Originally Posted by
Bigears
Yesterday evening departing Edinburgh, No1 son tells me that the pax were informed by the flightdeck that the (30min) delay was due to 'de-icing and helping an assistance passenger'.
Oddly, he (and presumably most pax) didn't think anything of it, until I told him he had been lied to, as the OAT was +9C.
'Delay due to operational reasons' would have saved the crews' credibility and the assistance passengers blushes.
This is exactly the sort of rubbish that ground staff have to face. Bigears here is accusing the crew of lying, yet he’s unfamiliar with cold soaked fuel and the issues it can cause. But he’s happy to advise his son of this ‘lie’, and perhaps his son passed this lie on to other passengers.. So whom has lost all credibility?
Now deicing an aircraft at EDI in December can probably be achieved relatively quickly, as de-icing capacity in winter is anticipated. Not so easy to arrange in summer months as deicing isn’t anticipated, de-icers aren’t available, so it’s wait for it to melt, thus ensuring a delay in your 30 minute turn round.
https://deicing.net/?p=261
Any volunteers out there happy to stand in front of a crowd of passengers in June and explain cold soaked fuel to them in four languages? Or is it more sensible to just apologise for an operational delay, that you know will resolve itself in an hour or so.