Well you've inadvertently hit the nail on the head there BRUpax. Most of the cancellations are indeed technical problems. The aircraft are notoriously unreliable. Add to that the inability of staff in the Isle of Man to reliable get a qualified flight crew, cabin crew and service aircraft in the same place at the same time and you have a recipe for schedule chaos. Some may scoff, but those of us who see the punctuality stats on a weekly basis and the number of cancellations on the ERJ can't dispute the figures. Out of interest, how many cancellations did you experience when travelling to BHX on our 319s?
JW411 - I would say that one flight is a rather unrepresentative sample, wouldn't you. What was the reason for the 50 minute delay? A slot perhaps? If you had to wait 30 minutes for the bags then do let us know how long you have to wait on one of the low cost carriers, because we're all using the same luggage system at EDI. The service may not be more reliable on low cost carriers, in fact I bet its a lot less reliable, especially when the fog hits LTN or Ryanair start running late (but then they could make up time by leaving with departing EDI with your bags still in the hold). Plus if your company is paying theres no jeopardy to you if they cancel the flight and leave you without a hotel. If you are very concerned about saving your employer cash, then why not forego the unnecessary expense of buying a business class ticket (especially as there is no dedicated business class on shuttle flights) and ask them to buy you a fully flexible economy ticket. Or, if you know your travel dates well in advance, why not book an excursion fare starting from a very reasonable £69 pounds. I think you'll find they compare quite favourably with what you can get on the low costs with les than a months notice.