Eurostar - driving business back to the airlines

I was horrified to be woken up at dawn this morning by a colleague stranded at the Eurostar ticket desk in London.
Along with several other media freelances she was in possession of a reference number and confirmation email to collect her ticket to Paris. The tickets had been ordered weeks before online with the confirmations sent out.
For some strange reason, Eurostar rules say the traveller has to be in possession of the credit card on which the booking was made.
Fortunately the banking system doesn't allow the duplicating of their credit cards to send out to freelances. A shame really, As a frequent traveller on other people's accounts it would be fun to have a collection of Platinum corporate cards from some of my blue-chip sponsors. But they don't.
The freelances were asked by Eurostar to purchase new tickets and were assured a rebate would be given on the discount tickets already purchased.
Is this a way to drive up revenue?
Sensibly, the early morning wake-up call was made. A compromise was found. If we could give the postcode of the billing address of the card Eurostar would release the ticket.
Ironically, the same day that the Eurostar tickets were booked and paid for, tickets were purchased for non-card carrying colleagues on Virgin Atlantic and US Air. Both sets of travellers were welcomed without hassle.
So Eurostar, it will be the airlines for us next time.

Airbus - keeping heads down

I have just heard that Airbus is about to disappear from public viewing. The European manufacturer has withdrawn its advertising from trade and public media around the world as a mark of respect to those who lost their lives in the Air France crash earlier this week.
That seems like an odd decision to me.
Air France has handled the tragedy extremely well. Within hours of the crash being suspected the airline had taken away the graphic element of its website and reflected the sorrow.
It did still take bookings and carried on with its business.
The protection of a brand is as important when times are bad as it is when things are going well.
Airbus is currently facing one of the toughest sales times in its history. The airline industry is suffering. It has several programmes facing scrutiny by the industry.
And so it hides.
Everyone associated with the aviation industry shares the sorrow and the grief regarding that ill-fated flight. We know it is a rarity. But people must keep flying. Airlines must continue to invest in new aircraft that are well built, that are technologically superior and above all safe. Aircraft manufacturers should be shouting from the rooftops not hiding in their shells ... unless of course they know something different.