BRISTOL
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Bristol
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Rampboy, some of what you say does ring true, but I think it's a bit unfair to point the finger at 1 airline as you seem to of done here with FCA, the fact of the matter is and i believe this is mentioned by watabench a little while ago on this thread is that FCA have the ground staff at the airport who are there to make sure their service level agreements are met, and when they are not the the GOC's will speak to the relevent departments, this is why we here so much from them and in my opinion theres nothing wrong with that, As you rightly said everyone is at the airport to do their best and each airline has their own intrests at heart, so why point the finger at 1 airline because they're on top of things, I'm pretty sure that if other carriers had reps that follow the whole process through from crew paperwork to check in to departure everyday then you would here a lot more from them too, The Goc's or at least the more experianced ones know all about what problems can come up on the ramp or how busy Sair Ops are, and i've seen quite a few times certain GOC's running round for the paperwork because the dispatcher is still stuck on another a/c, or doing arrivals, or helping pull b-cards because the gate is short, the 2 Bristol based lads have even helped load bags, hell i've even seen a GOC helping to board an Air Malta because no Sair staff were available, Nobody is perfect but do you really think that if First Choice were that unhappy with the service provided by Servisair or BIA that they would be starting long haul from BRS, i dont think so myself, FCA have a brilliant working relationship with all at BRS, and they do raise their issues directly with "powers that be" however its probably a few captains that moan now and again to Ops, ATC or even the poor guy on the headset and the ignorant 1 or 2 that put anti collisions on whilst still loading that seem to rile ground workers, but you tell me 1 airline in the whole country that doesnt have moaning flight decks! I for one have never come across one! By the way, I'm not a GOC and I dont work for FCA! 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Near sheep!
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You may have hit a very good point hound, more airlines should employ a department equivalent to the FCA GOC role to ensure SLA's are met.
Due to certain budget airline TV programmes, the airline industry has fallen into a 'blame the passenger' culture. Blame them if they are late, offer no help if their passport is out of date, send them walking if they have had a few too many sherberts to calm the nerves....etc, etc. I have noticed First Choice staff being very helpful when these occasions arise!!
As far as ramp operations are concerned, exactly the same principle remains. If a flight goes late due to poor handling, servisair get penalised - financially. No-one wants this to happen so a little bit of communication when awkward situations arise prevents servisair from being dipped out of pocket.
There are some top blokes on Bristol ramp, all of whom know their stuff. When they are having to rush due to delays and poor weather, holding a little bit of respect for them goes a long way. Whether it be on this forum or in person.....
Due to certain budget airline TV programmes, the airline industry has fallen into a 'blame the passenger' culture. Blame them if they are late, offer no help if their passport is out of date, send them walking if they have had a few too many sherberts to calm the nerves....etc, etc. I have noticed First Choice staff being very helpful when these occasions arise!!
As far as ramp operations are concerned, exactly the same principle remains. If a flight goes late due to poor handling, servisair get penalised - financially. No-one wants this to happen so a little bit of communication when awkward situations arise prevents servisair from being dipped out of pocket.
There are some top blokes on Bristol ramp, all of whom know their stuff. When they are having to rush due to delays and poor weather, holding a little bit of respect for them goes a long way. Whether it be on this forum or in person.....
Brunel to Concorde
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Virtute et Industria, et Sumorsaete Ealle
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BRS-MME apparently being pulled - no longer bookable after early May.
Only started in October but was something of an odd choice given the equipment (19-seat Jetstreams) and fares, compared to the highly successful easyJet BRS to NCL just up the road.
Only started in October but was something of an odd choice given the equipment (19-seat Jetstreams) and fares, compared to the highly successful easyJet BRS to NCL just up the road.
Join Date: Jul 2001
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Just one point: many people at the airport seem to have an opinion about stand planning, but none of them have ever done anything about spending time with the stand planner as Rampboy has suggested. If they did this they would understand why they can't be parked on a front stand all the time and why they can't have stand 2 or stand 11 simply because it happens to be vacant when they arrive! There's a zillion other isues to be considered; ease of disembarkation in the walkway, passenger crossovers, coaches, length of ground time, location of the ramp crew's previous flight, you name it. When was the last time any aircraft had to hold on the taxiway waiting for a stand? I can't remember myself......
Forewarned is Forearmed
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They may not be frequently holding on the Taxiway waiting for a Stand, but there are a few holding short of the Stands, due to late calls & no Marshaller being there. 
Join Date: Feb 2001
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Ranger 1 - Is it true that Bristol will be loosing its CATIII ILS for most of this coming winter? Won't that cause chaos? Where will 20+ jets and their 2000 pax go when the fog rolls in? (Time to buy shares in the local coach companies perhaps?)
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Avalon - It’s a cunning plan me thinks…
1.BIA buys a coach company, and some hotels.
2.Make up lame excuses in the foggy weather: CAT111 is a good one but Joe Public wouldn’t have a clue what it means. Hares (as seen on TV) or the wrong type of leaves on the runway (copyright BR) they could also try?
3.Divert all aircraft as far as possible.
4.Coach all the pax and overnight them if need be. Just think of all the dosh they could make! The BIA car parks would fill up with people picking up and dropping off. All spending money in the terminal…blah…blah etc
I could go on. It reminds me of the good old days but on a bigger scale!!
1.BIA buys a coach company, and some hotels.
2.Make up lame excuses in the foggy weather: CAT111 is a good one but Joe Public wouldn’t have a clue what it means. Hares (as seen on TV) or the wrong type of leaves on the runway (copyright BR) they could also try?
3.Divert all aircraft as far as possible.
4.Coach all the pax and overnight them if need be. Just think of all the dosh they could make! The BIA car parks would fill up with people picking up and dropping off. All spending money in the terminal…blah…blah etc
I could go on. It reminds me of the good old days but on a bigger scale!!
Last edited by Count Caproni; 27th Apr 2006 at 18:21.
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does the ryanair anouncement about pulling out of CWL and transfering operations to BRS mean extra a/c or just just filling the existing flights,(see cwl thread 17.00 hrs 25-4-06)
Join Date: Oct 2004
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It does mean more Ryanair flights from Bristol, at least until May 10th, one or two extra a day. Then they’re going to review the loads and make a decision if they should increase BRS-DUB to four times daily.
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Avalon; the rumour is that there may be some down grading of the ILS due to the resurfacing of the runway especially when sections of the Inset Runway lighting is removed which is required for CAT111 Ops, as the surface is planed off & reinstated each night, not really my Dept, so cant give a definitive answer, but the monitoring of the works & inspecting each night/morning before it returns to service.
Redfield: The term "late calls" are from Ops who occaisionally fail to notice the arrival of aircraft (usually due to the high workload) therefore the Marshallers cannot get there in time, so the Aircraft has to hold short of the stand, in the Cul-De-Sac or on the Taxiway.
Count Caproni: Leave the Hares out of it.
Redfield: The term "late calls" are from Ops who occaisionally fail to notice the arrival of aircraft (usually due to the high workload) therefore the Marshallers cannot get there in time, so the Aircraft has to hold short of the stand, in the Cul-De-Sac or on the Taxiway.
Count Caproni: Leave the Hares out of it.
Last edited by Ranger 1; 26th Apr 2006 at 23:50.
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Both Luton and Stansted are operating at Cat1 due to night time runway closures for runway resurfacing work. Luton and Bristol have similar runway lengths so you can look forward to 6 months of Cat 1 operations. Luton's work started on March 1st and runs to June 30th and then starts again on October 1st to November 30th.
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Ranger 1: I agree with you that the workload is high, but as we both know S'Air Ops are not the only department that your comment should be directed towards, so lets not even get involved in that discussion. I thought they were rabbits anyway!
I think the CWL FR flights are operating through BRS all summer.
I think the CWL FR flights are operating through BRS all summer.
Join Date: Feb 2001
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CAT III loss
Ranger1 - thanks for the reply. Do the airlines know about this downgrade? (The orange one didn't.) And what are the contingencies to move 2000+ passengers to and from other airports when Bristol is fogged out?
I just wonder whether Luton have got it right - doing their runway work in the spring / summer time when the weather is better. Or could Bristol spend a bit more money and keep the runway lights working during this work?
It seems this hasn't been thought through at all
I just wonder whether Luton have got it right - doing their runway work in the spring / summer time when the weather is better. Or could Bristol spend a bit more money and keep the runway lights working during this work?
It seems this hasn't been thought through at all
Join Date: Jan 2005
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I'm not meaning this post as a CWL bashing as i quite like the lil place over the Severn, however....
Great news for BRS especially as a few months back there were strong rumours of FR expanding routes from CWL, hopefully they will come BRS's way, unfortunatly for our chums over the bridge another nail in the CWL coffin, although RE are taking the route over they've no where near the advertising, selling and operating power of FR, but with cost rises of 350% it isnt suprising MOL and co have taken this step, also noticed EZY jumping on the bandwagon with the demise of Air Wales they've been offering £25 rescue fees for Air Wales pax that want to use the EZY BRS-BFS/NCL/GLA services, all in all a terrible week for CWL.
Hmm wonder where FR will be diverting when the BRS ILS isn't working, I'm guessing not CWL
Great news for BRS especially as a few months back there were strong rumours of FR expanding routes from CWL, hopefully they will come BRS's way, unfortunatly for our chums over the bridge another nail in the CWL coffin, although RE are taking the route over they've no where near the advertising, selling and operating power of FR, but with cost rises of 350% it isnt suprising MOL and co have taken this step, also noticed EZY jumping on the bandwagon with the demise of Air Wales they've been offering £25 rescue fees for Air Wales pax that want to use the EZY BRS-BFS/NCL/GLA services, all in all a terrible week for CWL.
Hmm wonder where FR will be diverting when the BRS ILS isn't working, I'm guessing not CWL
Forewarned is Forearmed
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Avalon;I have no doubt that this work will be thought through thouroughly as was last winter's runway works, which involved new cable ducts being layed along with several weeks of Patching work & grooving & sealing of the runway surface, inc Taxiway Z/G
All the details will be circulated to all concerned I'm sureincluding us
All the details will be circulated to all concerned I'm sure
including us