The 2009 World Airline Road Race - Hangzhou, China

July 26, 4:31 PMOrlando Airlines ExaminerHeather Mark

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Photo courtesy vapour trail, Flickr Creative Commons

Judging airlines by Wall Street and Madison Avenue standards, the airline industry is pretty cutthroat. Analysts throw around terms like CASM, RASM, ex-fuel and net income margins in order to draw comparisons among carriers. Advertisers take a “my plane is cooler than your plane” attitude. It kind of gives the impression that each airline is its own little clique just waiting for the opportunity to scratch the others’ eyes out.

On the front line, we have a very symbiotic relationship. American employees commute to work on Southwest. AirTran flight crews are accommodated on JetBlue. We all go on vacation on Delta, Virgin Atlantic and Continental. And for less than a bag of Hershey’s Kisses (although we never turn down chocolate), we can be persuaded to comp drinks for all our competitors.

We’re all in this together. We all have the same mile-high experiences regardless of what shade of navy blue we wear. It’s only natural that we declare WARR on one another.

WARR is the World Airline Road Race, and for 27 years airline employees have turned up to races on five continents to run the WARR 5k and 10k. It might be the biggest sporting event you’ve never heard of. Over 100 airlines are represented from around the world, from commercial to cargo to airplane manufacturers. Individual and team trophies are awarded according to a number of criteria including airline size, distance from the race location, and of course, speed.

On September 13, the 2009 WARR will be run in Hangzhou, China. World Airline Road Race destinations are determined when a sponsor team decides to be the host. WARR 2009 is hosted by TinBo Travel and is helping to arrange hotel rooms and airline seats for WARR participants. The WARR of 2010 is being held in London and is sponsored by British Airways.

I had the opportunity to talk about the WARR experience with participants from WestJet and Southwest Airlines. Stay tuned for those interviews coming up this week. Until then, read more about WARR at www.WorldAirlineRoadRace.org.

 Follow me! Keep in touch with Heather Mark's latest updates on Twitter, @HeatherMark.