Communications specialist Ian Carr is such a meticulous planner that he starts
preparing for a long haul flight several days before he is due to depart.
“If I’m going on an overnight flight, I’ll make sure I have less sleep on the
nights leading up to the flight so that I’m tired when I leave. It’s
tricking my body into sleeping on the aircraft. There is nothing worse than
being caught out and finding that you are absolutely whacked after a couple
of days in a long-haul destination, especially when you’ve got to work long
hours during the day and you need to take important clients out to dinner.”
Carr, 46, is managing director of radio communications specialist Team Simoco,
which manufactures radio equipment and provides private mobile radio systems
to the emergency services, utility companies, government agencies and oil
and gas companies. It has 70 staff in the UK, 100 in Australia and a small
number in various countries around the world. Team Simoco does not reveal
its profit figures, but is part of Spice plc, which reported profit before
tax of £23.3m in the year to April 2009. On average, Carr travels overseas
on business every three weeks.
Any other tricks for getting sleep on a flight?
Other people take sleeping tablets but I don’t. I’ll just make sure I’m very
tired for the flight. I go business class and sleep on a flat bed but I’ll
also take my pyjamas. Lots of people pay the extra money for a business
class flight and then sleep with their clothes on, which I always think is a
bit odd. How many times would you do that at home? You’ve got to make
yourself feel that you are in a bed and having a proper night’s sleep. It
doesn’t always work. I went to Australia and I thought I had it cracked, but
by about day three it caught up with me and I was whacked.
What about day time flights?
Again, it’s all about planning. I’ll always have my laptop and briefing notes
to prepare for the meeting and have the profile notes of the people I’m
going to meet. If you are travelling during the day, you really have to
treat it like a business day to get the most out of the journey. But also, I
do like to relax and have a glass of wine with a meal, but I don’t drink
beer during the flight. I take plenty of reading material. It’s usually
associated with what I’m going to do. Sometimes, I’ll take the opportunity
to catch up on some trade press but wouldn’t usually read a novel. I’m not a
big fan of music, but I’ve got an iPod and it’s usually got stuff like
Eminem on there because my 14-year-old daughter will have loaded it on. I
like dramas and watching a French film with subtitles.
Do you always travel business class?
Usually on the long flights I’ll travel business class with Cathay Pacific or
British Airways. Sometimes I go premium economy on shorter flights, but it’s
difficult to sleep on a bed that doesn’t go flat. I don’t like that
sensation of slipping down the seat and trying to keep on by putting your
feet on the foot rest. On short haul flights I’ll just go economy because
it’s not worth paying extra on a short flight.
Do you travel heavy or light?
I do tend to travel quite heavy because I plan for every occasion. I have
turned up and met people sometimes who have baulked at the size of my
luggage. I’ll have lots of pairs of shoes, so I suppose I’m not very good at
travelling light and just check stuff into the hold. But it can be a problem
if you are going on an internal flight when you are away and don’t want to
check your luggage in. We’ve got an office in Beijing in China, so I can
leave the bulk of my stuff there if I’m going off on an internal flight for
a few days and coming back.
Do you arrive at airports early or late?
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