Thank you N.M.C. - it is nice to be appreciated.
If only more passengers had passed on their experiences of the service then we may not be in this situation. The company firmly believed that word of mouth was the best form of advertising. This was totally against the front line crews opinions who knew that hard advertising was required in the first place to get these passenegers.
The local rag 'Sunday Mercury' however winds me up a lot more than being mistaken for a low cost. They have front and second page devoted to the distress caused to the approx. 1200 passengers that would be travelling with duo over this weekend. They make a big feature of the fact that it is unlikely they will get a refund. However, the company almost solely operates on web/telephone bookings. In order to make the payment for travel I'd be surprised if less than 99% paid by credit card. In which case they will be refunded by their credit card companies. They will still unfortunately have to find alternative transport which will probably cost more than the duo ticket and may well be delayed further whilst arranging this transport.
To these people, as a a duo pilot I am sincerely sorry. Speaking for the air crews, we prided ourselves in trying to make a difference in all areas where it counted.
Back to the Mercury. If only 1% therefore lost their fares is this such big news? Hypopthetically 1% of 1200 = 12 passengers. I'm sure this won't mean that the unfortunate passenger will be unable to make their mortgage payments and have to sell their house due to it. All in all realy missing the mark I feel.
What would have been more news worthy would be the 300 odd employees who have hung on in there over the years with eroding Terms and Conditions and no pay rise in over 4 years (even pay cuts this and last year).
Now there is something worthy of mention. Brum folk do there every bit to make a company work and having the rug pulled from beneath them just when success is around the corner!
Once again my sympathies to all the employees and passengers who have suffered. We gave it our very best shot.