I had the misfortune to fly Flybe on MAN-CDG-MAN last week. Outbound we were sat at the gate while a member of Flight Safety management shouted down here mobile to someone in the office that "they were shooting themselves in the f@cking foot" by not chocking the wheels and coning off the wingtips right". Boarding time came and went and we were informed that there would be a delay due to "security" issues, just as the cleaners got on and they emptied the toilet, yeah right, security. Finally got on twenty minutes after scheduled departure time and on the taxi to the runway we had to park up, as the captain informed us "the ground crew disconnected the generator so the aircraft had been sat so long that it's batteries had lost almost all charge". Finally got airborne and the remainder of the journey was uneventful apart from the improbably young and skinny first officer. Coming back on an EMB145 (far better than the dash in my opinion) we were again delayed, this time as the captain informed us, "due to things that you wouldn't believe at Manchester, it's really ridiculous there at the moment". I'm presuming that he was referring to the type of ground handling mistakes that had occurred on the outbound leg, seems a little unprofessional of the captain but then I suppose he's frustated.
CONTINUATION OF: http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=251059&page=17