I am perplexed by the number of people jumping to conclusions on this subject when they are blatantly unaware of all the facts. Two sides to every story, anyone?
The post from one of the characters on the Movers' site makes illuminating reading:
"the aircraft to take them home was chartered with a payload of 14K. When the capt told the movers he would only take 11K"
So around 90 mins before chocks the Movers' realistic plan becomes worthless as they have lost 20% of available payload. A radical solution was borne of necessity. Yes, Charter Coord in DTMA could have been contacted to request them to liaise with the charter company (via the broker), but this would all take time, extending the delay. In my experience some aircraft captains can be rather obstinate, irrespective of the logic placed in front of them! I suggest that Charter Coord will be examining the suitability of using this particular company in the future, but I suspect that they are cheap! I am surprised that the pax were not informed of the reasons necessitating the abrupt change of plan, but as stated above, AKT Movers may have a different recollection of events! I will hasten to add that the alleged attitude of the AKT Mover towards shift change, and the decision to de-segregate the bags, are indefensible. So I assume that all you critics are perfect, and your judgement has never lapsed?
The issue of calls home could easily be solved; however, in the current financial climate who pays? HQ LAND? HQ STC, as it their aircraft that fell over? A decision for the adults and bean counters, certainly not the Movers.
Do any of you honestly think that Movers deliberately attempt to mislead pax by providing inaccurate or incomplete briefs? Aircrew, Engineers, Ops and Movers are all involved in the process, and slick comms between all parties is essential. Chugalug2’s comments at #107 (page 6) provides one of the few glimpses of common sense seen on this thread.
Check-in times are consistently a contentious issue; 4 hrs prior to chocks does appear excessive, but without the full facts (eg availability of transport to move troops to APOD, security implications of moving in daylight etc) I would be reluctant to criticise further. However, the check-in time is not always stipulated by the Movers. Within the last 18 months, a GR4 Sqn was recovering from a North American Ex. As it had been agreed mutually that bags would be checked-in the night prior to departure, the SEngO and FS Eng were offered a 1-hr check-in for all pax; they looked at each other, mumbled something about needing greater time to ensure that all the Techies were accounted for, and stated that a 2-hr check-in would be just fine!
Another anecdote to finish, just to provide evidence that, just occasionally, aircrew do not always play by the rules. When Leeming’s F3 Sqns deployed to N American Exs in the late-90s they were regularly supported by 2 Hercs, and their TRANSOPS always included a flag at Keflavik. Upon arrival in North Yorkshire the crews attempted consistently to shut off (essential) freight, so that they could overfly and proceed direct to Newfoundland. Sound familiar? “Tail” “wag” and “dog” spring to mind!
Yes, if you haven’t guessed by now I am a Movs Officer (Supply Officer with the Movs annotation), and I am bl00dy proud of the hard work and can-do attitude displayed by the vast majority of the Movs Trade! If you are dissatisfied with the standard of service received from Movs Staff then please seek out the chain of command and let them know; attitude readjustment can them commence! After all we are all on the same side….aren’t we?