Aviation Discussion

[flymo]

Ok what is the worst airline/aircraft you have ever flown on?

Garuda Indonesia in 1994. Jakarta to Denpasar in a DC-10, right hand engine knocking its conkers (other words are available) off, taking off into a thunderstorm whilst the entire plane shook like anything. 1 hour flight and I was never so happy to see terra-firma again. On the way back DPS to HKG the flight was delayed by 5 hours, cabin crew dished up cold meals from the trolley, got a huge dose of the two-bob-bits and vowed never to fly them again...and never have.

This same trip (HKG-CGK-DPS-HKG) was my first flight on a B747 and first across the equator; pilot put the flight info timings etc on a piece of paper which you read and passed to the person next to you. Mickey Mouse wouldn't touch Garuda with someone else's 10 foot barge-pole, and neither would I. Horrible airline. Doubt it has changed much in 20-odd years.

 

[gsnedders]

Ok what is the worst airline/aircraft you have ever flown on? Being 46 I remember the ancient rubbish foiseted on us before 9-11.

Got to be a DC8 run by a Belgian operator Gatwick-Lester B Pearson in 1988 for me. Combined stale fags, fuel and dried vommit in one 'enjoyable' 10hr experience

Hmm. That's a touch hard; I remember some regional jet in the US when I was five being horrible, but I can't remember why! I do remember thunderstorms and turbulence but that isn't in and of itself particularly notable.

Otherwise: Icelandic's 757s made me feel ridiculously claustrophobic flying GLA-KEF-SEA at the start of this year (only time I've ever been jetlagged westbound!), even just a couple of hours into each flight, but I can't otherwise fault them. (As an aside: I did a US transcontinental flight a few months ago on a 737-900, but I didn't feel claustrophobic at all. Maybe the newer, lighter interior?)

Also the last time I flew SFO-LHR on a BA A380 has to be up there: huge amount of turbulence for a large amount of the flight. Or maybe that was the second last time I flew SFO-LHR? I can't remember any more; it all blurs into one! Not worried about the aircraft surviving it at all, but worrying about the overhead luggage bins and luggage under the seats getting thrown out and hitting people. Or people without seatbelts on being thrown out and hitting people (still only really concerned about those who got hit; those who didn't put a seatbelt on during that had a Darwin award coming).

Come to think of it, all of my flights on particularly small aircraft have never been at all bad!

 

[Hornet]

Ok what is the worst airline/aircraft you have ever flown on? Being 46 I remember the ancient rubbish foiseted on us before 9-11.

Got to be a DC8 run by a Belgian operator Gatwick-Lester B Pearson in 1988 for me. Combined stale fags, fuel and dried vommit in one 'enjoyable' 10hr experience

British World Airlines BAC1-11 from Dublin to Stansted. Ryanair had only started to expand, so were hiring in other companies aircraft to cover their schedules. Got a window seat at the overwing exit only to find it to be a rearward facing seat. Not only was it a weird experience facing your fellow passengers, (a couple, the worse for drink, and who never put their seatbelts on at any time), the feeling of sliding off the seat on the climb after take off, (and the climb on a 1-11 was pretty steep), was something I do not want to repeat, (and haven't after over 2000 further flights). Plus the fact of having two drunks being catapulted into my lap on landing, didn't make for an enjoyable flight. The only time i've come across facing seats since then is on the, since closed, Air Southwest Dash 8 311 on the Dublin Newquay route.

 

[AlterEgo]

Ok what is the worst airline/aircraft you have ever flown on? Being 46 I remember the ancient rubbish foiseted on us before 9-11.

Got to be a DC8 run by a Belgian operator Gatwick-Lester B Pearson in 1988 for me. Combined stale fags, fuel and dried vommit in one 'enjoyable' 10hr experience

The worst aircraft is the CRJ200. They don't call them "slave ships" in the USA for nothing. Cramped, loud, rattly.

 

[TheAlbanach_]

Worst flight me has to be flying Doha to Hong Kong on a A330. Plane was old and mines and my friends IFE screens didn't work. Was such a difference to the Dreamliner we just got off of! Turbulence all the way and I couldn't eat during the flight. Thankfully the return flight was much better and I was in business class for it.


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[stut]

Oh, I don't know where to start.

Being based in Newcastle for much of my early life meant we got a rag-tag array of charter and propeller aircraft wherever we went. British Island Airways 1-11s with barely enough range to make it to the Balearics. Sabena Embraer Brasilias. The Air UK Fokker Friendships. And whatever Dan Air fancied buying that week. The 1-11s were particularly bad. However, some memorably bad ones:

A Tupolev Tu-154 full of drunk Glaswegians leaving the Bulgaria at 4am for a Charter back to Abbotsinch in the mid-80s. The humanity.

A China Eastern A300 on domestic duties. I had a disconcerting exit row seat with most of the trim around my seat missing.

If the phrase "Indian start-up low-cost airline" sounds fun to you, you'd be wrong. Actually, I think SpiceJet, IndiGo and the like are great but these guys, Air Costa (slightly worryingly with the recycled IATA code from Lloyd Aero Boliviano) were not. 4h late leaving Hyderabad (I had to argue and bribe my way out of the check in area to head into the city to get some food). The plane was a painfully neglected second-hand E190, a nasty green inside, coated with a layer of sticky filth. On departure we were seen off by a man who I could swear was saying "happy flighting" to every passenger. Got into Chennai at 1:30 am and my destination just after 3am. Ugh.

Uzbekistan Airways A310 from Tashkent to Delhi. In some ways quite wonderful. The divider between economy and business had a route map elaborately laid out in cinema-style lettering, pins and string. Vodka was distributed knowingly before take-off. At check-in, I was approached by some men asking me to carry some bags for them to India. I looked at the check-in agent. She said b"well, are you"? The arrival at Tashkent was quite special too - a VIP or some sort was on board, and met by a rather immodestly dressed woman in a rather gangster-like minibus, and spirited away.

Oh yes, Aeroflot A300, Delhi-Moscow. We arrived at Delhi 4h before departure and were the last ones in the queue not to get bumped from the flight. Everything about it was chaotic. And I got dysentery from the food.

Hmm, is there a theme involving India here? A321, Doha to Hyderabad, going from old Doha airport, aka the bus terminal. They used to stop the buses at front and rear steps so you could board according to seat number, but neglected to tell anyone this (and the Doha airport staff's attitude towards the majority Indian passengers wasn't entirely positive). The result and subsequent mishandling was a massive crush of people trying to get from the front to the back while and equal number we're trying to do the opposite. I was in the middle. Instead of trying to organise, the airport staff just shouted and made things worse. It was quite scary - turned into quite a crush. Thankfully sorted itself out before anything untoward happened. The flight itself wasn't that bad for a red-eye.

 

[Techniquest]

Crikey there's been some very nasty experiences shared!

I have a minor issue that I'm hoping some of you wise people will be able to help with. My flight from Milan Linate to London City on Saturday takes off at 0655, but my easyBus connection from the city centre doesn't arrive at the airport until 0555. I have hold luggage with me, and I'm guessing like most European flights the gate will close 30 minutes before the flight is due away.

My question is, am I likely to have enough time to get that checked in, pass through security and get to my gate? I'd rather avoid chinging out for a taxi if I can help it, having already paid for the easyBus move. However, if it makes the difference between making the flight and completely bowling myself out hundreds of miles from home, I'll get a taxi.

 

[TheAlbanach_]

Crikey there's been some very nasty experiences shared!



I have a minor issue that I'm hoping some of you wise people will be able to help with. My flight from Milan Linate to London City on Saturday takes off at 0655, but my easyBus connection from the city centre doesn't arrive at the airport until 0555. I have hold luggage with me, and I'm guessing like most European flights the gate will close 30 minutes before the flight is due away.



My question is, am I likely to have enough time to get that checked in, pass through security and get to my gate? I'd rather avoid chinging out for a taxi if I can help it, having already paid for the easyBus move. However, if it makes the difference between making the flight and completely bowling myself out hundreds of miles from home, I'll get a taxi.

There have been lots of news articles recently about long waiting times at European airports for security and passport control... maybe worth getting there early. I arrived at Edinburgh Airport an hour before my flight to London and just made it to the gate before it was closing (boyfriend forgot his passport....) We didn't have any hold luggage but I did have to print off the boarding passes and that took a while! Getting there a wee bit earlier won't hurt but missing and paying for a new flight may hurt your wallet. [emoji6]


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[Techniquest]

The same horror stories were fresh in my mind too. An on-the-day flight would indeed be chingy, although I'd look at going by rail instead if that happened. I really should look up estimated taxi fares for Saturday morning now, avoid unexpected surprises etc.

 

[Lrd]

Talking of horror stories, just saw this article. I know it's the Daily Mail and apologies in advance for any discomfort when reading.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4786708/amp/Businessman-trying-fly-Essex-ends-LAS-VEGAS.html

Something doesn't add up here. Me thinks he is trying to get out of trouble with the misses by making up this garbage?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Talking of horror stories, just saw this article. I know it's the Daily Mail and apologies in advance for any discomfort when reading.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4786708/amp/Businessman-trying-fly-Essex-ends-LAS-VEGAS.html

Something doesn't add up here. Me thinks he is trying to get out of trouble with the misses by making up this garbage?

I have witnessed about 20 people being boarded onto the wrong flights at GVA until the staff noticed (when I boarded) and called me back. It caused an hour's delay to both flights that had got each others' passengers and a right load of faff. The cause was the airport PIS having had the gates swapped over by accident.

Now easyJet no longer check boarding cards at the door it'd have got much further - possibly to the head count, possibly if they were both the same number to the passengers all going to the wrong places. Fortunately those places were just Gatwick and Luton so Thameslink would have fixed that reasonably easily, but still.

Cases not involving airport error of that kind are not as common but do happen.

Intrigued, though, as to why they banned him. I wonder if he perhaps gave abuse to the staff once the issue was discovered.

 

[stut]

I have been on a flight at LCY where my seat was occupied by a passenger from a different flight. At the time, it was still all paper-based boarding passes - I suspect it happened far more often than was reported.

(Wasn't there the case of some old dear who was supposed to be on a Manx flight and ended up on a Minsk flight and went to Belarus?)

As for being "treated like a criminal" - I suspect the passenger in question has some naivety around standard immigration procedures, both on the ground and in the air, to be honest.

 

[Western Lord]

British World Airlines BAC1-11 from Dublin to Stansted. Ryanair had only started to expand, so were hiring in other companies aircraft to cover their schedules. Got a window seat at the overwing exit only to find it to be a rearward facing seat. Not only was it a weird experience facing your fellow passengers, (a couple, the worse for drink, and who never put their seatbelts on at any time), the feeling of sliding off the seat on the climb after take off, (and the climb on a 1-11 was pretty steep), was something I do not want to repeat, (and haven't after over 2000 further flights). Plus the fact of having two drunks being catapulted into my lap on landing, didn't make for an enjoyable flight. The only time i've come across facing seats since then is on the, since closed, Air Southwest Dash 8 311 on the Dublin Newquay route.

There was a time when safety experts extolled the virtue of rearward facing seats as being safer in an accident. For decades, the RAF installed rearward facing seats in all of it's transport aircraft (the VC10 was the last). You do not hear so much of this theory these days, probably since somebody realised that you would get a face full of anything that wasn't bolted down in a severe deceleration!

 

[Bletchleyite]

There was a time when safety experts extolled the virtue of rearward facing seats as being safer in an accident. For decades, the RAF installed rearward facing seats in all of it's transport aircraft (the VC10 was the last). You do not hear so much of this theory these days, probably since somebody realised that you would get a face full of anything that wasn't bolted down in a severe deceleration!

AIUI they still are seen as safer but it's felt that people wouldn't like them.

 

[stut]

AIUI they still are seen as safer but it's felt that people wouldn't like them.

You do still see them on the odd turboprop (Twin Otters, Crash-8s, S2000s, ATRs and the like). And, of course, on long-haul business class layouts.

 

[ModernRailways]

Talking of horror stories, just saw this article. I know it's the Daily Mail and apologies in advance for any discomfort when reading.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4786708/amp/Businessman-trying-fly-Essex-ends-LAS-VEGAS.html

Something doesn't add up here. Me thinks he is trying to get out of trouble with the misses by making up this garbage?

There's definitely more to this story than he's letting on. For starters, they wouldn't have banned him if it was a mistake.

There would have been announcements before departure stating flight time and then location of arrival, so he obviously didn't pay attention to them either.

It's also weird because his seat '8F' doesn't even exist on the Eurowings A330s which operate that route so he would have had to sit elsewhere. At that point if he already had suspicions you'd be even more suspicious and ask someone.

There's so much more to this story for sure.

 

[Butts]

Crikey there's been some very nasty experiences shared!

I have a minor issue that I'm hoping some of you wise people will be able to help with. My flight from Milan Linate to London City on Saturday takes off at 0655, but my easyBus connection from the city centre doesn't arrive at the airport until 0555. I have hold luggage with me, and I'm guessing like most European flights the gate will close 30 minutes before the flight is due away.

My question is, am I likely to have enough time to get that checked in, pass through security and get to my gate? I'd rather avoid chinging out for a taxi if I can help it, having already paid for the easyBus move. However, if it makes the difference between making the flight and completely bowling myself out hundreds of miles from home, I'll get a taxi.

As it is BA you are flying on if I remember correctly you can check in up to 20 minutes before your flight and are supposed to be at the Gate 10 mins before at London City.

Not sure if the 20 mins includes hold baggage sometimes it is more, check your booking details it will be on there.

In theory you should be fine but if the bus is even 10 mins late you will be starting to panic.

Can you not get an earlier bus as that will be cheaper than a taxi ? When I used Easybus to get to Stansted you were able to board a Bus up to an hour earlier at no extra cost if there was space. Have a look at your ticket.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I think he is flying *from* Linate, where more normal check in times will apply. Italy being Italy, with their laid-back approach to timekeeping, I wouldn't cut it that fine.

 

[Butts]

I think he is flying *from* Linate, where more normal check in times will apply. Italy being Italy, with their laid-back approach to timekeeping, I wouldn't cut it that fine.

Do Easybus operate in Italy ? - I thought he'd transposed - come to think of it he did say he was flying out on Friday !!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Do Easybus operate in Italy ? - I thought he'd transposed - come to think of it he did say he was flying out on Friday !!

http://www.easybus.com/en/italy

Though in this case they seem to just be selling seats on established operators.

This being the case you stand a good chance of getting on an earlier coach if you just ask. But if not those coaches aren't expensive walk-up. I wouldn't have bothered booking.

Assumes there is one early enough though.

 

[TheAlbanach_]

Talking of horror stories, just saw this article. I know it's the Daily Mail and apologies in advance for any discomfort when reading.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4786708/amp/Businessman-trying-fly-Essex-ends-LAS-VEGAS.html

Something doesn't add up here. Me thinks he is trying to get out of trouble with the misses by making up this garbage?

Never been on a plane when they've not made announcements on where they're flying to... As you said something doesn't add up.


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[jon0844]

Talking of horror stories, just saw this article. I know it's the Daily Mail and apologies in advance for any discomfort when reading.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4786708/amp/Businessman-trying-fly-Essex-ends-LAS-VEGAS.html

Something doesn't add up here. Me thinks he is trying to get out of trouble with the misses by making up this garbage?

That was my thought too.

I Tweeted as much yesterday;

https://twitter.com/jmcomms/status/896836946516996096

 

[Richard_B]

He also spends a lot of time criticising the airline staff for someone who shares a lot of the responsibility for the mess up

 

[Bald Rick]

Worst flight: Sep '96 Ibiza to Gatwick. Possibly Brittania or Monarch. Irrelevant really as the plane never made it out to IBZ. About 6 hours after the midnight-ish departure time a 'Sabre Air' 727 rolled up, and we were bundled on. Looking through into the cockpit form the top of the steps I could see the pilot - a middle aged lady with what seemed to be rather thick lensed glasses on. She was reading a manual, which in my sleep deprived state I swear said 'Welcome to your Boeing 727, we hope it gives you many miles of fault free flight'.

Going into the cabin, it was like the plane had been found at the back of the plane hire shop: the seats were threadbare and the catering boxes had 'Sabre Air' stickers over Dan Air embossings. After an agonisingly long take off roll, we got airborne. It took nearly 3hrs to get back to Gatwick, compared to the usual 2 or less. The pilot came over the PA as we were crossing the channel to say "we are heading due north to Gatwick, and have a straight flight path to the runway", which in my mind meant we were coming in sideways.

Icing on the cake was hitting some from of air pocket on final, losing about 50ft in the blink of an eye. Various things hit the ceiling. But at least it quietened everyone down.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Icing on the cake was hitting some from of air pocket on final, losing about 50ft in the blink of an eye. Various things hit the ceiling. But at least it quietened everyone down.

Vague technical point, there's no such thing as an air pocket, you would have been caught in a downward draught of wind, and the plane would have been still flying (in moving air) throughout. Probably only moved about 10' if that.

 

[Mag_seven]

There's definitely more to this story than he's letting on. For starters, they wouldn't have banned him if it was a mistake.

There would have been announcements before departure stating flight time and then location of arrival, so he obviously didn't pay attention to them either.

It's also weird because his seat '8F' doesn't even exist on the Eurowings A330s which operate that route so he would have had to sit elsewhere. At that point if he already had suspicions you'd be even more suspicious and ask someone.

There's so much more to this story for sure.

Would there not have been a screen at the gate with the flight number and destination on it. As you say, I smell a rat here.

 

[Techniquest]

http://www.easybus.com/en/italy

Though in this case they seem to just be selling seats on established operators.

This being the case you stand a good chance of getting on an earlier coach if you just ask. But if not those coaches aren't expensive walk-up. I wouldn't have bothered booking.

Assumes there is one early enough though.

Thanks for the advice, I believe the 0530 departure is the earliest of the day. Really didn't think it through!

Apparently a taxi will be around €20 which is not cheap but it could have been worse

 

[atillathehunn]

Thanks for the advice, I believe the 0530 departure is the earliest of the day. Really didn't think it through!

Apparently a taxi will be around €20 which is not cheap but it could have been worse

I think here the best bet is to take a taxi at a time which allows you a bit more wiggle room at the airport. That wouldn't quite be enough time for me to be happy with a checked bag. €20 for a city-airport taxi is very cheap.

 

[stut]

If you've never been to Linate before, get there in decent time. It may be small, but it's a confusing and badly-signed airport, particularly for non-Schengen departures.

 

[atillathehunn]

http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/15/news/air-berlin-airline-bankruptcy-etihad/index.html

Looks like AirBerlin has gone bankrupt. Etihad refused to bail them out again and so they've gone to the wall. Looks like Lufthansa might buy out bits of the business, no real indication of which bits.

I think a slush fund has been made available to get the staff and passengers through the next few weeks until a buyer or a wind-down option is available.