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easy Lowcost Mismanagement on a grand scale

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Old 10th Aug 2005, 19:21
  #41 (permalink)  
 
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100% agree with doors2auto

The scrum was perhaps the major reason I looked to other carriers. Having spent 2 years up and down LTN-AGP.

I always got my prefered seating ex AGP.....not telling how.

Ex Luton, I waited in the lounge (Reed Aviation, or whatever they are called this week), and walked to the gate...and took my seat....often in my fave seat....

If only they could solve that scrum problem, then customer satisfaction would be 101%......

After all I am sure 99% of the airports now have the technology...but it would take a few more mins at check in....I suspect.....

Unless you entered your seat preference in the booking procedure..then it is your time being wasted...if you dont want to try for a specific seat the computer can guess just as well as you can.....


On the subject of the exec lounge in LTN they now charge for the Internet.....wounder if anyone now uses it....I dont....but then lounge is better....

My invoice is in the post.....Bumz
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Old 10th Aug 2005, 20:38
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On the subject of the exec lounge in LTN they now charge for the Internet.....
Not according to their updated website

http://www.london-luton.co.uk/en/con...?area=2&id=233

Executive Lounge

For the busy executive, we offer free internet access, pay telephone and fax services.
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Old 10th Aug 2005, 21:09
  #43 (permalink)  
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(following the diversion) The last time I was in that lounge, the Net service was out of service anyway. If only they could keep the wretched TV volume down ...
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Old 10th Aug 2005, 21:32
  #44 (permalink)  
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I could not agree with you more.

In an average year, I fly about 90 segments and eJ used to have about 30-35 of them.

After becoming sick of the scrums, being left stranded in Spain (yes, I know that canx is in the t&cs), suffering three long delays at EDI (one 5 hours) and then being charged GBP170 for a one way to AMS and being told by an FA to hurry up and sit down, so they could keep fares low, I decided that enough was enough.

And the funny thing is that my spend on tickets has not gone up - that tells you something about this so called low cost airline.

Low cost and service, but high fare would be the words that I'd use.
 
Old 10th Aug 2005, 22:26
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Final 3 Greens

Same here - I now tend to use BA or KL from Birmingham. I can be walking through my front door within 50 mins of touchdown and the fares are only maybe 10-15% higher - sometimes less. I get allocated seating and food on board and a pleasant airport environment.

Any EJ management on this frequency - are you listening? Well you should be.
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Old 10th Aug 2005, 22:53
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We make quite extensive use of U2 and believe that it is still ahead of FR in customer service - priority boarding, the aeroplanes are less tabloid etc.

However, we have just booked AB to DUs ex STN. Not only allocated seats, but for a smaall fee, I can reserve them on line when booking removing so much stress. What would it costU2 ( or is it costing AB) to do this?
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Old 10th Aug 2005, 23:19
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No company is perfect, mistakes are made everywhere. I have flown for Easyjet as flightdeck for over 2 years, both from an overcrewed and undercrewed base, and overall it is a very good company to work for and they are in a strong position to survive in the future.

I have a higher degree in Marketing Management, and I can tell you now that Easyjet do just about everything by the Marketing book, which is very rare. Most companies completely ignore basic principles of marketing and then end up in those books as Case Studies how not to do it. Easyjet KNOW their Strenghts & Weaknesses, they are well aware of the Threats and Opportunities. They have continuously built on their strenghts (eg. economies of scale & branding) and are always trying eliminate weaknesses. I once saw a regional manager studying graphs of revenue per passenger & loads over a period when Thomson Fly started flying to assess impact. Trust me, only top companies like Unilever, P & G, Palmolive etc match this type of high quality marketing analysis and have the information systems to do so. Most companies even fail to define their mission and have no clue what Strategy means.

In my book, I give Easy the thumbs up.
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Old 10th Aug 2005, 23:22
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Hello Orange whingers, I have some news for you:

PETROLEUM ($/bbl)

Nymex Crude 64.90


THAT is a cause for concern, you don't like your job ? Don't worry. Soon we all get a bus driver course sponsored by JOB CENTER PLUS.

SF
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Old 11th Aug 2005, 06:59
  #49 (permalink)  
 
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I agree Superfly and I can't see the price coming down now that we are in the peak oil years.

So what of the future of aviation?

Load factors in eJ are excellent. We use a system of yield management so if the price you're paying is high it's because a lot of seats have been sold. The more seats sold the higher the price.

So if prices are high then the route is ticking along nicely.
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Old 11th Aug 2005, 07:50
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Commanche, never met an orange indian before You may be correct about all the management 101 stuff, but can they translate that knowledge into a tangible gain? Most of the crew don't seem to get what they are on about, and that is a communication problem. COLF, what was that really all about, it had no impact on the day to day part of the operation, which is the bit that makes the cash. What is the point of something like that if it doesn't impact at the sharp end of the business? Statistical taxi times to reduce taxi fuel? It has gone up for all of the places we fly to, why don't they just leave it at a reasonable standard figure and let the people who know (ie the crews) adjust it as required to a sensible figure. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

Doesn't matter anyway, as Superfly pointed out all this stuff will become academic anyway. Once fuel costs increase to a sufficient level the low cost model is going to break down. Aviation will start shrinking dramatically as the cost of flying increases with the cost of fuel. Can't see people flying at the same frequency as now if they are paying £500 a trip. And that is going to leave a lot of companies with too many aircraft in a diminishing market with increasing costs. RW and the like have it about right, grab the cash while you can and run, this industry is going to change dramatically in the not too distant future, it is just a question of when not if.
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Old 11th Aug 2005, 11:23
  #51 (permalink)  

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How to board fast with only one Jetty

The cabin crew has the right idea when they explain to the boarding pax "there is plenty of room at the back - if you keep walking back there we will be on our way on time / maker the slot / avoid delay etc." Nobody listens. This announcement should be made before boarding.

Trouble lies in the herd brains of the pax. No-one wants to go to the back - we`ll get there later won't we? Same reason they all stand up on arrival when the doors still are shut - they think they will be quicker.

So let`s issue tickets for the back seats and let the pax choose - you can board early if you take a back seat or if you want to wait you can sit at the front. In this way the intelligent guys get on first - go to the back and leave room for the herd guys coming later. Saves about 5 minutes boarding time.

FC.
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Old 11th Aug 2005, 12:52
  #52 (permalink)  
 
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FC,

Great idea, but how much "education" would be needed?

I'll always gladly go further back, as long as I can get my window seat, I don't care when I get off. 5 minutes really doesn't make that much difference, and you can usually play catch up by the time you get to baggage reclaim (or the car rental desk or airport station for that matter!).

Ditto for not renting cars with the airline's preferred partner for similar reasons - but who listened, they've sold us a cheap flight, so they must be the cheapest for all the add ons.

Pax get lectured enough though with all the other announcements, so none of this will happen. So I think Jet Blue's 34" pitch for the rear seats is a much more interesting idea, but I can't see that having much appeal either on the GLA to BFS run!
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Old 12th Aug 2005, 14:21
  #53 (permalink)  
 
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I work for them but on any flight where there is an alternative, e.g. Berlin, I fly with the alternative, e.g. Air Berlin, as I did this morning.
Seat 16D, no scrum, no pushing, free newspaper, orange juice, tea and a bagguette. No loud and pushy PAs telling me to move along the bus please. In short, a pleasure.
Price btw, e67, e22 cheaper than the equivalent flight on eJ.
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Old 12th Aug 2005, 14:41
  #54 (permalink)  
 
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That's exactly the point. Easyjet are no longer the cheapest carrier in the sky. There are many other carriers who do believe in customer service and are more competitively priced. Even so, EJ management still think they know best!
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Old 12th Aug 2005, 15:24
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As ej has no forum I suppose I might use this to air a few other thoughts. I'm sure these questions have been raised in the past but I must have missed them!
Why do eJ use CI of 17 when empirical evidence shows 35-45 to be the most cost effective, over ALL sector lengths. On a leg such as NEW to AGP the difference in flight time between 17 and 45 is around 8 minutes but the extra fuel burn is 100kg. Am I missing something here?
Why do we idiot 737 pilots insist on putting the Captain's Brief upright in the QRH stowage when it fits perfectly well when horizontally. That way it doesn't get chewed up by the trim wheel as it turns. ( I know the answer to that one by the way!!) And just what is in the Captain's Brief that is of any use to anyone?
Who works out our diversion fuel??? e.g. Distance between destination and div. 55nm Fuel plan 152nm. Also seen one of 78nm and 242nm!! Brilliant!
How difficult is it to put the RVSM check in the correct place? Out of STN we should do it at FL110! Brilliant! en route to CDG and a few other places we never even reach RVSM but there the check line sits at FL 240. Brilliant!
Good to know the same Management are so keen on saving money and running an efficient operation. Maybe they are too busy watching the progress of the COLF regime?
If anyone knows which forum we might put such questions, please let me know.
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Old 12th Aug 2005, 15:40
  #56 (permalink)  
 
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Rubik, easy does indeed have a forum but you have to pay Balpa subs to read it, which also entitles you to air your views to a more appropriate audience.
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Old 12th Aug 2005, 16:04
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'entitles', 'appropriate'.
I don't want or need anyone's entitlement to write here or anywhere else. As for appropriate, most of the posters here seem to know something about eJ and flying aerolpanes so why shouldn't I write here?
I was aking which pprune forum was more suitable.
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Old 12th Aug 2005, 17:09
  #58 (permalink)  
Oops pardon me
 
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737-300's

As the 300's are on there way out (one going to China this weekend) maybe the fleet changes will bring a few less moans!

Any airline = cockups and money wasting so don't think Easyjet is any exception!

My advise is to enjoy the flying, take the money and when u have had enough, move on to the next bunch of cowboys!

Look at the forums on here.....always the same moans and groans whoever u work for.

If you have reached the end of your tether then try something new...............you can earn more as a plumber these days!

Feeling brave? Think you can do it better? Launch your own low cost. That young lad who is launching Nexus has the right idea. Good luck to him and I wish him every success. It is a tightrope running an airline and as it grows you see what was the perfect model slipping into the mud as so called consultants bring in there ideas. You can't run it from a portacabin on your own !!!
(Although some still try!)

Enjoy the flying.....it's what u payed all that money to do. Don't get swallowed up with things you have no control over.............its called life!!!

Coop & Low Cost Bear
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Old 12th Aug 2005, 17:35
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I have to agree with the forum members that have stated that non-allocated seating does encourage passengers to be at check-in or at the gate, or at least that's what I've witnessed at my local airport.

Many EasyJet passengers are frequent flyers with the airline, whether they're business people flying up to Edinburgh or Cologne or if they're second-home owners flying out to Malaga or Alicante. They know that if they want a good seat, they need to get to the airport early to check-in and get a low boarding number, which in turn gets them waiting at the gate ready to get onboard. This obviously means you aren't going to have to chase passengers up to the gate as people have a real incentive to be there early.

This isn't a particularly pleasant experience either for the passengers & for the gate staff. I've witnessed staff make as part of their announcements to get all passengers who don't have the correct priority boarding card number to remain seated & yet nobody listens, however, they do turn people away.

I can't understand why they don't make it more of a pleasant experience however. I recently took a couple of flights with Southwest out in the USA who have the same boarding procedures as EZY. They had a holding pen for each of the groups of passengers, but the staff kept passengers always informed, entertained by chatting whilst they waited for boarding to commence & generally provided a fun, friendly & relaxed atmopshere. Whilst I doubt the "professionals" at Circusair could do that from my local airport, I'm sure it can be done at others.

Onboard I agree that crew members should encourage people to move down the cabin. Remind passengers that perhaps at their destination they will be able to disembark using both the forward & rear doors to encourage people to sit at both ends of the cabin. With allocated seating, you can't tell people to keep moving back, because they're standing by their seat & stowing their luggage above them. This slows down boarding for everyone whilst onboard. Either way, with assigned or unassigned seating, there's going to be a lot of waiting & standing around.

I'm not sure what EasyJet is particularly like to work for. Everyone seems to be very nice (from both a pax perspective & also once informing them I'm crew also) and tend to be either brand new to the industry or having retired off of longhaul or BA to a quiter or more senior life.

I have to disagree with those who say the crew look shabby. I think the "new" uniforms that were introduced after the Go merger are a real improvement over the old ones. They're casual & bright which you'd expect from EasyJet and allow the crews on the flights I've been on to seem more relaxed than if they were having to wear a suit. In the book "Nuts" about Southwest, the author said SWA had attempted to get their cabin crews to wear traditional outfits and found that they were more inhibited & unable to provide the excellent & friendly atmosphere you expect from them. As a result they've gone back to a relaxed uniform. Personally, I think the t-shirt, shorts & sneakers are too relaxed, but I really like the attitude of their staff.

Either way, you seem to have a nice group of guys & girls on the floor, and any company is going to have a bad group of managers. I think the best way to overcome managers who seem to have their head up their a*se is to encourage them to "go back to the shop floor". I know that the president of JetBlue spends at least one day a month flying & also with their staff on the ground. It seems to give him a good idea of what life is like, and on more than one occasion I've thought that perhaps bmi should get their managers to do this more often.
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Old 12th Aug 2005, 18:41
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free wifi in LTN lounge

LTN man the web site shows the old lounge ..check the window...., and yes it was comp there......even if the right hand computer never worked correctly for over three years......Bumz
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