Aviation Discussion

[atillathehunn]

£10 departure fee is neither here nor there to me as it's a jolly. But even so it's a bit galling.

I have no idea about AUH guesting policy! It's a long way to go for a massage and some champers though...

One job offer I'm fielding would see me in AUH a lot. Going all the way for a glass of bubbles otherwise would be a little much.

 

[gsnedders]

Very brief report: flew GLA-AMS-WAW (Warsaw) today, on KLM 737-700 and 737-800. First flight was fine, second flight it seemed like the seat was much less comfortable, maybe just worn out? Hardest part was trying to figure out ticketing and timetables and stops for the train when I got here! Nice train, though! (Pesa Elf, seemingly, looking this up.)

 

[Techniquest]

There will be a video In fact I plan on making a lot of content from the trip, a separate video of each of the four legs, plus a lounge focus on Etihad's lounge in AUH.

The bulk of my flights are quite mundane enthusiast's jollies. Next trip is Norwich to Exeter on FlyBe, partly because I've always wanted to use Norwich, and partly because they have the "Multiyork Executive Lounge" there for Priority Pass cardholders (Multiyork being a boring furniture company) which sounds so Alan Partridge it makes me weep with joy.

I look forward to the videos in that case

Reading that second paragraph again suggests you're going to Exeter *just* to do the route and score an airport. Fair game to you there, I've never done that yet. Chosen routes for winning airports/airlines/craft, but always as part of a bigger trip, never just gone somewhere just for a flight with no trip before/after it. Yet! I'm not close enough to an airport and I have awful transport links at my end of the line to make it unjustifiable to do a day trip, so not even a quick spin to Dublin and back can be done without hotel nights. If I'm going to do that I might as well form a full trip around it, and I intend to do so when the new tram line is open in Dublin. Not that I want some Guiness in Madigans again...

More importantly, do enjoy your trip on Flybe. My second favourite airline and I really need to get back on their flights again. Well, I will be in August but that's ages away!

I can thoroughly recommend Priority Pass, by the way, for enthusiasts who do a lot of economy travel - and particularly if you're copping different airlines and not building status with any alliance. A few reasons - all lounges have a guaranteed charge point for your devices, great if you're going to be taking photos or video. You'll get a drink and maybe even lunch in there. Most of them are quiet and have wifi. Some lounges also have preferential views over the airport. Example use case - I flew LGW-BFS on Ryanair a couple of weeks back. So no onboard food, nothing. But my card got me into the No1 Lounge at LGW South, where I had a free breakfast, two coffees, good wifi to send some emails, and a commanding view over the runway. There are a lot of PP-accessible lounges at UK regional airports. Don't expect luxury or the land of milk and honey, but some people might find the card valuable.

I had not previously heard of Priority Pass, however I like the sound of it. Do you have a link to more information on it? I must confess to not flying as much as I'd like to, but it sounds like it would be ultra useful.

 

[Butts]

I had not previously heard of Priority Pass, however I like the sound of it. Do you have a link to more information on it? I must confess to not flying as much as I'd like to, but it sounds like it would be ultra useful.

Have a look on Money Saving Expert - they have just launched a new section about Airline Lounges and how to get into them on the cheap.

 

[Bletchleyite]

There's also Dragonpass, I think it may be a little cheaper.

 

[theageofthetra]

There are a lot of complaints on TripAdvisor re Dragonpass

 

[Bletchleyite]

There are a lot of complaints on TripAdvisor re Dragonpass

I get it free (4 visits per year) with my Co-op Bank premium account and have not had any problems with it. What kind of complaints? It strikes me as the kind of business you barely have any interaction with - you pay your money and you use your lounge visits. If the lounges are a bit rubbish as some are it's hardly their fault.

 

[theageofthetra]

I get it free (4 visits per year) with my Co-op Bank premium account and have not had any problems with it. What kind of complaints? It strikes me as the kind of business you barely have any interaction with - you pay your money and you use your lounge visits. If the lounges are a bit rubbish as some are it's hardly their fault.

Complaints (mainly Barclays customers) that they can't prebook and are finding the lounges are full even at off peak times.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Complaints (mainly Barclays customers) that they can't prebook and are finding the lounges are full even at off peak times.

I saw a bit of that when I Googled. You can't prebook with Priority Pass either, nor would I expect different treatment with Priority Pass vs Dragonpass.

Lounges are often busy where underprovided, yes. At large airports there's usually more than one accepting the card, the best approach is to find the one furthest from any entrance, as most people just go for the first one.

 

[AlterEgo]

Complaints (mainly Barclays customers) that they can't prebook and are finding the lounges are full even at off peak times.

You can't book with Priority Pass either. I have never needed to book a lounge anyway. If you're using PP to get your whole family into a lounge at Gatwick during the Easter holidays then you will come a cropper. Of course, it would be Barclays customers, because they haven't actually bought the card and therefore probably haven't made a value judgement on it or set their own expectations. Lounge access is often "sold" as some sort of luxury product when it isn't really; it is a pragmatic solution, in most cases. A lounge is just a nice waiting room with maybe some comfy chairs, somewhere to charge devices, wifi, and just somewhere secure to be without the bustle of the terminal.

 

[theageofthetra]

You can't book with Priority Pass either. I have never needed to book a lounge anyway. If you're using PP to get your whole family into a lounge at Gatwick during the Easter holidays then you will come a cropper. Of course, it would be Barclays customers, because they haven't actually bought the card and therefore probably haven't made a value judgement on it or set their own expectations. Lounge access is often "sold" as some sort of luxury product when it isn't really; it is a pragmatic solution, in most cases. A lounge is just a nice waiting room with maybe some comfy chairs, somewhere to charge devices, wifi, and just somewhere secure to be without the bustle of the terminal.

All of which are basic decent airport facilities which can be found outside of UK airports.

 

[Puffing Devil]

BA IT is in meltdown today - all flights cancelled before 18h00 from LHR and LGW.

Speculation that it's a Cyber Attack. Or it could just be incompetence. Or a combination of the two......

 

[Mag_seven]

BA IT is in meltdown today - all flights cancelled before 18h00 from LHR and LGW.

Speculation that it's a Cyber Attack. Or it could just be incompetence. Or a combination of the two......

BA denying its a Cyber Attack - looks like a major farce though!

 

[theageofthetra]

BA IT is in meltdown today - all flights cancelled before 18h00 from LHR and LGW.

Speculation that it's a Cyber Attack. Or it could just be incompetence. Or a combination of the two......

As usual the Alex Macheras twitter account is on the money over this. BA sacked their in house ground systems team to be replaced with a cheaper outsourced alternative apparently

 

[me123]

BA do seem to be awfully susceptible to IT problems. Seem to hear something of the sort at least once a year, whereas it doesn't seem to be anywhere near as common with other carriers - I've never heard of Ryanair cancelling flights due to computer problems. Is it just bad luck, or is it a result in underinvestment in IT?

EDIT:

As usual the Alex Macheras twitter account is on the money over this. BA sacked their in house ground systems team to be replaced with a cheaper outsourced alternative apparently

And a likely answer appears as soon as I post my musings!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

BA sacked their in house ground systems team to be replaced with a cheaper outsourced alternative apparently

When will businesses ever learn?

 

[Tetchytyke]

BA IT is in meltdown today - all flights cancelled before 18h00 from LHR and LGW.

Speculation that it's a Cyber Attack. Or it could just be incompetence. Or a combination of the two......

It's a direct consequence of them outsourcing to India and sacking all their experienced IT technicians. FLY hasn't been stable for at least six months, which is coincidentally when everything was moved from London.

 

[theageofthetra]

It's a direct consequence of them outsourcing to India and sacking all their experienced IT technicians. FLY hasn't been stable for at least six months, which is coincidentally when everything was moved from London.

There's a surprise. When will these idiots ever learn.

 

[theageofthetra]

There's a surprise. When will these idiots ever learn.

All BA flights from Heathrow & Gatwick cancelled until tmmr. Hearing some horror stories from passengers caught up in the chaos.

Its amazing how the directors who dream up these wonderful projects never have their own jobs outsourced.

 

[Mag_seven]

I for one will be thinking twice about ever flying BA again.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I for one will be thinking twice about ever flying BA again.

It's the same all across BA. They've just had massive "restructuring", i.e. redundancies, at BA Engineering too...

 

[paddington]

It's not like similar events haven't happened to other airlines
Delta suffered something like this 10 months ago
A depressed engineer's suicide attempt took out air traffic control in Chicago for 2 weeks

I suppose this is less likely to happen to Ryanair and the like because they don't have computer infrastructure from the 1970s. But if there is ever a system-wide problem with Ryanair, they won't even try to get people to their destinations, they will just cancel and refund you

Heathrow was a complete mess, but in most of the world where BA flights were affected (due to the inbound planes not arriving) it seems like passengers were treated as well as they could be and BA seems to have been reasonably flexible with rebookings and relaxing some of their ticket restrictions. The main problem that led to visible chaos was that yesterday they could not rebook people onto other airlines because they couldn't even see who was meant to be on a BA flight

 

[Peter Mugridge]

A depressed engineer's suicide attempt took out air traffic control in Chicago for 2 weeks.

Sorry, but I have to ask... how on Earth?

 

[gsnedders]

Sorry, but I have to ask... how on Earth?

Fire.

 

[ivanhoe]

This will cost BA dearly for some time. There is no easy quick fix for Reputational damage. For some frequent fliers who may have little option other than to continue using BA, then there will be some potential bargains as BA attempt to keep their market share. For the rest, they will look around, even rethink the need to use BA hub at Heathrow and of course other Airlines will gladly accept their business.
The IT crisis, is symbolic of a direction in which BA have been travelling in for a while now. Maybe, just maybe, time has come for a change of Leadership at the very top. The actual location of the IT function is less critical with modern systems and India has a wealth of IT expertise. However, if the reason for moving is purely cost cutting, then you lose many of the gains that you expect to see. You can bet that BA drove a hard bargain in moving its IT functions. Would that seriously attract the best Indian IT Professionals? Not when they are in demand globally!

 

[Bletchleyite]

I don't think India is an issue. It's poor disaster recovery provision.

It isn't exclusive to them. I worked once for a small to medium sized bank that had a complete outage for an entire day with no adequate backup (the only backup was the generators and they failed). Their business simply had to close for that day. It must have cost a fortune.

 

[Jetlagged]

Reading that second paragraph again suggests you're going to Exeter *just* to do the route and score an airport.

A few years back I took a trip between two well visited airports just for the aircraft, an A380. Air France realised they had very expensive equipment sitting idle on the tarmac over a weekend due to breaks in the regular scheduling. Recognising the enthusiast interest, they ran round trips between CDG and LHR. I flew up from Malaga where I was working at the time, into CDG and overnighted. Next day it was upper deck to Heathrow for a couple of days with the family. Two days later I tried out the lower deck for the return all for around £65 return if my memory serves correctly. Oh! And there was a certificate allegedly signed by the Captain.

Now, if anyone hears of a similar experience on the A350 I would appreciate a heads up.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Fire.

That reads to me more like he was intending to cause the maximum possible damage to the system separately as a prior act before attempting suicide afterwards? Not that the damage was a result of his attempt?

 

[AlterEgo]

A few years back I took a trip between two well visited airports just for the aircraft, an A380. Air France realised they had very expensive equipment sitting idle on the tarmac over a weekend due to breaks in the regular scheduling. Recognising the enthusiast interest, they ran round trips between CDG and LHR. I flew up from Malaga where I was working at the time, into CDG and overnighted. Next day it was upper deck to Heathrow for a couple of days with the family. Two days later I tried out the lower deck for the return all for around £65 return if my memory serves correctly. Oh! And there was a certificate allegedly signed by the Captain.

Now, if anyone hears of a similar experience on the A350 I would appreciate a heads up.

Those flights weren't run for enthusiasts.

Airlines regularly and deliberately bed in new aircraft on short routes to train their crews and showcase their new product to the public. Air France are currently doing the exact same thing with their 787.

Finnair are still running an A350 LHR-HEL-LHR primarily due to cargo uplift.

 

[Robertj21a]

But if there is ever a system-wide problem with Ryanair, they won't even try to get people to their destinations, they will just cancel and refund you

That could be a worry - can you disclose how you know this ?