flybe EDI

[mansp]

who does the GH for BE in EDI?

[TechProblem]

I think its serviceAir, see the who hands who thread .... http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=258304

[Off Stand]

Also know as SERVISAIR! :}

[mansp]

are servisair keeping the contract or have they been given notice? does anyone know anything about them refusing to handle a Flybe flight last night (19 Jun)

[Bagheera]

Think I know a wee bit. A BEE E145 positioned in from Paris in the late afternoon. It was told to stop approx 1/2 way down runway 12 where it would be pushed back onto the "T taxiway" ( in apostrophes because said taxiway is no longer available for aircraft movements under their own power). Sometime later the aircraft asked for start to reposition to a stand in order , I believe, to operate a flight to Manchester. This start had to be refused by ATC, under direction from airfield operations, because engine start was dangerous due to barriers and equipment that were behind the aircraft. In order to depart, the aircraft would need to be towed out onto 12/30 before starting engines. Approximately 10 minutes after this instruction was relayed by ATC a cancellation message came through for a flight to Manchester and the aircraft was not heard from again. Some confusion as to why the aircraft was placed on "T" in the first place but may have been due to the amount of GA traffic parked on the 30 threshold because of the Open Golf.
Hope this helps.
maybe not applicable in this case but it has been noticed that BEE ops or maybe servisair are struggling with various clerical tasks out of Edinburgh at the moment. If you are BEE crew and have a problem you would like to discuss unofficially please feel free to pm me.

[ABO944]

Servisair at Edinburgh are total pants. There are however, a few Dispatchers who are good, but the majority are cack.

Dont know how much longer my company will keep them as a ground handling agent!!! :ooh:

[GoEDI]

Heard another handling beginning with M are after BE at EDI. ;)

[ABO944]

The future doesnt look too rosey for Circusair ! But then again, if you pay peanuts ...:}

[mansp]

Is the BE operation busy out of EDI then, or just a few flights?

[ABO944]

Flybe have taken over at EDI !!

[GoEDI]

Now confirmed that from the end of September Menzies take over the BE contract. Bring it on!:eek::ok:

[mansp]

done deal?

[Manual Braking]

Just wondering how Menzies will fit the flybe programme into their daily schedule when they are snowed under with EZY at peak periods, towing Jet2 around the ramp and awating crew for the delayed GSM flights!:confused::confused:
From what i can see, not a lot of new staff being taken on at MZE, with plenty having left for Aviance in the last few months.
Are MZE turning out to be the new Servisair at EDI?
MB

[GoEDI]

Yes they are going to need a lot of new staff for BE, chances are a lot may move over from Servisair who are already trained on the system.
Plenty of new staff have been taken on but the turnover rate is high, a few are finding that the grass isn't so green on the other side (at aviance) and have come back to Menzies.
Could be more big changes to come over winter with airlines moving around etc, just watch this space and see what happens.

[ABO944]

I expect that Flybe will find themselves in exactly the same position as they are in now regarding their ground handling.

Servisair = lack of staff > Flybe not happy > Flybe change handling agents > Menzies = not enough staff to cover all flights > Flybe not happy ... and so on and so forth !:ugh:

You can't win !

[GoEDI]

Lack of staff in the airport? Surely not! :E Servisair's 'don't give a :mad: ' attitude towards BE at times doesn't really help, and BE don't really have many other options other than to move to Menzies, afterall, I think Aviance have quite enough on their plate just now with BA!

[pishpatcher]

Guys

Having the honour of being one of the afore mentioned 'cack' Servisair dispatchers the ABO944 refers to, I can confirm that yes, we are losing the Flybe contract - a case of jumping before being pushed!
However, I'd like to be the first to warn all the happy folk at Menzies, its something of a poisoned chalice!
Endless tech problems, crew shortages, crew non arrivals, late crews at aircraft (the earliest you'll spot a Flybe crew is around -20 mins), abnormally abusive passengers, occassionally abusive crews, bizarre scheduling concepts (as mentioned above with the 19 Jun incident), plus some truly brilliant pieces of Flybe management logic that gets handed down from on high every once in a while which keeps everyone chuckling! My point is ABO944 that people in glass houses shouldnt throw stones - yes Servisair is not blameless, but to assume that it is responsible for all of Flybe's woes ignores your company's many operational inadequacies.

Addressing the Servisair staffing issue raised here, yes it is a problem, and I totally agree that along the way our management has lacked the foresight to recruit the staff needed to plug the gaps - which has led to delays on our part. For my part, I work my a** off like a blue a**ed tit most of the time, along with others, trying to keep people happy, running 3 or 4 flights at once and trying to keep flights vaguely on time.

However, I take offence to some of the comments, particularly those of ABO944 as expressed earlier. It is often the case that crews, who have a rather cushy time in the turnaround, sit in their cockpit handing down 'decrees' and orders, and informing us as to how to do our jobs. With respect, you are not ground handlers - kindly refrain from hassling dispatchers who already have 101 things to worry about, and who dont need to babysit a captain who would like another moan to the dispatcher who he/she often sees as their personal lapdog whilst on the ground (being asked to fetch a copy of the Times or buy some shortbread are two personal favourites of mine).

I don't know if im included in your elite of good rather than cack dispatchers - frankly it doesnt bother me. But I do know that all my colleagues work their best in trying circumstances to do their jobs, and we have come to realise that sometimes (yourself being a good example) we just cant please anybody.

Kind Regards

Pishpatcher

[GoEDI]

However, I'd like to be the first to warn all the happy folk at Menzies, its something of a poisoned chalice!
Endless tech problems, crew shortages, crew non arrivals, late crews at aircraft (the earliest you'll spot a Flybe crew is around -20 mins), abnormally abusive passengers, occassionally abusive crews, bizarre scheduling concepts (as mentioned above with the 19 Jun incident), plus some truly brilliant pieces of Flybe management logic that gets handed down from on high every once in a while which keeps everyone chuckling! My point is ABO944 that people in glass houses shouldnt throw stones - yes Servisair is not blameless, but to assume that it is responsible for all of Flybe's woes ignores your company's many operational inadequacies.

Sounds like GSM, so we should be used to it. ;)

[speedrestriction]

It is often the case that crews, who have a rather cushy time in the turnaround,
Pishpatcher, you are miles off the mark. We have a load of things to do to prepare for the next flight, 25 mins isn't very long to turn around an aircraft for us or for you. If we aren't all pulling the same direction then a late departure is inevitable. Remember that if we are running late we are probably liasing with you, ATC and company whilst doing the paperwork, getting the weather, doing the walkaround, briefing, security checks, checklists and (hopefully) a toilet break. Your job isn't easy, neither is ours - it does help if we are all pulling together.
sr

[Maude Charlee]

Cobblers, there is loads of time on a 25 minute turnaround to do everything Flybe require in the way of flight deck prep. In fact, it is often almost complete by the time the last pax has left the aircraft. If you're regularly struggling to complete a simple series of tasks (that the FO does 90% of anyway), you're in the wrong place. Pispatcher is correct - it is a cushy time. Long may it continue. :}

[ABO944]

Having the honour of being one of the afore mentioned 'cack' Servisair dispatchers the ABO944 refers to
So, you're not one of the 'good' ones then ?
My point is ABO944 that people in glass houses shouldnt throw stones
It's time to move out of Kew Gardens
For my part, I work my a** off like a blue a**ed tit most of the time, along with others, trying to keep people happy, running 3 or 4 flights at once and trying to keep flights vaguely on time.

This is where you're going wrong. It can't be done, running 3 or 4 flights at the same time. Prove to your management (if you can call it that) that it isn't possible and concentrate on 1 flight. This way, they will see that it's all gone tits up and more help is needed, otherwise they will think that you are all coping and the cavalry wont arrive!
Now see this from the crews point of view.
I have never turned up late to our aircraft for a flight. We are always early ! If the inbound aircraft is delayed, we will be waiting in the gate and as soon as it's parking we go out to it!
Most of the time we will be sitting on stand in the dark with no ground power (I know this is Airway, but as a dispatcher you need to chase these things up), no fuel or catering ... oh, and no dispatcher! No one to tell you what the hell's going on and then eventually someone turns up with a loadsheet, which then needs correcting as the baggage figures are incorrect or havent been weighed or are missing in deepest, darkest baggage sorting area.
It's so frustrating when we always arrive early at the flight, only to pushback late, and then run the rest of the shift behind schedule due to Servisair Edinburgh.
Our excuses on the flight paperwork are always the same !
Sorry to offend ...:eek::ouch:

[redfield]

ABO944: 1) I agree; dispatchers shouldn't be trying to do three or four flights at the same time, one is enough. Any more than that will create an environment which encourages errors and misloads to happen. That's precisely why I don't encourage or expect dispatchers on my shift to do more than one flight at a time. 2) I understand your frustration, BUT I've met crews who think that because they're early, the dispatcher and the ramp team should be as well. Doesn't work like that....3) Some of us do try to arrive at a situation where we could be called management!!!!! :ugh: