration and a rise in heart beat. But only slightly and briefly.

There were nearly 100 passengers. Americans on a business trip from Japan via Helsinki, now heading to Turkey for a sailing holiday. I guess it’s true that Americans like a challenge, because these ones had already managed to pop into Hong Kong before visiting Japan. USA-HKG-TYO-HEL-IST! It’s exhausting just to think of it. To me, the idea of so much travelling was like a hundred press-ups. Followed perhaps by a hundred sit-ups. Respect!

Service proved to be a flight aerobics session. My work partner is an gymnastics instructor and that was pretty obvious. A brisk step, good posture and slightly sporty. I followed the series of movements using coffee pots as hand weights. I bent to the left and bent to the right. Kinetic pleasure and rising pulse. I was so much into it that in business class I clipped a customer’s serving tray. A glass or two toppled as I tried to adjust the tray to allow him to finish his meal in peace. My temperature rose. Embarrassing. I felt a drop of sweat trickle down my back. I apologised for my beginner’s blunder, saying that I wasn’t exactly new to this work.

The passenger said consolingly: “Oh yes, we know that this isn’t your first flight. In fact we almost acquaintances. We have ordered your blogs as an RSS feed to our e-mail.” His neighbour nodded in agreement.

What? I imagined how their computers bleeped on the arrival of e-mail and how on opening the messages the blogs were theirs to read.

I gave a nervous laugh. It was no longer a question of a few drops generated by my thermoregulation system. I was sweating like a river. Amazon, anyone? And, no thanks. It’s no worth sending me deodorants, antiperspirants or hormone treatments, because this was a pleasant experience. My friends inform me that such perspiration is a heightened emotional state caused by a strong sense of wellbeing, where the blood rushes in the veins and the heart beats accordingly at precisely the right rate.

A rewarding discussion followed; on the service offered in Finnair and elsewhere in the world. It was fascinating to hear genuine, honest opinions. It is important to hear them. It’s good to learn from listening. This was my effort at so-called mental training, the importance of which in raising performance level should not be underestimated.

In Istanbul I opened the aircraft door with a steady, restful pulse. Proudly I sent the men out into the world.

I then began to check the seat pockets and overhead lockers for any items that passengers may have left behind. This served as a warm-up exercise for the return flight.

Helena Kaartinen

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Finnair – 86 years young

Posted on October 30, 2009 by Runway |

Aero Junkers F13 in 1924Fast forward to the beginning of the Finnair story. On November 1st, 1923, consul Bruno Lucander founded a pioneering company called Aero. As soon as the following year Aero made its first flight from Helsinki to Tallinn using a 4-passenger Junkers F13 aircraft, equipped with skis in winter and floats in summer.

We no longer land on skis, but we operate with one of the world’s most modern fleets. Our airline is now 86 years old, but we are in tune with the times in terms of both aircraft and attitude. Today Finnair’s scheduled traffic covers 9 long-haul destinations in Asia and New York in North America, as well as more than 40 city destinations in Europe.

Building the bridge between Europe and Asia has been the aim of the expanding Finnair – a strategy supported by Finland’s favorable geographical position: the shortest and most eco-efficient route from Europe to Asia passes via Helsinki. Our modern fleet with the Airbus A340 and A330 wide-bodied aircraft carries us far into the future.

And behind us is a long and distinguished past. Finnair, 86 years old on November 1st, is one of the world’s longest-established airlines.

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