British Airways (BA), the so-called “World’s favourite airline” has clearly dropped the crown in recent years when passenger volumes plummeted down the valley and dragged the airline to a record lost of £401m last year, plunging from £800m profit the year before. Sensing the urgency to rescue the airline out of financial turmoil, the chief executive of BA, Willie Wash, had desperately introduced a series of radical measures to save the airline, including his infamous salary waive for July at a whopping £61,250.

For a man whose monthly salary is the total annual income of four cabin crews, it’s quite impossible that his grand gesture does not generate profound irritation from within and outside the BA. But of course, Willie’s hidden agenda behind the move couldn’t be more evident. A company-wide pay cut or to make compulsory redundancy is inevitable for the struggling airline. Last week, BA pilots had overwhelmingly accepted on a 2.6pc pay cut and a 20pc reduction in some allowances, saving the airline £26m. The move generated a ripple effect on the cabin crews who also offered to accept a similar deal where pay is cut by 2.6pc and in addition to two years pay freeze.

However, I am wary and oppress by the possible deterioration of the customer service quality offered by BA staff after their wages are reduced. Already I had witnessed BA cabin crew made clamorous complaint on customer behaviour, an exacerbated scenario is likely inevitable.

I reckon the supportive atmosphere found amongst BA staff wasn’t driven entirely by the sympathy or loyalty shared towards the airline, but is driven by the realisation that in the currently dire economic climate, it is more sensible to keep a lower paid job than joining the dole queue.  Moreover, it is reported that BA is paying twice as much for its staff than its rival airlines Ryanair and Easyjet. A measly 2.6pc pay cut is therefore still looking pretty optimistic in the industry. Besides, sharing the pain by accepting lower pay to save some jobs is after all a principle worth embraced.

Reduced wage bill will undoubtedly save the airline considerable amount of operational cost. But BA needs to dig in deeper and find its ways to stretch even further and achieve leaner operation besides generating more revenue. But of course, this doesn’t encompass the ludicrous suggestion made by a shareholder in the recent AGM that BA should stop painting its planes to reduce the weight of aircrafts, and hence saving on fuel cost.

I wonder if the following measures will help alleviating the financial strain and save BA a penny of two.

Reduced carried load is the crux to save on volatile fuel cost. But of course, it will disastrously reduce the already declining passenger numbers if BA reverts its traditional carrier offer for passenger to check in luggage up to 23kgs. Fortunately, it’s possible for BA to introduce a rebate system for passengers who do not or check in baggage no heavier than 10kgs to enjoy, say a 5pc fare reduction the next time the they fly with BA. Not only this approach will lead to lower operational cost by reducing weight, but will also encourage return business opportunities. Of course, BA could stretch an arm further by introducing a list of tick-off items including flight meals and on-board entertainment that could all fall under the umbrella of rebate system.

If weight is the real culprit that contributes to soaring operational cost, I suggest BA to introduce similar system for male and female passengers weight less than 60kgs and 45kgs respectively to enjoy the same 5pc fare reduction, again, the next time they fly with BA. I am certain that the weight watch group in Britain will back this measure up as commendable since it indirectly promotes a healthy diet amongst the increasingly obese British population. The government will also surely raising both hands in support to the campaign as it will spare the NHS from wasting millions of pound a year just to treat obese patients.

Although imitation is the best form of compliment and BA certainly has no the slightest intention to be a copy cat, and it is synonymous to accepting defeat if BA follows its rival, Ryanair’s suit in introducing on-board lavatory charges, I reckon, however that it is desperate time for desperate measure. But of course, charging for loos is condemnable. But suppose BA can raise the environment placards advocating the decreasing use of paper to help saving the planet, and then install a vending machine outside the toilets and charge for toilet papers! Or perhaps Ryanair’s brilliant idea to make passengers stand is also plausible?

Nonetheless, if BA determines to eliminate its seemingly protracted struggle to pull its balance sheet out of the red territory, I reckon the only sensible measure is to focus on its core premium class business and get the white collars fly with the so-called ‘World’s favourite airline’ again. Maybe also to improve on its notorious luggage handling system and reduce the ‘reputable’ nine lost luggage per jumbo jet record to effectively zero?

If there is one thing the British has learnt, it is the ‘kiasu’ spirit of Singaporean. Casting covetous eyes on the triumph of Germany for having successfully aided 400,000 homes to install solar panels in a bid to harness renewable energy, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Ed Miliband, was last week announced that the United Kingdom will jump on the clean energy bandwagon and pledged an identical ‘cashback’ strategy – feed-in tariffs in the country.

How does it work? Facile. Start installing solar panels on your rooftop, the more the merrier of course, and let the magic works to generate energy for your personal dwelling. And if you happen to have your brain switched on and thus remembering to switch off your laptop or heater when you are not needing them, you may have an energy surplus which the grid is willing to purchase at an agreed price. If not, you are at least having the privilege to escape from the ever escalating home energy bills, or simply the nightmare to relentlessly scouting around for better energy deal that saves you only a few pence. Whoopee!

Sounds brilliant, no? All one has to do is just to install solar panels. If Germans can excel it, if Bangladeshis have no sweat following, certainly the British is capable of a sheer replication. But how viable is this so-called microgeneration renewable energy going to succeed in the United Kingdom remains dubious.

First and foremost, the sun, where the dominant source of energy is converted by solar panel into usable electricity is undeniably on luxurious demand at the British Isle. Comparatively lower than Germany and doubtless for Bangladesh, Britain is only enjoying a derisory 1500 hours (approximately 62 days) of average annual sunshine. Missing sunshine in a solar panel is synonymous with driving an eco-friendly electric car without the battery. Disastrous failure is its destiny. Just how economically attractive it is to invest in solar panels when they are only functional at 17pc of the time in a year?

Installing solar panels isn’t something for nothing. The success in Germany isn’t purely driven by advocacy to clean energy but also government’s incentive. Similarly, it took the provision of microcredit loans to the people before the villages in Bangladesh were illuminated. However, a recent report prepared by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) specifically pinpointed that the United Kingdom simply having no more fund for more fiscal injection into the economy is certainly raising an alarming alert to the proposed solar scheme. Exacerbated by acrimonious debates in the parliament on spending cut after the next general election, the microgeneration of clean energy scheme has officially mired into premature death trap.

The naive government can of course faithfully hoping people to make irrational and random decisions to fork out money and support the green scheme. But of course, this is inconceivable, especially under the current economic climate. Perhaps it is again time for the British to trawl for knowledge and expertise from the outside, for example, the Turks on how they make solar panel installation feasible in literally every household whilst keeping the cost to effectively affordable.

Indeed it is complimentary to actively promote the microgeneration renewable energy campaign since it engages individuals and communities and make them aware of their responsibility and the roles they could play in contributing to a greener planet. Undeniably this will shed the burden off the government’s shoulders for hefty investment in macro-scale scheme such as onshore and offshore windmill farms and wave energy converter. 

However, if the government is ruminating to meet the ever more stringent environmental target for power generation, where Britain is set to increase the proportion of renewable energy from 2pc to 15pc in 2015, enormous investment and proper management are inevitable. Again, I reckon there are learning examples which the government can deploy. Danish is consistently leading in the realm of renewable energy through continuous improvement on existing technologies for a more effective harvest of natural resources. Certainly there is a thing or two for the British? And let’s remind the British government with the Danish example again. Instead of solar, the attention of large scale renewable energy schemes shall be fixed at wind and wave where these are abundant in the region.

Perhaps if the government is contemplating to put the responsibility of clean energy on the shoulders of its people, then I would definitely suggest micro wind energy converter which could be installed on rooftop. This certainly will prevent complaints on severe gust that risk blowing off the roof tiles or breaking an umbrella for the thousandth time. Or maybe even a state-of-the-art device that could convert the inexorable noise from ambulance sirens and traffics to usable energy at home. At least it will render the annoying disturbance of these sources slightly more tolerable.

Why not? Again, the message is about micro. Everything could be done in small scale and from home. So much about Britain, hello Malaysia, have you learnt anything?

Who would have predicted that the touchdown of my virgin long-haul flight on London Heathrow two years ago will transpire my London fixation today? Trapped at the window seat with British Airways for as long as the engine still propelled, I was at the brink of experiencing a thrombosis attack before I saw the resplendent jewel, splendid and shiny, indistinguishable between the adrenaline rush of a woman who steps into a Chanel store and fall in love instantaneously with the genuine leather boots posing elegantly on the squeaky-clean glass table, it dazzled deep into my core. London, I was finally arrived.

Unfortunately, London Heathrow remained as the only ‘tourist destination’ for me during that journey before I dashed quickly for my next flight to Oslo, Norway. Patiently waited for longer than a year, the name London was again surged in my mind. This time, instead of blanketing the City with contrail left by a speed of sound jet engine, I was amongst the millions cells that enjoyed unrestrained streaming in the veins of London.

It was challenging to illustrate the lifestyle of Londoners and the haste of the City through the ardent following of Choi Tuck Wo’s column back home. His London Log was undoubtedly an incontrovertible source of London feed for most Malaysians. But I truly reckon a £600 transcontinental return airfare is inevitable if one ruminates to cure his/her ridiculous obsession about London. It simply is utterly disparate reading it on paper and seeing it with your own eyes.

The initial intention to stay in the United Kingdom was to assess the compatibility of the Kingdom with my post-colonisation survival spirit from the far East. I wasn’t certain about my decision. However, several trips in the past year to the City, meeting with transformed Londoner – Fiona for a few occasions, and a couple of affairs with native Londoners later, I finally find no excuse for denying my addiction to London. This is where I desire to spend the major part of my remaining life. Settlement, an idea I detested profoundly in the past intriguing creeps into my soul.

It isn’t without challenge, and the challenge isn’t minor. Survival precedes settlement, and survival is the corollary of legality, reasons, and an exigent issue tightly linked to resources. The current economic climate surely is blowing disastrous headwind that tramples on my motivation to propel forward.

But I have decided, not without doubt, that despite the discouraging atmosphere, I am to gamble on my bottoming resources, betting on perhaps the most important game in my life, for the betterment of both material and emotional desires. London, I look forward to becoming one of your esteemed members.