Dwshimoda...add in LBA their main base and it would be worse..all the tech a/c get dumped there for the ginger beers to fix...I know the OTP out of LBA and it's pants...nearly as good as FCO.....Time for the Meekon to put a rocket up the GM of G'Ops @rse me thinks
It's not quite like that, aircraft are based at specific airports based on their performance, LJ and LK at Blackpool for example. Not because they are "tech" - "Ohh LU is going to be tech tomorrow - lets ship in into LBA!." Come on, you do not even know if an aircraft will have a tech fault until the last minute. I would like to see the results for the entire network, as only 40% of Jet2's operations have actually been included in this survey.
The ground handling delays OTP for summer 2010 was 96.4%, so clearly the issue lies elsewhere. Typically, the vast majority of delays are attributed to ATC slots, for example in summer the LBA-LCA service nearly always went about 45 minutes late, due to ATC congestion. From an airlines point of view, very little can be done about that. Manchester certainly is the dog in the route network when it comes to OTP, it is frustrating when a flight boards on time but due to ramp congestion and a handful of aircraft in line waiting to go, an on time boarding turns into a 30 minute delay.
One thing that I find is our main challenge is the turnaround times back at the UK bases. Typically 55mins-1 hour for a 757 and 30-40 minutes for a 737. This can nearly always be achieved down route when the crew stay on the aircraft but as crew change over back in the UK these turnarounds are often pushed. It is very hard to disembark a full 757, have a crew change and put another 220 passengers on within an hour - especially if the aircraft is on an airbridge or requiring busses.
Another thing to take into consideration is the profile of the routes Jet2 fly into, typically larger airports on peak days of the week. Block times is also something that I think could be worked on, why can Ryanair justify having a flying time of 2h45 mins on LBA-PMI when Jet2 has a time of 2h35 mins - with Ryanairs -800's getting there a bit faster than our -300's? An extra 20 minutes on a return rotation is a LOT of leeway. It will be interesting to see how this summer goes.