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Every so often — perhaps more often than my finances justify — I splurge and buy myself a full-fare business class ticket to or from Asia. I do this because I’m an airline geek and I like to try out as many different carriers as possible, sampling their products. And because I’m a sucker for the luxuries of flying up front. It’s really, really fun.

Most recently it was Asiana Airlines.

I was in Bangkok, looking for a way home. Poking around on Kayak.com, I found an excellent last-minute fare on Asiana, one-way to JFK, via Seoul-Incheon, for a little over $2500. (Bangkok has become a mega-hub served by over 90 airlines, and fares from the city are very competitive, making it an ideal place for scoring deals like this one.) I was excited. Asiana is a five-time SkyTrax winner and is considered by many to be one of the world’s top-tier carriers.

I bought my ticket, picked out my window seats, and couldn’t wait to get to the airport.

And it was all downhill from there. The trip would be ruined. Ruined by screaming kids.

It starts at Bangkok’s Suvarnubhumi airport. My ticket gives me access to Thai Airways’ Royal Orchid Lounge, shared by the various Star Alliance members, of which Asiana is one. Getting access to the lounge is of course part of the whole premium class experience, and I left the hotel extra early so I could enjoy it.

But when I get there, I discover the lounge isn’t simply overcrowded (as so many premium class lounges tend to be these days). It’s overcrowded with kids. I cannot find a quiet place to sit. The kids are everywhere and they won’t shut up: screeching and crying and running around like it’s recess on the school playground.

The centerpiece of this chaos is an obnoxious guy in a Russian soccer shirt and his belligerent offspring. He’s a Vladimir Putin lookalike, sprawled sockless on a sofa with his naked feet hanging over the rail, playing a game on his phone. Around him is a spray of plastic toys deposited by his five — count ‘em, five — young children, who when they aren’t tossing toys around are shrieking and throwing food at each other. They are unbearably loud. Every so often Vlad claps his hands and scolds them in lazily indignant Russian. They ignore him and carry on.

The waitstaff, for their part, couldn’t care less. When I complain to the girl at the desk, she simply smiles at me and says “Oh, so sorry sir.” Absolutely no effort is made to actually quiet the kids down.

And if the Putin clan isn’t annoying enough, elsewhere in the room at least three infants are crying.

I try not to let it get to me. I distract myself with the buffet, helping myself to a gin and tonic, a miniature pastry-pillow labeled “chicken roll,” and some finger sandwiches made with institutional-looking white bread. I close my eyes and imagine myself on the plane, only minutes from now, sitting back in my business class seat, surrounded by peaceful luxury.

When boarding is announced, I practically run onto the plane. I stow my things, snap some pictures of the handsomely appointed cabin, and settle in for the five-hour ride to Incheon. I’m relaxed and happy.

And then I hear the sound.

It starts as a crackle. Then a whinny. Then a staccato series of gasps and yelps and piercing cries. These are the noises that only a baby makes, and that baby is in business class, three seats over from me.

Please, no. Tell me this is a joke.

It’s no joke, and the baby, as babies are wont to do, treats the rest of us to a five-hour long, blood-curdling repertoire of periodic yelping and screaming fits.

It’s the unpredictability of these fits that’s the worst part: It’s quiet, quiet, quiet; then suddenly there’s screaming. It’s quiet, quiet, quiet again; then suddenly there’s more screaming. This repeats over and over, at erratic intervals of varying duration and loudness.

But it’s all right, you see. It’s okay, because the best and most important parts of this journey is yet to come: I’ll have two hours to kill at Asiana’s lounge at the amazing Incheon airport, followed by the 13-hour flight to JFK in my state-of-the-art “Smartium” business class seat. Fine, kid, go ahead and cry. The rest of this trip is going to be great.

So I thought.

Asiana has separate lounges at ICN for first and business class. The business lounge is a sumptuous room of dark wood-tones, plush chairs and rows of bookshelves. It has a reading room or library aesthetic, and I like that. Libraries are quiet! I help myself to a triple espresso and set up my computer at a table near the back. There’s nobody around and I have the whole rear corner to myself.

Once again, at least for a moment, I’m relaxed and happy.

Until, hardly three minutes later, as I’m scanning through some emails, again I hear a tell-tale noise. It’s a creak-creak-creak-creak — the sound of a wheeled apparatus approaching. Somebody’s roll-aboard bag?

No. It’s a baby carriage. Actually, it’s a baby carriage flanked by a mom and two toddlers, one on either side of a strapped-in infant. And this foursome of noisemakers is aimed directly at the table next to mine.

As the carriage wheels in alongside, there’s a great and sudden clattering of toys, food containers and juice cartons. Things spill to the floor as the mom yells orders in Korean at the two toddlers, who answer back in barks and squeals and a chorus of hollering. I can’t believe this is happening.

I gather up my stuff and bolt for another table. This is only marginally helpful, however, because by now the place is full of kids, all of them carrying on. A man comes out of the restroom with his two tiny sons, maybe three or four years old. The kids burst into a run, and as they pass me one of them lets out a scream so shrill that I think my coffee cup is going to crack.

And now, finally, it’s time for the Big Flight.

I made sure to choose one of the window seats with the console facing outward, toward the aisle — this creates a cubicle effect, as if you’re sitting there in your own little private jet. This is going to be awesome! I’m going to put on my Asiana slippers, drink some wine, watch some movies, and dine on gourmet food before stretching out to rest in my full-flat sleeper.

That’s the plan, anyway. Until.

Until I look up from my complimentary newspaper and there — there! — one row ahead of me, and directly diagonal to my seat, is, you guessed it, a baby.

My skin goes prickly hot and and my pulse starts racing. There’s just…. it can’t…. I mean… how can…..? No!

Yes!

I am not making this up. And I would love to tell you that this time I got lucky, and that the little rascal was one of those surprisingly quiet and well-behaved babies who whines for a minute and then, miracle of miracles, utters nary a peep for the rest of the flight. Don’t you love when that happens? Those are the flights that restore our faith in both air travel and humanity at large. Look at that adorable child napping peacefully like that.

But this is not one of those times. This is not one of those babies. This kid is neither napping nor quiet. He’s as loud and angry as a lawnmower.

Nothing shuts him up. And he’s of that certain age — that age between infant and toddler, when a voice begins to gain the sonic traction that allows it to really, really carry. At the height of his discomfort this tiniest of humans is pushing ninety decibels. It’s a wailing, electric, claxon-like sound, like a nuclear attack alert, and it’s loud enough to rattle my tableware.

The parents, to their credit, are apologetic and do their best to hush the baby. But any effect is temporary. No sooner does the kid quiet down when, a few minutes later, he’s shrieking again.

The racket comes and goes, comes and goes. Reading is impossible; sleeping is out of the question. The only escape is watching movies with the volume cranked up (unfortunately Asiana’s entertainment system is terrible and offers only a few boring choices). The last hour of the flight is the worst. The kid cries nonstop. It is so loud you cannot hear the public address announcements from the crew.

When we touch down at JFK in September sunshine just before 11 a.m., I don’t feel the least bit sated, refreshed or relaxed. On the contrary I am exhausted and stressed-out.

See here’s the thing:

When you’re flying in long-haul first or business class, you aren’t merely paying for transportation. You are paying for comfort. For luxury, even. This is premium class, not economy class.

Unlike a very high percentage of the people who travel up front, I was not flying on company expense or cashing in frequent-flyer miles. I paid $2500 out of pocket for my ticket. I did this precisely to be as comfortable and pampered as possible. This is not something I normally can afford, and my expectations were high — as they should have been. And the experience was wrecked at every turn — in both lounges and on both flights — by the behavior of other passengers. Of course this was no direct fault of those passengers, who as young children can’t be held accountable, but that doesn’t exactly matter.

And the fare I paid was a steal. What about those people who pay six, seven, or ten thousand dollars for a premium seat? Shouldn’t there be some assurance that they won’t be subject to needless discomfort over the course of their journey?

In other words, maybe it’s time for more airlines to start enforcing an age limit on passengers in first or business class. This is a difficult issue, because more and more high-end flyers are traveling with kids and babies, and the last thing airlines want to do is alienate their most valuable customers. The key is knowing the point at which you begin ticking off more people than you’re making happy.

Indeed some carriers, including Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia, already have such restrictions already in place, either banning kids below a certain age outright, or establishing kid-free zones within a particular cabin. Asiana and others might be wise to follow suit.

———-

Meanwhile, there’s a segue here into the greater discussion of passenger behavior in general. This has been a hot topic of late following the Knee Defender controversy that erupted last month. CNN later ran a story called “Passengers Behaving Badly” exploring how and why airline travelers seem to so often forgo the rules of civility and decency. There’s a even a website now that allows you to “shame” obnoxious passengers by posting their photographs on line.

There are some tricky ethics in play there, and I don’t condone posting pictures, but it’s no secret that flying often brings out the worst in people. Why this happens is probably a combination of things: stress, crowded cabins, alcohol, and people’s not-to-be-underestimated contempt for the airlines and for flying.

I’ve never been privy to a full-blown “air rage” incident, but I’ve witnessed countless instances of shameful behavior: passengers cursing at airline staff; stealing from the liquor carts; leaving soiled diapers in seat pockets; etc., etc. Why, for example, do so many airline passengers find it acceptable to throw their garbage and food all over the cabin floor, then mash it into the carpeting with their feet? You don’t do this in a restaurant. Why is it all right to do it on an airplane?

It tends to be small-scale stuff — rudeness and a lack of elementary courtesy — rather than anything violent or overtly hostile, but that doesn’t excuse it.

Here are two things I witnessed recently:

I’m at Kennedy Airport one afternoon, in terminal four, down near the Virgin America gates. A woman and her young daughter are sitting on a bench-seat right along the edge of the corridor. The daughter is four, maybe five years old, and she’s holding a tall plastic cup brimming with round, colored candies. They’re marble-shaped candies similar to peanut M&Ms. Maybe they are peanut M&Ms.

All at once, with no warning, the girl takes the cup and flings the entire thing onto the floor. It’s an impressive spectacle, I have to say, as hundreds of tiny orbs go clattering across the carpet, coming to rest in a great fan-shaped display of color.

People turn and stare. And what does the woman do?

She stands up, takes the girl by the hand, and the two of them walk silently away, leaving the entire mess — even the plastic cup — sitting there for some unfortunate janitorial worker to sweep up.

Next, I’m at the airport in Dubai, waiting to catch an Emirates flight to Boston. I’m sitting in the boarding lounge when I hear a strange noise coming from behind me. Snip, snip snip, click, click, click. What is that?

I turn around, and what do I see? The guy directly behind me — a young guy in his twenties — is sitting cross-legged in his chair. Both of this feet are naked, and he is clipping his toenails. With every snip and click he splits away another crescent of toenail, which he drops into a growing pile next to his left knee.

Would you take off your socks and start clipping your toenails in a movie theater? In a restaurant? In the waiting room at your dentist? Why is it all right to do it here?

And while I don’t want to watch, I feel that I have to. Because I need to know what he’s going to do with that big, disgusting pile of nail trimmings once our flight begins to board. Is he going to collect them up and carry them to the trash? Or will he brush them onto the floor?

What do you think he does?

SEE ALSO: Here's Why You Shouldn't Panic When A Pilot's Arm Comes Off In Flight

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Whoever said that the almighty wallet can conquer everything may have been right. 

Of the 139 Airbus A380 superjumbos that have been delivered over the past eight years, 52 are flying with Dubai's Emirates Airlines — with dozens more on order. That's why when Emirates demands a redesigned version of the superjumbo with more efficient engines, Airbus listens.

According to Dow Jones Business News, that's exactly what's happening right now. 

Emirates CEO Tim Clark has stated that the airline could "definitely" buy 60-70 more superjumbos if Airbus is willing to offer a redesigned version of the plane with new Rolls Royce Trent Engines

The new engines would increase fuel efficiency by 10-12%, reports Dow Jones. At a current list price of $414 million, the Emirates order can potentially be worth as much as $28.98 billion. 

The airline has given the aviation giant a 6-month window to decide whether or not it will build the A380neo (New Engine Option). 

For Airbus, the company's vaunted A380 Superjumbo was supposed to revolutionize air travel in the same way the Boeing 747 did decades earlier. Instead of selling like hotcakes, Airbus has found buyers hard to come by, with only 318 orders and a dozen airlines around world operating the aircraft.

To say Emirates is an important client for Airbus would be an understatement. However, with other, potentially more lucrative projects such as the A350XWB, the A320neo, and the A330neo on the docket, Airbus isn't exactly rushing to pump more cash into the money-losing plane. For its part, Airbus chief executive John Leahy made it clear that the company will not be making a decision anytime soon. 

Earlier this year, Airbus cancelled an order for six superjumbos from Skymark Airlines citing concerns over the Japanese domestic carrier's ability to pay for the planes. Others clients, including Virgin Atlantic, have repeatedly delayed the delivery of their aircraft. Virgin Atlantic CEO Craig Kreeger told Bloomberg in April that the airline was still trying figure whether the A380 will be a fit for the airline. 

With 3-engined airliners retired from passenger service, and Boeing's 747-8 Intercontinental struggling to find buyers, the four-engined jumbo jet's days may be numbered — regardless of what happens with the Emirates order.

SEE ALSO: Here's Why You Shouldn't Panic When An Airliner Loses An Engine In Flight

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Air France's pilots strike has dragged into a second week, with no end in sight.

At a cost of $25 million dollars a day, the strike has not only caused the company to hemorrhage cash, but also put a halt to a plan that could have created significant long-term financial savings for the French national carrier.

The strike came in response to the airline's recent announcement of a billion-dollar plan focused on expanding Air France-KLM's Transavia low-cost subsidiary. The project calls for an investment of $1.3 billion over 5 years, as well as the addition of 50 new aircraft and 250 pilots to Transavia's roster by 2017. 

Since Transavia pilots will work on a different and less lucrative employment contract, Air France flight crew are demanding all of the company's pilots work under the same compensation scheme. According to the Wall Street Journal, annual compensation for Air France pilots start at $100,000 and can reach $300,000.

In addition, Air France flight crews get access to some of the most generous perks in France, including subsidized gourmet meals, reports the BBC. 

Pilots are also protesting Air France's plan to open Transavia bases outside of the France that will operate under local and presumably more lax labor regulations. 

Although Air France has all but gutted its plans to expand Transavia across Europe, the airline's largest pilot's union has refused to budge until all pilots under the Air France corporate umbrella are on the same labor agreement. 

The main reason for the French national airlines decision to focus on low-cost carriers can be attributed to the financial pressure placed upon it by the rise of budget competitors.

Low cost airlines like Ryanair, Easyjet, and Norwegian Air Shuttle have grown rapidly over the past few years. With Ryanair and Easyjet both expanding operations at Air France's home base in Paris, the airline's short haul business has been rendered financially unfeasible. 

This is an issue that's plaguing all of Europe's major international airlines, such as Lufthansa, British Airways, and KLM. In the last five years, business for Europe's major international carriers has grown by just 3%, but the continent's budget airlines have grown a whopping 54%, reports the Wall Street Journal.In fact, 5.5 million more people a year fly on budget airlines than on Europe's major international carriers. Not only do these budget airlines offer cheaper fares, they also offer much lower salaries and stingier benefit packages. 

As a result, Europe's older airlines are desperate to cut costs to have even a fighting chance at profitability. Air France is not alone in its labor disputes. Pilots for Germany's Lufthansa have also been embroiled in a long-running dispute with their employer. If they strike again to protest retirement benefits, it would be their fifth work stoppage this year. 

In the end, both sides believe that they must negotiate a settlement. But there's potentially a long way to go before these issues can be effectively resolved.

As the Journal's David Gauthier-Villars writes, "[The]employees say they feel they are being relegated to coach and fear their sacrifices may never be sufficient."

The airline industry, regardless of price point, has drifted towards the low-cost model. Efficiency is the name of the game, and unfortunately, salaries and benefit may be the collateral damage.

SEE ALSO: MythBusters: Airlines Are Boarding Their Planes All Wrong!

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First class can be plenty luxurious, but it's nothing like Singapore Airline's iconic Suites Class.

Travel blogger Derek Low recently cashed in his frequent flyer miles to purchase an $18,125.30 round-trip ticket in Suites Class, and thankfully he took lots of gorgeous photos of his journey.

From your own personal cabin and full-size bed to private rooms and classy meals, you've never seen a classier way to fly in style.

Note: All photos used with permission.

Boarding began at the Singapore Changi Airport First Class terminal.

Checking in is a little less crowded in First Class.

The golden ticket.

DUBAI (Reuters) - The president of Emirates airlines [EMIRA.UL] said on Thursday that demand for flights to Africa from Asia has fallen due to concerns over the Ebola virus.

West Africa is struggling with the worst Ebola outbreak since the disease was identified in 1976, with 3,338 people known to have died, predominantly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Senegal, according to latest figures.

Emirates, one of the world's largest carriers, has helped Dubai become a global aviation hub, and the city is a major stop-over point for Asian customers traveling to Africa.

"There are indications that demand in the east is coming off a little bit because of the perception that Ebola is Africa-wide," Tim Clark, Emirates president, told an Africa-focused investment event in Dubai.

"There are segments of our business in China, Taiwan, Vietnam etcetera that are fairly cautious about what they are doing, but for every one of those we lose, we're filling with something else."

Emirates in August suspended flights to Guinea, where the ongoing Ebola outbreak originated, but has continued flying to other affected destinations. Clark said the airline was not considering halting any other African routes.

Emirates staff look for signs that passengers may be unwell, but otherwise the airline is not taking any other extra precautions for Ebola.

"We don't have armies of people as we had with the SARS virus for instance – that was a pandemic that was far greater than Ebola in its spreading contagion," Clark told reporters on the sidelines of the event.

"But we're not providing our crews with masks because it (Ebola) will be controlled."

Emirates flies to about 22 destinations in Africa, he said, predicting it could add another 10 to the continent by 2025 as well as raising the frequency of flights on some existing routes.

"We're looking at Mozambique," said Clark. "Where you see oil and gas discovery, (it) has got to be of interest for people like ourselves. We can connect the oil and gas human resource. We can connect the cargo into the oil and gas fields. A lot of the stuff travels by air. We're constantly looking for opportunities."

(Writing by David French; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

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BERLIN (Reuters) - Airlines and airports handling travel to countries worst hit by the Ebola epidemic are trying to prove that flying to West Africa is safe, following concerns that the first case diagnosed in the United States could curtail worldwide services.

Some airlines have already suspended or cut back flights since the summer, and only one European carrier now offers direct services to Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. However, those still operating have taken measures to protect passengers and crew, along with airports in the region and beyond.

The Dallas Ebola case, involving a man who returned to the United States from Liberia last month, has led to worries about a spread of the virus outside West Africa, where at least 3,338 people have died in the worst outbreak on record.

Shares in airline and travel stocks fell on Thursday, with European travel and leisure shares down 1 percent, against a 0.6 percent fall for European stocks.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Thursday that the Ebola crisis has taken on a "new dimension" with the case in the United States, but it repeated that flying remained safe.

The virus is not transmitted through air, but by contact with bodily fluids and is contagious only once there are symptoms such as fever, vomiting and diarrhea. These symptoms are so crippling that it is nearly impossible for anyone suffering them to board a plane, experts say.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has not placed any restrictions on travel and has encouraged airlines to keep flying to the worst-hit regions. British Airways and Emirates airlines [EMIRA.UL] have suspended some flights.

"Travellers should be reassured. WHO has clearly said that the risk of Ebola transmission on board an aircraft is very low," IATA Director General Tony Tyler said on Thursday.

Working with the WHO and IATA, the United Nations airline body ICAO came up with guidelines for airlines on contagious diseases following the outbreak of SARS in 2003, which resulted in $7 billion of lost revenue to Asia-Pacific and U.S. airlines, according to IATA estimates.

At airports in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria - which has suffered a relatively small number of cases - and also in African hubs such as Addis Ababa, passengers entering and leaving have to undergo temperature scans and fill in questionnaires indicating places they have visited.

Airports in the crisis-hit areas are well-stocked with antibacterial handwash and plastic gloves. Brussels Airlines, the sole European airline still flying directly to the three worst-hit countries, says its crew also have permission to refuse boarding to anyone who appears to be ill.

Moroccan state-owned Royal Air Maroc, which still flies to Conakry, Freetown and Monrovia, says crews are trained to detect Ebola symptoms.

"If the proper procedures are put in place, the risk is miniscule," Peter Fowler, chief executive of security firm Westminster Group, told Reuters.

Westminster Group provides security services, including at Sierra Leone's international airport, and has brought in scanners to screen passengers' body temperature there.

The number of people coming in and out of the airport has also been restricted and it has isolation areas available should there be suspected cases.

However, the president of Emirates Airline [EMIRA.UL] said on Thursday that demand for flights to Africa from Asia had fallen due to concerns over the virus.

A spokesman for Ethiopian Airlines [ETHA.UL], which serves 49 destinations in Africa, said customers were more cautious in bookings, but that its planes were still full and there had been no cancellations.

Royal Air Maroc said flights to Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia had become unprofitable because they were usually empty on the way out and full only on the way back.

"It is going to have a big impact on West Africa, for places like Ghana for example where the tourism trade will be affected by association," Westminster Group's Fowler said. "Africa is coming up in the world, this is the last thing it needs. But they will get through it."

Brussels Airlines said the outbreak meant it has had to change the way it operates and crews no longer stay overnight in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. It also carries Ebola kits on board that enable it to isolate a passenger should symptoms develop during a flight.

The airline, 45 percent owned by Lufthansa, used to combine flights to Conakry, Freetown and Monrovia with a stop in other African countries, but now has to fly directly from Brussels due to restrictions placed by neighboring west African countries.

This means it now has more seats available to those places as it can no longer to sell tickets to two different destinations on one flight.

"We do have extra costs, yes, but there is a need to travel. Passengers that used to fly with other airlines now have to fly with us," a Brussels Airlines spokesman said. He said the airline was also transporting aid workers and was prioritizing medical cargo.

"Ebola is not new for us," he said. "Logistically, it's not easy, it is a challenge, but it's our humanitarian duty to keep flying."

(Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Additional reporting by Aziz el Yaakoubi in Rabat; editing by David Stamp)

SEE ALSO: Here's Your Ebola Survival Guide For Airplanes, From The CDC

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So a couple of weeks ago I’m at Kennedy Airport. From the corner of my eye I see something blue. I like the color blue, but not this one. It’s a soapy, anemic blue accented with gray. And the rest of the design — all swoopy and swirly and annoying. Oh no, it’s the new livery of Aerolineas Argentinas, splashed across the side of an Airbus A340. What an overwrought mess. And look what they’ve done to the Andean condor up there on the tail. A proud and graceful logo has become a cartoonish abstraction (those white flash lines are distracting and tacky). Aerolineas’s prior livery was a little dry, but it wasn’t crying out for change. Did they need to do this?

Grade: F

Not to be outdone, the Spanish airline Iberia has a new look too. The iconic “IB” is gone from the tail after several decades, replaced by — take a guess now — a swishy-swoopy-curvy thing that is so godawfully boring that it nearly brings tears to the eyes. Sure, Iberia’s bulky fuselage striping needed an overhaul, but you don’t toss out a logo as well-known as the IB. Tweak it if you want, but you do not get rid of it entirely. And to replace it with something so uninspired is a tragedy. The typeface is ugly too. The trashing of the “IB” is almost as bad as the trashing of American’s famous “AA,” and it shows us that nothing is sacred. No trademark, no matter how iconic, is safe from the hacks that have taken over the airline branding world, with their apparently endless catalog of “in-motion” themes.

Grade: F

Next in line, Etihad Airways. No doubt Etihad needed to do something. Its planes had a military parade look to them. The carrier’s falcon emblem belonged on the crest of some Arabian colonel’s hat. But is this any better? A gimmicky mish-mash of gold and coffee-colored triangles? It looks like a bunch of cardboard boxes caught up in the wind. Yet another example of designers trying to prove how clever and crafty they can be, instead of using their skills to establish some genuine brand identity.

Grade: F

Moving on. I know, I know, its paintjob is the least of Malaysia Airlines’ worries right now. But while I hate to pile on, they deserve it for screwing up one of the more dignified and handsome looks out there. Malaysia was one of the last carriers to hang onto a “cheatline” — that classic nose-to-tail striping along the windows. Straight lines are verboten these days, and so the red and blue lines have been twisted into a pair of awkward ribbony flares. it looks like something a sixth-grader would have come up with, and it’s a great example of not leaving well enough alone! Though at least they’ve kept the Wau, the indigenous kite design on the tail. Malaysia has a “special” livery just for its A380 aircraft — an swirly blue fever-dream that is one of the ugliest things I’ve ever seen. Is there such a thing as an F-minus?

Grade: F

Closer to home, several U.S. carriers have reinvented themselves as well, with similarly poor results.

Southwest’s heretofore livery made its 737s look like an amusement park ride, or an overly rich dessert concocted by a starving child. A month or so ago the carrier announced a redesign, and sadly it’s no different. It’s garish, syrupy, and so bright that it’s painful to look at. I confess to being quite fond of Southwest’s heart emblem, however. They should feature it more prominently. There’s no excuse for it not being on the tail, in place of that hideous tricolor swoop.

Grade: F

Spirit Airlines has had a tough time of things. If I’m counting right, they’ve gone through four different looks in the past ten years, all of them awful. There’s not much to say about this latest one. It’s only fitting that the country’s most downmarket carrier wear the most downmarket livery. There’s certainly no mistaking it. It’s actually an improvement on the previous scheme, which turned every plane into a box of laundry detergent. The least offensive of Spirit’s attempts, which isn’t saying much, was probably its peculiar black-on-silver motif of a few years ago. I’d like to have been a fly on the wall for that board meeting. “Now, how can we get our planes to look more like ash trays?”

Grade: F

Finally we have Frontier Airlines. Today’s Frontier is no relation to the original Frontier, which ceased operations in 1986, but they’ve gone and resurrected the stylized “F” that was part of the first carrier’s Saul Bass-designed look of the 1970s. It’s a good move, and I like the arrow as well (though not the chunky rectangular part in the back). The animals-on-the-tail thing, though, is getting tired. Put the “F” up there, the way Saul had it.

Grade: C

Not a very impressive report card, is it? But the uglification of airline branding shows no signs of relenting.

On a popular airline message board, one person actually describes the new Etihad look as “elegant.” No, I’m sorry. The JAL crane is “elegant.” Those triangles are showy and nonsensical. Simplicity, people. As has been noted in this space before, a truly iconic logo or livery is one that a child can replicate by hand, from memory, with a pencil. It relies not on color or texture, but on shape, and it is always something simple. Think Lufthansa; the old Pan Am globe; the forsaken “AA” emblem, etc.

If you’ll allow us to switch realms here for a minute, here’s one of the finest examples you’ll ever see…

A few of you have probably recognize it. It’s the logo for the MBTA here in Boston, our mass transit system. The “T” as we call it. I was riding the subway out to Logan the other day and it struck me what a classy and elegant mark that is: an unadorned Helvetica character ringed by a simple circle. It’s perfect. T for timeless. You’ll see it in different variations, sometimes set in a black square.

The circular T logo has been with us since the 1950s. It’s just a matter of time, maybe, before somebody gets the bright idea to pimp it up with some curves and swooshes.

SEE ALSO: Maybe It's Time To Ban Children From First And Business Class

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The global airline industry should see record-breaking profits in 2014, and the key sources of revenue are the myriad fees that annoy passengers so much.

Called ancillary fees, they're what you pay when you want to check a bag, have extra legroom, or change a reservation.

They may seem minor and annoying, but they are an absolute gold mine for airlines.

In 2010, airlines around the world made $22.6 billion in ancillary revenue, worth 4.2% of industry revenue, according to an October 2013 report by IdeaWorks. In 2013, that number will reach $42.6 billion, worth 6% of total revenue.

About half of that comes from commissions for hotel bookings and sale of frequent flier miles. The rest is from "a la carte fees," like the $100 fee Spirit and Frontier charge some passengers for the right to have a carry-on bag.

That extra money is keeping the entire industry in the black.

According to a forecast by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), fuel efficiency, consolidation, and robust passenger demand all play a role in pushing profits up, but ancillaries are especially crucial:

Ancillary revenues are a key driver of improved financial performance. Worldwide ancillary revenues have risen to an estimated $13/passenger. Airlines are underpinning their profitability with innovative products and services.

On a per passenger basis, ancillary revenues are greater than the $5.94/passenger profit that airlines are expected to earn in 2014. Without ancillaries, the industry would be making a loss from its core seat and cargo products.

This IATA chart tells the whole story. Over the past few years, revenue from fares has flatlined, while ancillaries are steadily bringing in more and more money:

According to IdeaWorks, KLM makes €65 million ($89.4 million) annually by charging extra for economy comfort seating. Southwest raked in $161 million with EarlyBird boarding charges in 2012.

So travelers should get used to fees like these, and be prepared for more: They're too effective to disappear anytime soon.

[An earlier version of this post was written by Alex Davies.]

SEE ALSO: Flying Today Is So Much Better Than It Was In The 'Golden Age' Of Aviation

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(Reuters) - The U.S. trade group Airlines for America will meet with health and safety officials Monday to discuss the potential for additional screenings to identify travelers who may have been exposed to the deadly Ebola virus, a spokeswoman said.

The group said the discussion will consider whether adding screenings anywhere in the world may improve existing protections for halting Ebola, such as checks already in place in Liberia, one of the hardest-hit countries in the current outbreak.

(Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)

SEE ALSO: Experts: Fever, Vomiting And Diarrhea Make It Nearly Impossible For Contagious Ebola Victims To Board Planes

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As airlines and airplanes have evolved, so have their "liveries"— the exterior designs, including paint colors and logos, on the aircraft.

As planes crisscross the globe, their exterior graphics not only represent the companies that operate them, but in many instances also serve as visual ambassadors for their respective homelands.

A great airline livery gives onlookers a taste of a carrier's values or its culture's ethos in an attractive and effective color scheme.

Airlines like Southwest, Spirit, and American have recently updated their liveries, with mixed results.

Others have hit home runs. Here's a selection of 15 airline exterior designs that look simply amazing.

15. Air Malta: The national airline of the small Mediterranean island nation recently revamped its livery to feature the Maltese Cross prominently on the tail and wingtips.

14. China Southern Airlines: Based out its hub in the city of Guangzhou, China Southern is the country's largest airline. Its elegant exterior design features a combination of multiple hues of blue with its tail dominated by a brilliant red kapok flower.

13. Asiana: The Seoul, Korea-based airline may not have the eye-catching turquoise paint scheme of its rival — Korean Air — but its simple yet elegant design depicting a blossoming flower is still one of the best around.

With the rising price of airline tickets, travel is becoming more expensive, and more of a luxury.

However, frequent flyer memberships are not only making air travel more affordable — they're expediting the booking process and offering many amenities that extend to the airline's partners as well.

The experts at FindTheBest used a Smart Rating scale to find the best frequent flyer deals across all major airlines. Rankings are based on factors including Web Flyer ratings, benefits, upgrades, and airline alliances.

See which frequent flyer deal works best with your travel needs.

11. Spirit Airlines

The Free Spirit rewards program has a Smart Rating of 60 and offers flights to over 35 destinations. Earned miles expire after three months, but with Free Spirit there are no blackout dates.

10. jetBlue

The True Blue rewards program has a Smart Rating of 66 and travel options to more than 65 destinations. True Blue also has no blackout dates and, with the elite program, you have access to a private booking line as well as free same-day flight changes.

9. Virgin America

The Elevate rewards program has a Smart Rating of 68 and over 20 destinations to choose from. Elevate members' points don't expire for 18 months and elite members can check up to three bags for free.

8. Alaska Airlines

The Mileage Plan has a Smart Rating of 73 and offers flights to over 90 destinations. Earned miles last for two years and can be used with any of Alaska Airline's 14 major airline partners. Elite members can earn up to 250% of miles flown.

7. Southwest Airlines

The Rapid Rewards program has a smart rating of 76 and more than 90 destinations available. The Rapid Rewards program features no blackout dates, a two-year expiration date on miles, and you can redeem points at any of Southwest's nine major hotel partners.

6. U.S. Airways

The Dividend Miles rewards program has a Smart Rating of 81 and flights to a staggering 200+ destinations. Dividend Miles members are automatically members of the Star Alliance, meaning you can redeem Awards Miles with any of the 13 major airline partners and the 19 major hotel partners. 

5. Hawaiian Airlines

The Hawaiian Miles rewards program has a Smart Rating of 84 and over 25 destinations to choose from. Members enjoy priority security screening, free lounge membership, and no blackout dates.

4. American Airlines

The AAdvantage rewards program has a Smart Rating of 91. AAdvantage members can pick from over 150 destinations, and are automatically part of the Oneworld Alliance, which allows them to redeem Award Miles with any of the 16 major airline and four major hotel partners.

3. Frontier Airlines

The Early Returns rewards program has a Smart Rating of 92 and offers flights to more than 80 destinations. Members receive free same-day standby, and elite members can earn up to 200% of miles flown.

2. Delta Airlines 

The SkyMiles rewards program has a Smart Rating of 97 and over 300 destinations to fly to. Members are automatically part of the SkyTeam Alliance, meaning you can redeem Award Miles with any of the company's 22 major airline partners and eight major hotel partners. Elite members can earn up to 275% of miles flown.

1. United Airlines

The Mileage Plus rewards program is the only frequent flyer program with a Smart Rating of 100 and offers flights to over 370 destinations. Mileage Plus members are automatically members of the Star Alliance, meaning you can redeem Awards Miles from any of the 39 major airlines and eight major hotels that United partners with. Elite members can earn up to 350% of miles flown.

SEE ALSO: The 20 Best Airlines In The World

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Flying as a family may soon be an experience parents can almost look forward to – at least if the new vision of Thomson Airways is to be believed.

The company has revealed a five-year plan for its products and services, promising to “change the face of holiday flying” with several innovations.

Among the new concepts is a social seating area for four to six people – designed for larger families – at the back of the company’s new fleet of Boeing 737 Max aircraft. There would be a kids’ club on board longer flights, while an upgraded in-flight entertainment system would include a bedtime story channel for young children as well as bespoke teenage content.

There are also plans to improve the experience for child-free holidaymakers. A new “duo-seating” innovation is being considered, where “three pod style seats” would become a table for two with champagne and mood lighting – “ideal for customers holidaying at adults only properties.”

According to the company’s overview of “planned product and service innovations”, new “zoning” seat plans may also be introduced, allowing customers to book seats with extra legroom, or sit in dedicated family areas or child-free zones.

A duvet and pillow service could also be included on the company’s two new Dreamliner aircraft, as well as a “Beach Snack Bar” in the plane's Premium Club Cabin, where food and drinks are themed around the destination.

The airline is also considering training up a member of cabin crew with extensive knowledge of the resort destination, who can mill about the plane on short-haul flights and advise fliers about what they can see and do on arrival.

Several of the concepts are being considered possible rather than confirmed. A Thomson spokeswoman said: “The seating concepts are in development and we’re looking at these for the arrival of our 737MAX aircrafts in 2018.”

The on-board kids’ club is due to be trialled next year, along with the new inflight entertainment.

SEE ALSO: 15 Things Every Great Airport Needs

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A passenger onboard the MH17 plane that crashed during its flight over war-torn east Ukraine was wearing an oxygen mask, the outgoing Dutch Foreign Minister, Frans Timmermans, has said.

The implication of the statement was that the 298 passengers on board the flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur might not have died immediately when the plane was hit, as was originally believed.

"Did they hold the hands of their loved ones, did they hug their children?" Timmermans said in an interview on the Dutch television show PAUW on Wednesday night, painting a harrowing image of a possible scenario of the final seconds of the victims' lives.

However, Robert Mann president of R.W Mann & Co, an airline industry consultancy service, told Bloomberg that although the oxygen mask on a victim pointed to the passengers having "time to react to mask availability and don a mask" it remained plausible that a detached mask could have become tangled around the victim's neck in the devastation that followed.

Wednesday was not the first time that Timmersmans — who has since apologized for upsetting victims' relatives — has made emotive statements about the crash. In an address to the UN Security Council just four days after the plane was downed, the Dutch politician, who will soon leave his post to take up a new position as the deputy to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, imagined the horror passengers could have felt "when they knew the plane was going down" and wondered whether they had the opportunity to look in each other's eyes "one final time, in an unarticulated goodbye".

A statement released by the Dutch public prosecutor confirmed an oxygen mask was found on a passenger amidst the wreckage although a spokesman said it was around the victim's neck, not their mouth and had been sent for DNA and fingerprint testing. Dutch media have reported that victim wearing the oxygen mask was an Australian national.

All passengers on board the flight were killed in the incident, including 83 children.

A preliminary report into the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 released on September 9 found that the plane broke up in mid-air after being hit by a "large number of high-energy objects" that "pierced the plane at high speed." The document, released by the Dutch Safety Board, said that there was no evidence of "technical or human error."

The initial findings of the investigation are consistent with the claims made by Kiev and its Western allies, who say they have strong evidence that the pro-Russia rebels fighting government forces shot down the plane with a Buk anti-aircraft missile, but the report stopped short of attributing blame for who fired the shot that hit the flight.

The team looking into the incident have been forced to conduct much of their investigation from photographs after heavy fighting in the area has prevented experts from accessing the site to carry out a full examination of the wreckage and debris from the crash, which is spread out over several square miles.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the seating position of the mask-wearing passenger can be compared to the mapped catalog of wreckage from the crash site. Whilst the oxygen mask is unlikely to have a significant influence on the direction of the investigation team's inquiries, the WSJ says it may provide insights into the final moments of the doomed passengers onboard the flight.

A de facto no fly zone is now in force over Ukraine's east as most major airline carriers immediately began re-routing their flights following the fatal crash. At least a dozen Ukrainian fighter jets had already been downed by the pro-Russia forces fighting the government in the region during the weeks prior to the MH17 tragedy.

Despite a ceasefire signed by all warring parties in the conflict on September 5, violence has continued to flare along the frontline of fighting in east Ukraine.

A major hotspot is Donetsk airport where shelling by both sides is a near-daily occurrence. At least $205 million was spent renovating the airport prior to the recent Euro 2012 soccer tournament but several months of heavy fighting in the area has now reduced the building's impressive glass structure to rubble.

Misfired shells have repeatedly hit the nearby residential district of Kyivskiy in the northwest of Donetsk city, on one occasion killing at least nine people when a bus and school playground were hit.

However, despite the ongoing clashes Ukraine's president, Petro Poroshenko, whose self-named party is fighting the upcoming election on a campaign with the supposed peace deal at its center, has not yet declared the official end of the ceasefire. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for October 26.

The overall monthly civilian casualty rate has dropped sharply in the month since the peace deal came into effect, the latest United Nations statistics released on Tuesday showed, though the conflict is still claiming an average of 10 lives per day.

Since fighting broke out in mid-April an estimated 3,660 people are thought to have been killed and a further one million displaced by the conflict.

A full report into the downing of MH17 is expected by the end of the year the team investigating the crash have said. So far only 262 bodies of the 298 passengers onboard the flight have been identified. The crash, which killed more than 190 Dutch nationals, has hit the Netherlands hard but Timmersman said that he hoped the country would be able to move forward from the disaster. "There is a life before and after MH17" said the Dutch politician.

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Airline stocks are getting crushed on Monday as the sector appears to be bearing the brunt of fears about Ebola and a global economic slowdown.

In afternoon trade on Monday, shares of United were down 8%, Delta was down 7%, American Airlines was down 6%, Southwest was down 5%, and JetBlue was down 5%. 

It's been a terrible couple of days for the airlines, with each of these stocks losing more than 13% over the past five trading days, with American Airlines' 19% decline over that period outpacing peers. 

A report from Bloomberg on Monday said that officials at the CDC rejected calls from some lawmakers to impose travel bans as the Ebola outbreak has spread from West Africa to the US and Europe.

On Monday, the identity of the second Ebola patient in Dallas was made public. Nina Pham, 26, is reportedly a nurse in Dallas who was caring from Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. 

Monday's decline in airline stocks came after last week a number of travel companies focused on Europe, including International Consolidated Airlines, which owns British Airways, and Carnival Cruises, saw shares fall after the first case of Ebola was confirmed in Spain.

The drop in airline and travel stocks also comes amid concerns over slowing global economic growth, particularly from the eurozone.

Here's the brutal five-day chart of some major US airlines, including Delta, American, United, Southwest, and JetBlue.

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Airline stocks are rolling over.

In late morning trade, shares of airline operators including United, American, Delta, and Southwest were falling after news broke that a second Texas nurse diagnosed with Ebola virus flew from Cleveland to Dallas on October 13.

United, American, and Delta shares were down 4%, as were shares of Republic Airways, which is the former parent company of Frontier Airlines. 

Southwest shares were down about 2%. 

According to the CDC, the 29-year-old healthcare worker, Amber Jay Vinson, flew on a Frontier Airlines flight from Cleveland to Dallas earlier this week, and currently the CDC is trying to get in touch with all passengers that were on that flight.

On Monday, amid a broad market sell off, airline stocks were among the worst performers, and are following a similar pattern on Wednesday.

Here's the intraday chart showing the sell off in airline stocks on Wednesday.

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(Reuters) - U.S. airlines are expected to report healthy third-quarter profits as jet fuel costs keep declining, even though their stocks have plunged on concerns that Ebola will discourage travel, analysts said.

Delta Air Lines kicks off earnings season Thursday with what is expected to be a stronger performance than in 2013. Earlier this month, the airline projected a quarterly operating margin of 15 to 16 percent, excluding one-time charges that would cut these numbers in half.

Yet rather than applaud any third-quarter gains, investors will focus on whether the current-quarter outlook has darkened because of renewed competition and macroeconomic concerns such as Ebola.

Shares of Delta, American Airlines and United Airlines have dropped more than 18 percent on average in the last month on fears that people will cut travel to reduce the chance of catching Ebola.

Analysts say positive guidance coupled with jet fuel savings could reverse the stocks' downward trend.

The stocks "have been very, very weak, but there's no reason for them to be," said Cowen & Co analyst Helane Becker. "We think that guidance for the fourth quarter is likely to be up, not down."

Buying American Airlines shares now almost guarantees gains, according to a JPMorgan report by analyst Jamie Baker published Tuesday. The stock's value has fallen 30 percent in the last 30 trading days. When shares of Continental Airlines and post-merger United have fallen by 30 percent, which has happened 28 times since 1993, they rebounded with an average gain of about 103 percent, Baker wrote.

FUEL SAVINGS

Jet fuel, which represents 35 percent of U.S. airlines' operating costs, has fallen about 12 percent over the past month to levels unseen since 2010, Becker said.

The savings go straight to American's bottom line because it does not hedge fuel costs. But other carriers likely will see smaller potential gains.

A Trefis report anticipated that Delta will incur $350 million in charges this quarter from fuel hedge settlements. Southwest Airlines said in an interview earlier this month that it is hedging less, though still actively managing fuel costs.

Cheaper fuel usually leads to lower airfares and passenger revenue, Becker and UBS analyst Darryl Genovesi said. So the amount of fuel savings that airlines actually will keep remains in question.

"We're in a period of elevated macroeconomic uncertainty, so there is some concern that the airlines will see declining unit revenues," Genovesi added, citing the potential for slowing global economic growth, crises in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as to Ebola.

Still, Genovesi expects a modest rise in unit revenue, or passenger revenue per available seat mile, in the fourth quarter. Despite Ebola fears, holiday travel bookings data through Oct. 5 suggest demand is close to unchanged from last year. But "it is certainly possible that demand has deteriorated over the past 10 days," he said.

COMPETITION AND SURPRISES

Investors also will scrutinize airlines' recent moves into new markets. Delta has announced nine daily flights from Los Angeles to Texas, continuing the Atlanta-based carrier's incursion into strongholds of American Airlines.

Fort Worth-based American has since unveiled nonstop service between Los Angeles and Delta's Atlanta home.

If "new flights are being added purely for reciprocation" rather than for expected profit, that is "something we'd prefer not to see," Genovesi said.

United and Southwest offer the biggest potential earnings surprises. Considered a "laggard" in previous quarters, United recently revised its forecast for this quarter's passenger revenue per available seat mile to the upper limit of its original estimate, making it an industry leader by that measure, said consultant Robert Mann and Becker.

Southwest is expected to gain from aggressive route expansion. It now can fly nonstop from Dallas Love Field to anywhere in the lower 48 states after a state statute banning such flights expired Monday.

Southwest also is adding international destinations and transcontinental routes after regulators approved the American-US Airways merger on the condition that they open up slots at New York LaGuardia and Washington DC Ronald Reagan airports for other carriers.

(Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin; Editing by Alwyn Scott and Richard Chang)

SEE ALSO: Here's Your Ebola Survival Guide For Airplanes, From The CDC

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In September, Air France's pilots conducted a strike that lasted over two weeks.

The strike cost $25 million dollars a day and put a halt to a plan that could have created significant long-term financial savings for the French national carrier.

Now Lufthansa pilots have followed suit, staging their fifth strike this year over a similar set of labor issues.

Like Air France, the German national airline wants to expand low-cost operations. As Reuters reported, this will enable Lufthansa to go toe-to-toe with budget carriers such as Ryanair and easyJet on short-haul European routes.

According to Reuters, the Lufthansa pilots union is "fighting to keep a scheme that allows pilots to retire at the age of 55 and still receive up to 60 percent of their pay before regular pension payments start at 65."

The Air France strike came in response to the airline's recent announcement of a billion-dollar plan focused on expanding Air France-KLM's Transavia low-cost subsidiary. The project calls for an investment of $1.3 billion over 5 years, as well as the addition of 50 new aircraft and 250 pilots to Transavia's roster by 2017. 

Air France flight crews demanded that all of the company's pilots work under the same compensation scheme. According to the Wall Street Journal, annual compensation for Air France pilots start at $100,000 and can reach $300,000.

The arrival of low-cost carriers has significantly disrupted business-as-usual for European air travel.

Low cost airlines like Ryanair, easyJet, and Norwegian Air Shuttle have grown rapidly over the past few years. In Air France's case, with Ryanair and easyJet expanding operations out of Paris, the airline's short haul business has been rendered financially unfeasible. 

This is an issue that's plaguing all of Europe's major international airlines, including Lufthansa. British Airways, and KLM are also grappling with the pressure. In the last five years, business for Europe's major international carriers has grown by just 3%, but the continent's budget airlines have grown a whopping 54%, reported the Wall Street Journal.In fact, 5.5 million more people a year fly on budget airlines than on Europe's major international carriers. Not only do these budget airlines offer cheaper fares, they also offer much lower salaries and stingier benefit packages. 

As a result, Europe's older airlines are desperate to cut costs to have even a fighting chance at profitability. 

In the end, both sides believe that they must negotiate a settlement. But there's potentially a long way to go before these issues can be effectively resolved.

As the Journal's David Gauthier-Villars writes, "[The]employees say they feel they are being relegated to coach and fear their sacrifices may never be sufficient."

The airline industry, regardless of price point, has drifted towards the low-cost model. Efficiency is the name of the game, and unfortunately, salaries and benefits may be the collateral damage.

SEE ALSO: MythBusters: Airlines Are Boarding Their Planes All Wrong!

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