Frequent Flyer in the EU
I'm a frequent flyer within the EU and I expect - in fact I don't even question - that the carrier I use will be safe and conform to EU regulations. My grandfather came from Ireland and my father was born there so I have every reason - and have so done - to fly to, from and within Ireland. I expect the carriers I use there to conform to EU standards. I could well have been on that Belfast-Cork flight. The tortured process by which Manx2 sold their tickets on behalf of BCN Flightline who didn't own the aircraft and probably didn't train the crew needs to be dealt with so that we can all fly in confidence within the EU with ANY carrier. This is why I've been niggling away at exactly who Euro Continental, BCN Flightline and Air Lada actually are, who owns what and - most particularly - who was responsible for training the crew who flew the aircraft into the ground at Cork. How much fog had that Spanish commander had experience of? Not a lot if he mainly flew previously in southern Spain (I can only recall within the last five years, Alicante encountering fog once, and it was closed). Is this why the British co-pilot was flying - because the commander couldn't cope with fog? And who trained the co-pilot to deal with the peculiar low-speed characteristics of the Metro? Who said they could bust minimums? These are the sorts of questions which are now, hopefully, being addressed at the enquiry.
And how is it that, after a brief grounding and blacklist by the EU, Flighline BCN have been told that they may continue to operate on the basis that they put into place the shortcomings to which they have admitted?
I agree, wholeheartedly, that small operators should not be condemned out of hand. What I want to see is security that I may safely fly with any carrier within the EU. For me, after Cork, this is not the case.