Torsten Koerting was a worker at the Brisbane headquarters of Virgin Blue until November, when the company decided to knock him back from a promotion. The former employee sent out a parting e-mail to the other workers, along with an attachment containing the NextGen board game, which was created in the format of Snakes and Ladders.

The game starts players out in the hangar, where they work toward the “decision” that is 50 spaces away. From the beginning to the end there are hazards, which are the slides and ladders, along the way. There are also action cards that have either bonuses or penalties, which seem to be based on decision making process for a business. Other cards take a shot at dealing with long meetings, pointless project requirements, workplace bureaucracy, and disinterested managers.

Mr. Koerting makes a comparison between how hard it is to reach the end of the board game to making real life decisions at Virgin Blue. He said that some of the scenarios portrayed in the game were based on some of the situations they were faced with, and other workers gave their input into the game as well. Brett Godfrey’s face, the Chief Executive of the company, was even used on a game piece.

Virgin Blue didn’t make any comments in response to requests, and neither did Mr. Koerting.

Find out more about the airline at: www.virginblue.com.au

Brett Godfrey, the Chief Executive of Virgin Blue, said that the strong brand awareness of Pacific Blue will bring many benefits, including making the Solomon Islands more popular. Prime Minister Dr. Derek Sikua says that his government, along with the nations people, are welcoming of the new flights between these two destinations from Pacific Blue. The airline has received permission in line with the open air policy of the government, as well as the government’s desire to increase the tourist arrivals in the country, he added.

The Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau says that the new flights will aid in strengthening the traffic of passengers into the country, as well as increase the arrival of visitors. The tourism industry, bureau, and stakeholders are working in order to promote the Solomon Islands as a destination for visitors. The Solomon Islands consists of almost 1,000 islands and is one of the few clusters of islands to remain unspoilt, offering many leisure, adventurous, and historical opportunities. Travelers can dive among the wreckage of World War II, as well as experience the heritage of rare crafts, arts, and eco-tourism.

Find out more information about the airline at: www.flypacificblue.com

Qantas planned to send an A330 that has a capacity of nearly 300 passengers to Phuket. A spokesman says that the carrier has been given approval from the authorities in Thailand to service a flight from Phucket to Singapore. The existing holders of Qantas tickets were given first priority on the plane, and the remaining seats were made available for Australian nationals.

Alan Joyce, the Chief Executive Officer for Qantas, said that the carrier would be operating their first special flight for relief to the travelers who are stranded in Thailand. They have been doing all that they can in order to support their passengers and the other Australians who have been stranded, he continued, and this includes liaising with the government on what can be done. He added that there will also be a second flight operated on Wednesday morning.

Joyce also said that Jetstar would be operating their Melbourne to Bangkok flights through Phuket as well and will continue operating the scheduled Sydney and Phuket flights 3 times a week. These 3 flights will allow 900 seats in and out of Thailand, he said, and the airline will keep monitoring the situation closely while adding more flights if needed.

Get more information about the carrier at: www.qantas.com.au

Cathay Pacific made the first flight bound for Hong Kong a priority for the ticket holders and their staff. No additional fees were added for those who were holding a valid Cathay Pacific ticket. However, the flights were also open to passengers who were ticketholders of other carriers if the space was available, but they would have to pay for a ticket with cash only because of limited facilities at the Utapao Airport. The airline also said that they would deliver further services if they were necessary.

Singapore Airlines also announced that they would operate 2 flights on Saturday, as well as another 2 flights on Sunday. The flights were set to leave from the Utapao Airport at 2pm and 7pm local time. They also said that further flights may go out during the week if needed.

Thailand’s police revealed that about 4,000 protesters occupied Suvarnabhumi International Airport on Friday for the 4^th day, and thousands covered government buildings and blocked access to roads in the capital as well. The travel industry council of Hong Kong estimated that around 500 Hong Kong travelers were stranded in the city during the protests. Until noon the immigration department of Hong Kong said that they had received 84 requests and 510 inquiries about assistance in relation to the Thailand situation.

Learn more about these 2 airlines at: www.cathaypacific.com -or- www.singaporeair.com

The forecast is a comparison to the pre-tax profit record of AU$1.41 billion from the prior fiscal year. Dixon, who is going to step down from his position later in the week, said that Qantas would reduce their capacity to the same as grounding 10 planes in addition to the cut of capacity announced earlier. By doing this, he continued, they are going to have the flexibility to turn the growth back on when the conditions of the market are better. The world is in an uncertain period, and the business markets have slowed, he added.

Qantas said in May that they would cut capacity by 5% via axing routes, jobs, and services, as well as retire a number of planes in order to battle the high price of fuel. Dixon said that the additional cuts will involve the airline not taking up the two A330-200 aircraft leases, changing some of the planes’ flying patterns, and even stopping all of the planned growth in the domestic market for Qantas and Jetstar, their budget offshoot.

Get more information about the airline at: www.qantas.com.au

Rob Gurney, the General Manager of Sales And Distribution for Qantas Airways, said that Argentina has become a famous destination for travelers departing from Australia, and they are seeing more and more growth in passenger numbers between Australia and South America.

The new services are going to allow Qantas to grow leisure and business travel in and out South America, he continued, as well as strengthen links in trade and tourism. He also noted that they are going to offer passengers destination connections to other parts of South America as well, including Brazil.

Qantas previously operated flights from Auckland to Buenos Aires from 1998 to 2002. Mr. Gurney said that they have kept their operating flights to South America through their successful code share agreement with LAN Airlines, their oneworld partner, since that time. Qantas Airways is now going keep offering 6 services every week from Sydney to Santiago,Chile, Gurney added.

The move to initiate services to Buenos Aires comes despite the financial deterioration of the economy, as well as a series of unlucky events that have plagued the customers of Qantas and the Qantas fleet, in what may be considered keeping the ball rolling and proving that they are still a top airline that passengers can trust.

Find out more about these services and the airline itself at: www.qantas.com.au

The new building is now the bathhouse, containing a steam room, specialty monsoon showers, a special relaxation deck, and 3 pools. It also has 1940s spa couches, which seem like torture devises instead of pleasurable relaxation tools to the untrained eye. The new building’s design is bold and brave, paying tribute to the Victorian style architecture with the use of block building and wood, granite, and bluestone.

The luxury of the Hepburn Bathhouse and Spa comes from its 12 private bathrooms, which each have a concrete block with a carved out bath. Even though they may seem cold and hard at first, each one is molded for comfort. Also, when the bath is filled with steaming water and essential oils, it is pure bliss.

Kim Whitehouse, the General Manager, encourages travelers to visit each of the complexes. She says that they could go straight to the Spa, however, they would miss much of the fun without visiting the bathhouse. The bathhouse is a central part of the experience at Hepburn Bathhouse and Spa, she continued. Whitehouse also recommends relaxing and unwinding for about 2 hours, as well as spending 15 minutes in one of the 3 pools.

Find out more about the bathhouse and spa at: www.hepburnbathhouse.com

This move comes as part of the group’s broader plan for cutting costs and increasing acquisitions. Macquarie Group announced the strategy last week with their results for the first half of the year, saying that they will move away from the pure investment banking model, as well as raising the potential for hundreds of lost jobs.

It was reported that the majority of the cuts will come from the real estate business of Macquarie Group, which lost $132 million from April to September, and they said that the are facing an extremely challenging economic environment.

A spokesperson for the Sydney Airport told The Sydney Morning Herald that the airport isn’t immune to the global financial crisis’ challenges or the issues that are confronting the industry locally and worldwide both. They also said that the cuts will affect workers across every aspect of the company, as well as at varying levels. The cuts come with signs that the Sydney Airport is going to suffer their first significant dip in passenger and revenue figures since the SARS crisis in 2003.

Last Tuesday, Macquarie Group posted a $604 million net profit for the first half of the year, which is 43% down, while they shouldered a hit of $395 million from significant one-off expenses, along with a total of $1.14 billion in writedowns.

Get more information about the airport and its owner at: www.sydneyairport.com.au -or- www.macquarie.com

The promotion, which offers over 100,000 seats, is going to be available on all of the domestic routes, except for flights that depart and arrive in Perth. Passengers can take advantage of the promotion from November 19^th to 25^th, or until the seats are sold out.

Rosalynn Tay, the Managing Director at Tiger Airways Singapore, stated that the economy could not ask for a better stimulus than free air travel seats. This is their way of pepping up tourism in the current economic climate, she continued. All that passengers will need to pay for are taxes, convenience fees, airport charges, and the seat is free, she added.

The sale is only one of many aggressive promotions that airlines are undertaking in order to deter the decline in air travel demand. Qantas, for example, announced an international sale of two tickets for the price of one when the demand for air travel began to give them a pinch. Due to the promotion selling thousands of seats, the carrier decided to offer the sale for longer.

Shelley Robers, the Managing Director for Tiger Airways, said that, in their experience, European passengers who are budget-conscious have started to turn to low-cost airlines, and they foresee this same thing beginning to pan out in Australia.

Visit www.tigerairways.com to learn more about the airline.

David Cox, the General Manager of Engineering for Qantas, said that the two aircrafts had come in contact during towing at about 9:30 on Tuesday morning. In a statement, Cox said that both of the planes did sustain some damages, which were being assessed.

One of the planes has reportedly suffered nose cone damage, and the other one has wing damage. A spokeswoman for Qantas didn’t comment on the damage’s extent, but both aircrafts have been grounded.

The image of the airline has been battered following the series of mishaps and bad luck, which includes a midair plunge last month that hospitalized around 40 passengers. Investigators from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said that an irregularity in one of the computers on the plane could have been the cause of the plunge.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority issued a report in September that cleared Qantas from any system failures in their maintenance program. However, they identified emerging problem signs in the ability of the carrier to meet the benchmarks set for internal safety.

Find out more about the airline at: www.quantas.com.au