British Airways-2
Paxing All Over The World
The SYD is only a 789 these days, very much a token. When we went a few years ago, had SQ all the way in PE on 380 and was brilliant.
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Beyond the Blue Horizon
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I have just been talking to a rather unhappy BA Gold Card member who turned up to fly LHR to Palma and flight was cancelled,when checking in. They offered a flight the following day to Minorca and that was the best they could do.
She subsequently re booked with EasyJet and flew Gatwick to Palma the following day.
Unbeknown to her she was sat next to a BA pilot, who after she had told her tail of woe to, produced his phone and showed the screen for BA operation which he said he should not do, but he said everything coloured Blue, BA had no crew for and these flights would be cancelled. The lady said there were pages of them !!
I think BA need to come clean, as she said looking into July and August she for sees plenty of unhappy passengers and stressed employees.
Cheers
Mr Mac
She subsequently re booked with EasyJet and flew Gatwick to Palma the following day.
Unbeknown to her she was sat next to a BA pilot, who after she had told her tail of woe to, produced his phone and showed the screen for BA operation which he said he should not do, but he said everything coloured Blue, BA had no crew for and these flights would be cancelled. The lady said there were pages of them !!
I think BA need to come clean, as she said looking into July and August she for sees plenty of unhappy passengers and stressed employees.
Cheers
Mr Mac
everything coloured Blue, BA had no crew
Wonder how the pay negotiations are doing
Join Date: Jun 2007
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Etops
They obviously have a big issue and you would think that a management team would realise this and have some contingency plan in place rather than trying to muddle through ie cancel now not when people are checking in.
I have not used BA for along time,partly due to this type of management, though Mrs Mac informs me we have lots of BA air miles through AMEX though I have queried why we would use them, given their issues even for free.
Cheers
Mr Mac
They obviously have a big issue and you would think that a management team would realise this and have some contingency plan in place rather than trying to muddle through ie cancel now not when people are checking in.
I have not used BA for along time,partly due to this type of management, though Mrs Mac informs me we have lots of BA air miles through AMEX though I have queried why we would use them, given their issues even for free.
Cheers
Mr Mac
Join Date: Apr 2004
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I had a school group of 68 booked and paid to BA travelling 02 July LHR to FCO
Yesterday BA cancelled their flight, no reason given, no alternative offered.
fortunately it is within 14 days, so we have rebooked our group on alternative flights, and will now try and obtain all the costs and EU261 from a really very disappointing airline.
BA are just a disappointment !
Yesterday BA cancelled their flight, no reason given, no alternative offered.
fortunately it is within 14 days, so we have rebooked our group on alternative flights, and will now try and obtain all the costs and EU261 from a really very disappointing airline.
BA are just a disappointment !
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SC
I have had an issue earlier this year with Lufthansa, but they changed my flight time by 12 hrs and rerouted me, but at least they got me there, not just cancelled and or offered to be flown to a different island !!
They are doing this in a planned way as confirmed by others above so they know they are going to do it already why disappoint people literally as they board as in the ladies case or just before departure as in the case above.
It’s just awful management, and shoving the problem down to the ground staff and CC when they have had little control of this is dodging the issue.
It’s just wrong on so many levels and BA has been heading this way for a number of years but the buffers look to be in sight so time for some drastic action. You can’t fly planes without A/C or crew so time to make your schedule fit your resources and not bury your head in the sand.
Cheers
Mr Mac
I have had an issue earlier this year with Lufthansa, but they changed my flight time by 12 hrs and rerouted me, but at least they got me there, not just cancelled and or offered to be flown to a different island !!
They are doing this in a planned way as confirmed by others above so they know they are going to do it already why disappoint people literally as they board as in the ladies case or just before departure as in the case above.
It’s just awful management, and shoving the problem down to the ground staff and CC when they have had little control of this is dodging the issue.
It’s just wrong on so many levels and BA has been heading this way for a number of years but the buffers look to be in sight so time for some drastic action. You can’t fly planes without A/C or crew so time to make your schedule fit your resources and not bury your head in the sand.
Cheers
Mr Mac
I think it's common corporate practice in many industries for senior management to push problems around under resourcing to junior staff. I don't think British Airways or the airline industry is in any way unique at its tendency to do this.
Last summer BA were under resourced. It was only when the CAA wrote a stroppy public letter that BA (or Easyjet) started to ensure what they were selling matched operational resource capabilities.
Last summer BA were under resourced. It was only when the CAA wrote a stroppy public letter that BA (or Easyjet) started to ensure what they were selling matched operational resource capabilities.
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DJ6
If the lists come to pass which seems evident they will then never mind last summer they appear to be in the same position and not learned anything from last year’s experience.
You cannot run a full flying schedule without the required aircraft and crew and support staff to go with it. If you have only enough resources to run 2/3rd of your schedule for example, then then that is what you have to do , not just ignore it and hope it doesn’t come to pass. An old saying is failure to plan is to plan to fail and this saga smacks of it.
Cheers
Mr Mac
If the lists come to pass which seems evident they will then never mind last summer they appear to be in the same position and not learned anything from last year’s experience.
You cannot run a full flying schedule without the required aircraft and crew and support staff to go with it. If you have only enough resources to run 2/3rd of your schedule for example, then then that is what you have to do , not just ignore it and hope it doesn’t come to pass. An old saying is failure to plan is to plan to fail and this saga smacks of it.
Cheers
Mr Mac
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It’s notable that Sean Doyle, after being put forward for media interviews to sell a positive vision for the airline, seems to have largely disappeared from view.
Maybe there is work going on in the background with the new Ops Director but the public will be unforgiving of another summer of disruption.
Maybe there is work going on in the background with the new Ops Director but the public will be unforgiving of another summer of disruption.
I do recall from long ago that the CAA was absolutely hot on scheduled carriers, at least UK ones, operating what they had timetabled and sold. It was always an ops concern that they had to do so, as they could be pulled up for "not having the resources to run their scheduled operation". There were cancellations for weather etc, but the CAA were no slouches at spotting just what was a real weather issue, and what was just ops convenience. In case of shortage, carriers would need to charter in to cover services, even those carrying just a handful. I seem to recall an account of one day an F27-sized service having been covered by a 737 hired in from Europe. In particular there was scrutiny of cancellations just done for low passenger loads - you had to have zero bookings both ways to get away with that one.
Somehow this was all just lost, and now it seems carriers can do what they like without any comeback.
Somehow this was all just lost, and now it seems carriers can do what they like without any comeback.
Join Date: Jun 2018
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Flight prices
Looking at flight prices to Naples from London towards the end of July. easyJet coming up around £600 for 3 people, Ryanair around £700, British Airways? £3000! Now I get that you can't always compare flight prices in isolation and I understand that it's a peak travelling period due to school holidays but who is paying these prices for an Economy Basic fare out of LHR?? Are they priced to stop people from booking with them to ease passenger numbers? Be interested to hear people's opinions
" who is paying these prices for an Economy Basic fare out of LHR?"
people to whom £ 3k isn't a lot of money - they're probably renting a villa that costs that per day
people to whom £ 3k isn't a lot of money - they're probably renting a villa that costs that per day
Join Date: Jun 2018
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Customers demand that an economy basic fare be offered in addition to an economy plus fare. I don't believe BA ever guaranteed that the economy basic fare would be cheap in absolute terms - the only requirement is that that the economy basic fare would cost less than the economy plus fare.
On 24-July, flying LHR-NAP one way mid-morning, your choice (per person) is
Economy basic £761
Economy plus £794
Business - £1,108.
BA have done their bit in offering you a choice of different fare families to suit your needs. It seems unfair to blame an airline for providing more choice instead of doing what other airlines sometimes do - namely marking the economy basic fare as "sold out" and allowing sales of only economy plus and business fares.
If BA set the price on the same Heathrow-Naples flight as Economy Basic - £261, Economy Plus - £794, then many passengers would just send their suitcase by separate courier and pay only for Economy Basic - and BA as a company seeking to make a profit for shareholders would lose potential fare revenue
"Freedom of choice" means you pay just for what you need/want and thus potentially "cheaper". "Freedom of choice" does not necessarily mean "cheap"
If instead you seek "cheap" and don't want to pay £761 for a one-way LHR-Naples, you may prefer to fly out of LHR mid-afternoon on the same date at a less popular time for £266 in Economy Basic and save yourself £496 per person. Or if cost of a basic fare is the only thing that matters to you, fly Stansted-Naples with Ryanair on the same day in the afternoon for £132.
On 24-July, there are 10 flights at different times of day from 4 London-area airports to Naples, offered by 5 different, reputable and independent airlines - BA, Easyjet, Jet2, Ryanair and TUI, with different levels of cusomer service. As a formally trained economist, it looks to me like a competitive market that is functioning well, albeit with a high level of customer demand for travel on 24-July.
On 24-July, flying LHR-NAP one way mid-morning, your choice (per person) is
Economy basic £761
Economy plus £794
Business - £1,108.
BA have done their bit in offering you a choice of different fare families to suit your needs. It seems unfair to blame an airline for providing more choice instead of doing what other airlines sometimes do - namely marking the economy basic fare as "sold out" and allowing sales of only economy plus and business fares.
If BA set the price on the same Heathrow-Naples flight as Economy Basic - £261, Economy Plus - £794, then many passengers would just send their suitcase by separate courier and pay only for Economy Basic - and BA as a company seeking to make a profit for shareholders would lose potential fare revenue
"Freedom of choice" means you pay just for what you need/want and thus potentially "cheaper". "Freedom of choice" does not necessarily mean "cheap"
If instead you seek "cheap" and don't want to pay £761 for a one-way LHR-Naples, you may prefer to fly out of LHR mid-afternoon on the same date at a less popular time for £266 in Economy Basic and save yourself £496 per person. Or if cost of a basic fare is the only thing that matters to you, fly Stansted-Naples with Ryanair on the same day in the afternoon for £132.
On 24-July, there are 10 flights at different times of day from 4 London-area airports to Naples, offered by 5 different, reputable and independent airlines - BA, Easyjet, Jet2, Ryanair and TUI, with different levels of cusomer service. As a formally trained economist, it looks to me like a competitive market that is functioning well, albeit with a high level of customer demand for travel on 24-July.
Last edited by davidjohnson6; 25th Jun 2023 at 15:17.
Join Date: Apr 2006
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Travelled on Euroflyer yesterday. Grim is an understatement and will not be repeated.
Passengers near me and including me all positively compared RYR as a much better customer experience. Who’d have thought it.
Passengers near me and including me all positively compared RYR as a much better customer experience. Who’d have thought it.
Oddly I know some well off folk who really object to shelling out for PE etc on short haul - anything under 4 hours they're happy to suffer in the back if the upgrade has to come out of their pocket .