Well,you can't! You just have to take everything to the bottom line,and if there is a cheaper option(i.e. another airline),take it!

Jabird,

From what I understand the majority of charges will be levied at the time of booking whilst on the Flybe website. It would only be adhoc charges that would be taken at departure time and these passenger are likely to be referred to the ticket desk for payment. Given that over 80% of Flybe passengers book on the internet it shouldn't involve too many

Those with hand bagagge can already check-in at the designated hand baggage only check-in desk at SOU or at the Flybe ticket desks. With self service check-in becoming more and more popular I think it highly likely that joining a queue to check in with Flybe will soon be a thing of the past, meaning less check-in desks being required and less people going through this process prior to boarding, hence less congestion. Whether you like it or not flying is becoming more and more like simply jumping on a train or bus.

Of all airlines, Flybe implementing this seems a bit crazy..considering the size of the craft they operate! As someone else said, I hope the Embraers have more overhead cabin space than the 146/Dash's!

some good points raised above!

i somewhat personally think that this is a silly and unpratical move for flybe, i know we are all in the low cost market nowadays but i really feel that this is a bad move for them.

Having personally never flown them though i do not know what they are like on turnarounds etc but from a check in point of view it will cause them major problems i would think! pax will be complaining left right and centre at the desks thus delaying the check in, and potentially meaning a late closure of the flight, ultimately causing a possible delay! - and if the que was busy would the supervisor turn round and say for those pax that have not paid sod it we havnt got time to charge just check in and get round to the lounge??

There is also going to be the arguement of how to prove that you've paid etc, i presume like us it will be stated on the paperwork what you've paid for, but if not it will all be time consuming going into pax bookings etc

I bet the flybe ground staff are not looking forward to any of this???

Hopefully, being cruel as i am,the bhx market of flybe pax will come and fly with ww, who i hope would not even consider doing this!

I'm bound to be proved wrong but I think flybe have made a mistake on this one. It sounds like a brainfart from someone on high which the guys and gals on the shopfloor are going to have to retrieve. The aircraft are far too small to take a whole lot of cabin luggage; half of it is going to end up in the hold. The argument that no hold baggage=reduced handling costs is dubious. There is bound to be some hold baggage and if you are having to unload it for one you may as well unload it for 50 - unless the ground agents are going to start charging per piece taken from the hold. IMHO, this is loco scraping the bottom of the barrel and has to be a plus for BA if thay stay in domestic market.

Well this is a stupid idea if ever i heard one. Talk about creating trouble for your own staff. Having just paxed on a q400 yesterday from EXT (nice flight thanks all) there really is stuff all room for hand luggage compared to say a 737. So with a mixed fleet the customers will be completely confused as to why their 146 compatible hand luggage now has to be checked in "£4 please" when the dash is on the route.
Hmm i see lots of rows at check in come Feb.

I agree-Not a good idea
What plusses are there?
Fuel burn?-Probably not-At the end of the day the same amount of baggage will travel,(if not more-see revised allowances) but possibly with more of the baggage as cabin baggage than at present
Revenue?-Jury is out on that one-
Certainly there will be extra revenue from the bags & no one is in a position to say that the fares are £1 cheaper per sector so there is a gain to FlyBe
Handling charges?- very doubtful-I don't think FlyBe are self bag handling anywhere & you can't cut a baggage crew in half ,on the premise that most days there are only sufficient bags for less staff to handle.Certainly not from the rostering or union points of view so the handling charges will stay the same.
BUT
Baggage allowance is up to 25Kgs pp (30kgs for economy plus-but aren't these the businessmen who don't have hold bags??) so there is a potential loss of revenue from that area
What are the minuses?
Well , start with the baggage allowance again.Why 25kgs when the piece concept (& max bag wt) is 32kgs.What happens when the ONE bag turns up (pre notified) for check in & its 26kgs? Waived, for sure-27kgs? Waived, 28kgs?-Maybe.29kgs?-Gotcha!! That will be £4 per kilo!- No it wont-I'll put it in my cabin baggage! & off go the arguments at check in.At least if it went to 32kgs allowance there would be just the one statement.You are overweight & the loaders won't handle this piece.When you have repacked it to meet the maximum weight then any other items will attract excess baggage rate charges.(But then see para above)
Most check in staff are third party contractors who won't want this hassle, or growing queue lengths, leading to late closures.Waivers will increase & as has been pointed out previously, lead to in cabin problems for the cabin crew with attendant possible delays to departure, then knock on delays etc, etc
Conclusions
As it is a new system,a proportion of pax will ALWAYS be unfamiliar with it as they will not be FlyBe regulars & this will lead to repetitive problems at check in & to a lesser degree ,in the cabin.
FlyBe will derive revenue from the new system but this has to be offset against the potential loss of excess baggage charges & the loss of customer goodwill as the system is unique.Loss of goodwill will probably also extend to third party contractors & within some of FlyBe's own ranks.
Thumbs down on this one

And of course, for all staff members from any airline who travel on a standby ticket, you can now add £8 to the price of travelling!
What a load of hoo-ey. Never heard such a stupid idea in my life.

Lets see the CAA step in and increase the average pax weight by 5 kg to allow for the extra hand baggage. Other wise with a bit of freight there will be some more over weight than present aircraft flying around.

Good point er82 lets hit the staff pax even more. Yet cant even give own staff a fixed roster 3 months in advance to allow booking of firm seats at a cheaper rate on the net.

From the FlyBe website this is what they think we all travel with!

X 2 pairs of jeans
X 2 jumpers
X1 pair on trainers
X4 T-shirts
Underwear
Make-up bag
Toiletries bag
Belt
Hair Straighteners


No mention of a "shell suit" or 2

As ever brought to you from those nice people at the end of the M5 where the sun shines all day and the cows in the fields have bells tied round their necks with pretty ribbons! - you know, telly tubby style.

Just a thought but what happens in the event of an evacuation when all this additional hand baggage is deposited all over the cabin.

:(

Where can you buy a bag that has the dimensions 45cm x 35cm x 15cm??? and can you put say 8kg of clothes in it??

Has anyone in flybe had the temerity to suggest to whoever thought this up that it really isn't a very bright idea?:ok: Or better still, that he/she gets out of their office on day 1, gets down to the shop floor and actually put it into operation themselves. Probably not.

Chairman of Flybe set to pocket £18 Million
 

Yes £18,000,000!!

Reporting today in the papers J.F. is to pocket £18 million when Flybe float next year.

3i the venture capitalist is also looking at investing in the company before a float on the London Stockmarket.

Staff will gain in the region of £12,000 each.

The company are also reporting another year of bumper operating profits.

All staff today have received a £10 voucher for M&S. The voucher is a Christmas thank you for all their hard work in helping Flybe become one of the highest profit making Low Cost Carriers.

A little more accurate would be his stake having a paper valuation of £18 million. Somewhat different (but still very nice). Did he have to buy in, in the first place?

£18,000,000 divided by 6 days a week, then by 6 sector days, then by 330 pilots and again by forever tech Dash8-400's = a lot of very knackered crews!!

BFB

Good luck to him.

You could do the same if you start a business from nothing, build it up, take all the risks and do all the things that people who are willing to take a chance do.

I understand that Duo creditors will get around 7p per £1, that includes staff, its customers and its banks!

Good luck to all within Flybe, a niche market success.

Didn't 3i fund the GO' buy-out from BA and then flog-em-off to Easyjet much against the management and staffs' wishes?

yep they certainly did aw ditor ...

and i'm sure they would do it again if the right offer came about!