Aer Lingus - 5

[CallBell]

Also it's worth noting that an A330 (275 - 327 pax) is operating an all year round service to Malaga from Dublin EVERY morning

The A330 service to Malaga only operates for the summer schedule. not year round.

Before the SNNLHR operation was always a 320 operation except for tech/operational reasons when it might change to a 321.

That was because the LHRSNN frequency was up to 4 times a day.
The route is operated by a 321 because it operates a "W" pattern via Dublin, which is intended to make up for the loss of available seats as the slots to operate the SNNLHR flights were taken from DUB.

It's understandable though cos they are not generating any revenue. However, it would be great to see some competition in SNN and not have it all left to one particular airline.

If the flights are not generating any revenue for one airline, how would competition improve this ?

[EISNN]

Sorry perhaps I didn't make myself very clear. my apologies. There are other airlines besides EI and FR. Flybe and BRAL used to fly some of the UK regional routes. That's where I'm talking another airline operating with smaller aircraft such as ATR 42, Fokker 50 or something of a similar size.

As far as I'm aware there was a 330 operation to Malaga all winter just gone. My best pal and his family flew from DUB to Malaga on a 330 in January and let me be clear on this part; on BOTH outward and inward journeys. Perhaps it was a coincidence????!!!!!????

As for 321 operation on LHRSNN. The flight bookings on this route are busy hence the change in a/c. yes maybe because of only half an operation after a years no operation.

[840]

It's far too early to say anything about LHR-SNN

Unless someone has access to internal figures on advance bookings and yields, only when we see the CAA figures for May will it be possible to start judging the success of the restart.

[en2r]

In fact EI operate to all the previously mentioned destinations already from ORK (320), DUB (320/321/330), BFS(320) and now LGW(320). Also it's worth noting that an A330 (275 - 327 pax) is operating an all year round service to Malaga from Dublin EVERY morning and a 320/1 operates again later in the day. Faro is serviced ex DUB by a A321 (212 pax) at least once a day and twice a day during the summer. So the presence of EI in these destinations is quite significant. As regards the initial loads on SNNLHR. That is a normal situation to occur when a route initially starts.

But you're completely missing my point. As I mentioned in my above post, Ryanair are NOT, I repeat NOT axing SNN-Malaga, Faro or Girona. The routes they are axing are predominantly to the UK and Eastern Europe. If I remember rightly the routes axed are Shannon to Newcastle, Luton, Gdansk, Berlin, Lodz, Hahn, Biarritz and Katowice. Aer Lingus do not have a presence in ANY of these airports bar Newcastle, which they are pulling out of from the end of April, and Berlin, however the Cork to Berlin service makes the launch of a service from Shannon unlikely. You really should check your facts before posting.

As far as I'm aware there was a 330 operation to Malaga all winter just gone. My best pal and his family flew from DUB to Malaga on a 330 in January and let me be clear on this part; on BOTH outward and inward journeys. Perhaps it was a coincidence????!!!!!????

As far as I know they used the A330 over the Christmas/New Year Period. However the winter Malaga service is normally operated by an A320.

As regards the 321. The a/c is based in LHR - as in it overnights in LHR. So the flight originates from LHR first thing in the morning and then terminates later on in the evening in LHR. In between it does go to DUB but that accomodates a mid day operation. There are also 320 mid day operations between DUB and LHR so it's not specifically to accomodate a 321 rotation. A 320 was initially meant to be the a/c on the route for the entire summer but it's now changing to 321 as of 01 June til the end of October. Before the SNNLHR operation was always a 320 operation except for tech/operational reasons when it might change to a 321.

It may overnight in Heathrow but it has Dublin based crew (who overnight in LHR) and as far as I know a different aircraft operates the 2 different LHR-SNN rotations. The aircraft which operates the morning LHR-SNN rotation spends the rest of the day operating on the DUB-LHR route, and finishes the day at Dublin, and the aircraft which operates the evening rotation originates in Dublin and then spends the earlier part of the day operating on the DUB-LHR route, before operating the LHR-SNN roundtrip. This is obvious if you look at the timetable on the Aer Lingus website. As far as I know the change from an A320 to an A321 was intended to put extra capacity onto the LHR to Dublin route, and increasing capacity on the Shannon route was not the primary aim.

[daz211]

Sinking ship

How to make a sinking ship go down faster ...

AER LINGUS cabin crew are being balloted for industrial action over what a trade union claims is a malfunctioning rostering system and the failure by management to make temporary staff permanent.

Industrial action in this day and age is madness...
It would be bad news for LGW with new passenger trying EI for the
first time, hope the TV media dont get hold of this...

[missterrible]

hope the TV media dont get hold of this...

Daz we know you work for Ryanair.

[daz211]

WRONG !!! I do not nor ever have worked for Ryanair .
I do work in aviation for a well know International Airline .

[snipes]

Sigh.

Sigh.

Industrial Action != Strike.

[daz211]

Industrial action = strike... NO !

Industrial Action = Work to rule.

If Aer Lingus does not address the issues, the crews may upgrade their protest to a more aggressive form of industrial action .

[snipes]

So you've already jumped to the end game, prophetising the demise of EI?

Sure, fine, whatever, it's not like we haven't all heard this before, yet no-one comes back a year/month/week later and says, "looks like I got that wrong".

You'll be no exception.

Zzzzz Zzzzz.

[daz211]

What are you going on about ?

I am only pointing out that its a very bad time to hold industrial action
of any kind, we all know that the whole industry is in a mess and no matter what Airline you work for you are lucky to have a job at all .

I am also poing out that EI have opened up to the UK holiday market at LGW, If people thinking of traveling with EI from LGW hear about this action they may think again, you have to remember that the very same passengers have heard and seen and maybe even been caught up in the mess the BA cause nearly every summer at LGW and LHR.

[CallBell]

LGW and BFS crew are employed on different contracts. I stand to be corrected but I think that a work to rule or any other industrial action by DUB/ORK/SNN bases would not impact on LGW and BFS operations.

[daz211]

I hear what you are saying [BUT] what you have to remember is
that to the traveling public EI is EI is EI and any news coverage
regarding industrial action in DUB,SNN or ORK would set off alarm bells.

[CallBell]

true, but not sure a work to rule in DUB is gonna make the news in London. People using EI out of Gatwick will only be concerned with their flights out of LGW. If they are running to schedule they wont have much cause for concern for DUB based flights. ( the only exception to this would be DUB-LGW flights operated by DUB crew).

[daz211]

True a work to rule would have very little impact on LGW opps
however the work to rule is step one and if EI does not address the issues, the crews may upgrade their protest to a more aggressive form of industrial action which would inturn have an impact on all passengers.

[Cyrano]

Give it a break, Daz.

The original report (from the Irish Examiner - you forgot to provide the source) says that *if* the ballot is in favour of action, the union would start a work to rule which "is not expected to cause too much disruption to travelling passengers" and then *if* the company does not address the issues, they would take more aggressive measures.

What this says to me is that the union is simply engaging in negotiation: "talk to us about issues X Y and Z or we will do the following." This seems (alas) fairly standard industrial-relations practice to me and doesn't for one moment make me think that a strike is somehow imminent or that passengers should have to worry.

It's perfectly topical for you to raise this issue. However your subsequent arch comments about "hoping that the media don't pick this up", combined with your long-demonstrated and unswerving allegiance to St Michael O'Leary, make me a bit cynical about your motives in trying to stir things up here. Sorry, but that's just how it looks to me.


(And no, I don't work for either Aer Lingus or Ryanair.)

[CallBell]

Daz, even if DUB/SNN and ORK base cabin crew went on all out strike, I really doubt whether BFS and LGW crews would follow as they are on totally different contracts. The work to rule (if agreed) will be in response to the PBS roster system not doing what was promised and the company now back tracking on agreements made when the last cost reductions and work changes were voted in. These reductions/working condition changes do not affect LGW and BFS bases.

[missterrible]

RB will I post your recent plea for us to give Mannion a chance to show his worth?

Daz & Racedo. click on the replies link beside the Aer Lingus and Ryanair threads. Both of you are rabid anti-Aer Lingus and both are the top posters on the Aer Lingus thread while you are both prolific pro-Ryanair posters.

Let me guess, you work for Clickair?

[Seljuk22]

Heard of huge cuts for the coming winter

ORK: MUC, SXF
BFS: MUC, MXP
DUB: HAM
LGW: AGP, MUC...(maybe all operation out of LGW)

Rumour or reality? If it is true it doesn't look good!

[BFS101]

MXP is not bookable after 19 September, even though it had previously been on sale up to the end of October. MUC would come as no great shock either, as it would appear this route is struggling pretty badly, although its a great shame these routes aren't sustainable from Northern Ireland.