The APAC region will go through a period of severe overcapacity. We all know this. Some airlines can lease aircraft to get around any problems, others will be caught in the market share war, such as JetStar, but Tony Fernandes has been scouting around the APAC region looking to expand out of possible future trouble by being a one-man army of consolidation. We hear from various sources that he has been meeting with Tigerair to try and do a deal. Tigerair is in trouble. You could argue that I jumped the gun a bit by saying they were going to go down back in 2011, but one thing you cannot argue with – any deal between Tigerair and AirAsia would be a very good thing indeed for the APAC airline market. Whether it is slots, assets or a buyout of a chunk of shares or for all of Tigerair, then this is great news for all in this industry. Watch this space.
Meanwhile, you will recall that this service has been using its deep knowledge of operational risk over the past four years to put forward various scenarios regarding cyber terrorism that will affect this industry over the next few years. Now it is time again for us to ask: Should aircraft be connected to the internet? I foresee a time when connectivity is banned by authorities because of the dangers from cyber attacks.
Yesterday an American Airlines flight carrying the president of Sony Online Entertainment had to make an emergency landing following a threat by a group of hackers via Twitter that there was a bomb in the cargo hold. The hackers are the same group that crashed the PlayStation Network and other gaming services via a DDoS attack this weekend. The American Airlines flight heading to San Diego was diverted to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Arizona. The FBI is currently investigating.
Although this time the hackers didn’t threaten to hack the actual aircraft, it is a potential threat that all airlines need to consider with more seriousness. All aircraft owners should consider the drawbacks of internet connectivity and risk managers at airlines should really be asking themselves – is flying over Iraq or Syria at 33,000 feet any more dangerous than internet connectivity allowing a hacker to gain access to certain systems? Time and again we read about reporting systems and the like being hacked and the perpetrators amazingly being able to break down isolation protocols to gain access to other systems. We are going through an age of rapid change where hackers are seemingly one step ahead, or at the very least able to catch-up with and dismantle defences at amazing speed. Beware.
AirAsia sets sights on Tigerair
