From a ground handerlers perspective
On that morning IDS had 5 De Iceing rigs, 4 of them by contract were alocated to easyJet while the other one was alocated to Wizz. This is what the airlines pay for so this is what they get. If they continue to cut costs from the ground services I’m afraid this will all continue.
The cost cutting even refects the fluid, IDS use Type 1 while the more expensive swissport uses Type 2, Type 1 has a much lower holdover time. Sometimes as low as 10 mins in the snow and with a congested ramp this isn’t good enough for Luton.
With the pushbacks it’s hard to keep crews on aircraft for a long period of time with the hope of pushing back. ATC didn’t communicate with the ground handerlers at all that morning so we had to rely on air crews updating us.