Simon Calder

Simon Calder: The seven classes of Man, Antarctic style

The man who pays his way

Inside Simon Calder

Simon Calder: Want a no-impact break? Holiday at home

Saturday, 7 November 2009

South Africa, Lapland, Morocco: three of the destinations featured in today's Independent Traveller, along with plenty of advice about cheap air fares. This newspaper has always had an awkward tension between its environmental credentials and the fact that, every Saturday, it is accompanied by a travel section about inspiring journeys across the world.

Simon Calder: Why Walsh is turning to Spain to relieve BA's pain

Saturday, 7 November 2009

"We'll take more care of you," the British Airways slogan used to run. "Fly the flag." These days, within Europe, many more of us fly the harp (Ryanair) or the orange splodge (easyJet). BA's chief executive, Willie Walsh, has many burdens to shoulder, from strike-prone cabin crew to a ballooning pension deficit. But at the core of BA's startling loss of £16.50 for every passenger it carried during the summer is the traveller's changing perception of value.

Simon Calder: My predictions for a winter of discontent

Saturday, 31 October 2009

Check the date. Two months from tonight, we will mark the end of the first decade of the 21st century: the most tumultuous 10 years in recent history, and especially so in the travel business.

Simon Calder: This could be a fight to the death

Tuesday, 27 October 2009

Shortly before noon yesterday, the "ABBA Principle" kicked in. Until the present bitter dispute between BA management and cabin crew is resolved, "Anybody But British Airways" will be the refrain of passengers who cannot afford to risk disruption.

Simon Calder: A reckless ramble down the Ramblas

Saturday, 17 October 2009

Spanish police and British consular officials in Barcelona have quite enough on their platos without my adding to their workload.

Simon Calder: Reform is welcome but it could prove expensive

Monday, 12 October 2009

The travel industry has only a tenuous connection with the normal conventions of commerce – largely because holidaymakers are buying a dream. People typically book and pay for their purchases months ahead, taking delivery only when they turn up at Gatwick, Dover or a half-built hotel in Albania.

Simon Calder: Can't remember the Sixties? You can still go there

Saturday, 10 October 2009

One virtue of the 1960s: the dreadful term "staycation" was a good four decades from being coined. At the time, mind, the majority of Brits had no option but to holiday at home. Even though the package-holiday industry was expanding rapidly, the government did its utmost to keep us at home with a limit on overseas spending of just £50. So the best way to travel vicariously was to visit exotic locations in Britain that distilled the essence of Abroad and served it up to the passer-by.

Simon Calder: Like clockwork: trains on track for the future

Saturday, 3 October 2009

"Complaints" and "trains" are as old as rail travel itself, but here's a new one: in the latest National Rail Trends report from the Office of Rail Regulation, the trains watchdog grumbles it "is unable to publish complaints data for Q1 2009-10", because the train operators failed to send in the information in time. In the next breath, the ORR apologises, in the manner of a station announcer, "for any inconvenience this may cause".

Simon Calder: Coping with our comedy currency

Saturday, 26 September 2009

Italian banks, I learnt from a recent report on Radio 4's Today programme, are lending money secured against Parmesan cheeses. The BBC's man in Rome, Duncan Kennedy, explained how putting hard cheese in hock could soften cash-flow crises for cheesemakers. In the event of the dairy defaulting, the banks sell the cheese "to recuperate their losses".

Simon Calder: Gimme gimme gimme...a meal after 10am

Saturday, 1 August 2009

Can you hear the drums? While British Airways battles on in what its chief executive calls a "fight for survival", the airline's misfortunes are chiming with the songbook of Sweden's only supergroup.

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