The Golden Age of Air Travel?

qantas most profitable unit is their frequent flyer division.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-11/qantas-finds-loyalty-pays-better-than-selling-airplane-tickets

Quote: Nareed

Airline pilot Patrick Smith makes the point that we're living in the Golden Age of Air travel. This is his argument:

1) Fares are much lower than they used to be, even with added fees(*)
2) Premium seats (Business and First Class) are far more comfortable and offer a better ride and onboard options than in the past (WiFi, onboard entertainment, meals, etc.) More on this later.
3) Flying is much safer.
4) There are more flight and route options.

Airline passengers were always jokingly referred to as self loading freight but now its no joke; they are treated as freight and, much worse, crammed in like freight.

Since the sixties, the two coasts have become over an hour's flying time further apart. This is of course mere scheduling. All private and government statistics about airline on-time performance are based on schedules padded with delays so any much ballyhooed improvement is actually statistical manipulation and not operational improvement.

Even over the ocean a plane's position was simply 'ghosted' and updates were every fourteen minutes but now satellite systems are updating even transoceanic flights every minute and such precise positioning capabilities makes flights shorter as planes can be crammed closer to each other based on actual data rather than probabilistic estimates.

We are finally approaching "free flight" wherein pilots will head to their destination rather than fly predetermined zig-zag routes that provide separation buffers.

Quote: terapined

Regarding a stopover city, Singapore uses FRA A lot of my clients like Singapore Airlines Been selling them from NYC to FRA Germany roundtrip

I think SIA is now at 4 USA cities nonstop with a 5th (Seattle) to start this fall. Are you more likely to book a nonstop from USA on SIA today?
Or do you stay with United Airlines with a change in some other foreign destination?

Singapore Airlines
Houston–Intercontinental,
Los Angeles,
San Francisco,
Newark,
Seattle/Tacoma (begins 3 September 2019),
New York–JFK (via Frankfurt ?),

United Airlines San Francisco

in the 1990s you couldn't get there from the USA. We used to take UA from LAX to HKG and change planes there. On a windy day the plane couldn't even make it to HKG, but used to stop at Tapei.

Quote: Pacomartin

I think SIA is now at 4 USA cities nonstop with a 5th (Seattle) to start this fall. Are you more likely to book a nonstop from USA on SIA today?
Or do you stay with United Airlines with a change in some other foreign destination?

Singapore Airlines
Houston–Intercontinental,
Los Angeles,
San Francisco,
Newark,
Seattle/Tacoma (begins 3 September 2019),
New York–JFK (via Frankfurt ?),

United Airlines San Francisco

It all depends on the client, client status (VIP or not a VIP) and the client's company rules.
Some are allowed to take a nonstop regardless of price, some have to compare connecting prices
Generally UA frequent flyers like SQ (Agents always use SQ, never SIA) because its a Star alliance carrier
UA, partnering with NH (All Nippon) changing planes NRT, business class fares can be pretty competitive USA to SIN roundtrip