Think it's only the downslope in the TDZ that is the issue and it's tendancy to extend the flare. As a crude guide, Boeing kit copes OK and Airbus & Fokker kit doesn't. There have been plenty of practice autolands by bmi 319s for 12 months now - with the focus entirely on how far down the runway the wheels make contact - but still no 'live' approaches. Like their 737s, the Jet2 757s should be OK, but obviously not at the moment. Only one diversion from LBA this evening - the Jet2 757 from ACE. Maybe CAT2 is an interim solution for them - making the landing manually presumably can help reduce the extended flare?

As for a new runway at LBA, the only thing less likely to happen is that Elvis would be at the controls to make the first landing. Re-profiling the runway undershoots, clawing back some LDA on 32 and upgrading to CAT2 on 14 would get rid of about 75% of the diversions away at a cost of about 5% of the cost of a new runway. Other monies would be better spent on road access, terminal improvements etc which I'm sure is of much more of interest to Mr Meeson and Co.

682

jet 2 to go self handling at leeds as of 4th march , bye bye servisair !!! although the staff are fantastic hope they get jobs with jet 2 . will servisair be able to survive with this loss ??

Cat II Landings
 

Maybe CAT2 is an interim solution for them - making the landing manually presumably can help reduce the extended flare?


Cat II landings are auto-land only, not manual landing, in the 737 anyway, don't know about the 757 but I would imagine it's the same. So this wouldn't solve the problem.

This CAT3 757 problem must be a priority for whoever buys the airport. I know there are many other areas that need investment, but the LBA weather record and that nasty downslope at the 14 overrun must be sorted for safetys' sake. A RESA at that end would solve both probmems allowing the 32TDZ to be brought back to the flatter bit of the runway. It would increase LDA on 32 and ASDA on 14. This would allow a slight tailwind to be more acceptable on 32 CAT3 ops. Hey whilst building it they could even put in a parallel taxyway from D1 and speed up the early morning rush to be airbourne.

Oh well, you can always dream, but as 682 says in an earlier post it will be much cheaper than a new runway. If Jet 2 are to continue bringing in more 757s this must be the way forward. Any thoughts LS 757 drivers?

Thanks for that - so what is the difference between CATII and III at Jet2 then.

ref self-handling, ramp agent and other ground handling employment posiitons are now being advertised on the company website, so no doubt about that one.

682

I still dont understand the 757 Cat3 problem.
Britannia used to land in Cat3C conditions.
From memory, I heard the first ever Cat3 landing with Britannia.
RVR was 75m and tailwind component 3kt.
The pilot when departing to TFS told ATC that on his return, the above conditions were ok as long as the tailwind did not exceed 3kt.
So, what has changed?

Decision height and RVR requirement spring to mind.:}

Of course........but the question I was getting at is why are there different DH and RVR minima if the aircraft is autolanding. As a layman, I had always interchanged the terms "autoland" and CAT3. Clearly a wrong assumption - hence my incorrect theory that CAT2 might be an option to eliminate the flare issues at LBA.
682

A300boy
 

We like you use autoland for our Cat2 operations but on the A300 we can disconect the autopilot and land manually if the visual references needed are present at minimum descent altitude. this proceedure is followed if we have specific failures during the approach which preclude an autoland right down to the flare phase at 30ft above the runway.

Excess Baggage?
 

Have Jet2 suddenly become a lot stricter on excess baggage. Just got back from Faro today (the 30th), and for the first time in my life I got charged for excess baggage (I'm a pretty regular traveller, lived abroad for nearly 20years).
Was 5kg over ( the woman tried to charge me 6kg as her maths was not too hot), looking at some of the leaflets at the payment desk, and they had been charging people for 4kg over too). But I got stung for €48. Not too happy, especially as they have reduced both the size of the hand luggage AND hold allowance in the last 6months (with hold bagage going 20kg then 25kg now 18kg), hand luggage is also reduced below the department of transport amount too. Obviously no liquids over 100ml etc etc etc. Is it just me or this a bit tight? Have flown this route numerous times and never had any problems, including the way out when I had some heavy speakers in there for pressies!

Perhaps they're on commission. When I worked at MyTravel, the agents there were on commission and some were pretty tight with regards to charging for literally anything over. Especially around this time of year, to help boost their pay packets for the party season. All airlines are coming down hard on excess baggage now and unfortunately if you're over even by a fraction, expect to pay. Really just depends who you deal with on the day. Some agents will charge whereas others will be more lenient, perhaps the check in agent was having a bad day and decided to take it out on you, maybe there was a supervisor or manager present at the time you checked in. There could be various possibilities. At another time, on a different flight, with a different agent you may well have got away with it. On this occasion you were probably just unlucky but watch out, coz most airlines now will sting you for every kilo over if they get the opportunity.

In my experience it has little to do with the airline but more the ground handling agent. Our local agent has a monthly target to meet and towards the end of the month if they are down then the supervisor will patrol the check-ins jumping at every opportunity of an excess charge. Luck of the draw I'm afraid but you do say that you've got away with it in the past so look on this as a balancing process. Much like parking/speeding tickets really... some you get and others pass you by but you usually finish on top.

There is an element of commission involved at the moment but I am starting to wonder what will happen when the new EC health and safety rule comes in force. The new rules state that 23kg will be the maximum allowed.:eek:

In BFS we have become very strict when it comes to excess baggage. If your over by 1 kg you will be charged for it. Basically the Handling agents have targets to meet for each airline.

However i've found that as a passenger agent it is becoming increasingly difficult to charge excess baggage because once someone is charged they now not to exceed the allowance again.

brgds

richardnei

From the airlines point of view if everyone is taking more luggage why should we have to pay the price of extra fuel to cover it? if everyone brought on 5kg extra imagine over 148 or 235 passengers how much it would be?
And at the end of the day... its another money maker for the airline
I used to work for a handling agent and the airlines would pass down targets and also compare u to other bases and the best base usually got prices and so did the agent with the most excess chagred.

It is a runway geography problem more than a 'cat 3' problem per se. My old Chief Pilot and Fleet Manager scared themselves in the 757 when they tried an autoland and it still hadn't touched down over halfway down the runway in the flare :ooh: No they didn't. CAT3B is the most. Not sure exactly what you mean here; first ever autoland in the UK, or at LBA? No problem. I think your facts might be wrong there, as he may have been able to autoland in that vis, but he sure as hell wasn't allowed to take off with that vis! Maybe you should review your idea of LVO ops, as I suspect much is incorrect, which could be misleading you into thinking that things have 'changed'.;)

PP

Anyone know why jet.com
 

Milan Bergamo - lba has an Indef delay still showing from yesterday ,i presume i went tech or maybe i,m wrong ???

Correct. Aircraft tech not due back until at least 13:00 today

Does anybody think that LS is to put an order in for a/c this year? If LS are to keep the 733 and 752 model for the next 5 years, why don't they have both models retro-fitted? It would cut their fuel consumption even further on the already quite good consumption on the two series?

Also, any news of any new routes? BLK, BFS or NCL new routes? Hope to hear an order from LS for either Boeing or Airbus models this year.

Could be: 737-300 = 737-700 or A319?
757-200 = 737-900ER or A321?

Personally, I hope it would be Airbus, but if LS were to make an order, I think it will be Boeing.

Any opinions?

We are ment to be getting 3 737s this year - 300s but i dont think they can find decent aircraft.
I dont think the 757s will be replaced anytime soon, they are fairly cheap to run and bring in a fair bit of cash. personally i like the 757 and im a big airbus fan, i would like to see jet2 replace the 733 with 319 but cant see it happening anytime soon. they seem to be on to a good thing, so let um go for now. With jet2 thinking about going further afield and charter ops to the likes of SSH i dont think the A321 will be a good choice.