VIRGIN TO BRING BACK A CLASSIC!
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: earth
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
VIRGIN TO BRING BACK A CLASSIC!
Virgin are to bring back a classic from the desert and operate it while the newest -400s in the fleet go back to boeing for oxygen system mods.Apparently 6 of the latest Virgin aircraft have to have their oxygen system fully replaced due to a boeing co;kup,no doubt this probably affects other 747-400 operators.
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: UK
Posts: 155
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
MAN-MCO will be operated by Air Atlanta. The intention is to use VS tech crew. However in typical Virgin fashion they are refusing to offer relocation or temporary basings to pilots who must foot all travel and accommodation costs out of their own pockets!
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Any Bar
Posts: 142
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
So there you are you turn up at Manch having read all the blurb about Virgin in flight service and then hello no Virgin a/c,so unless someone can correct me just some bog standard 747 with no seat back tellys etc not very good or is it just because its only those "up north" so who gives!. .Somebody please prove me wrong on this one.
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: LTN uk
Posts: 201
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
so vs have got plenty of a/c, classic rated crew (enough for at least 1 a/c anyway), so why do they still have other airlines (air atlanta/european or whoever) operate the man-mco and lgw-carribean routes? im sure there is a logical reason, but can someone working for vs explain.
Join Date: Dec 1997
Location: Suffolk UK
Posts: 4,927
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
For reasons not unconnected with Sep 11th, VS decided on a 25% capacity cut in October last year. This was to be achieved by retiring the remaining 8 (at the time, I think) 747-200s. 2, G-VPUF and G-VZZZ, remain and are due to retire on 28th March 02. As 747 says, ZZ was retrieved from the desert because of the mod programme needed for the 744s.. .Virgin Holidays had sold lots of MAN-MCO hols for the 2002 season and had obviously assumed that VS would fly them - someone, somewhere presumably hadn't noticed this when the big scale down was announced! VS no longer has the capacity to run this route in-house, and so has contracted with Air Atlanta (a 742 operator) to hold an ex-VS B742 on its AOC for this route. All the flight crew (tech and cabin) will be Virgin staff, operating on Air Atlanta's AOC.. .This presumably allows VS to remove the 742 from its AOC, with all the associated engineering and operational back-up and costs, while presenting an outwardly VS operation to the MAN-MCO punters.. .Please note, peeps, this is not a political comment or a cue for an argument, just a brief statement of the facts to answer one or two of the above questions.
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Stuck in the middle...
Posts: 1,638
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
Jocko - pay peanuts, get monkeys.. .Was at LHR several times in recent weeks & noticed what looked suspiciously like a 742 in VS strip. I was surprised, to say the least. Didn't get the rego but will be more observant when I'm there again next week.
Join Date: Dec 1997
Location: Suffolk UK
Posts: 4,927
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Taildragger,. .as I said in my previous post, the Classic is not due to retire from Virgin until the end of March. Currently the 742s are operating the VS1/2 to Newark, the VS11/12 to Boston and the VS300/301 to Delhi.. .Why were you surprised to see one?
