FCA Longhaul From DUB
 

With FCA now aiming to operate more longhaul flights from regional basis, would it not be worth considering flights from DUB?

MON and TOM are now starting flights to SFB & CUN from DUB surely we'll be missing out on a great opportunity?

Does anyone know if longhaul from DUB could be a possibility in the next couple of years?

FCA LGW- Varadero
 

I have just returned from a great two week holiday in Varadero with First Choice. I have to say the new star class cabin is superb, the legroom couldn't be better, the AVOD IFE excellent and the seats themselves very comfortable, but were quite hard to sleep in on the way back. The food was decent and some very good and not so good cabin crew. On the way back we had a Delta F/O who is on loan to FCA and he was brilliant, his announcements really made all the passengers chuckle and he kept us entertained; if only a few more pilots could be like him ;-)

One of the best flights I have had, the only thing was thst the cabin crew were not very consistent in the service they provided.....

When are the new 767s due to be delivered and also why does the next one have such a strange reg, you would have thought it be G-OOBN but it is G-DBLA.

One thing I don't understand is how the crewing works. If FCA (or any airline for that matter) have a L/H flight to a particular destination, only once per week (I know Varadero doesn't count as there is a LGW and MAN flight so the crew stay in VRA for 3/4 nights) what does the airline do, do they keep the crew in hotels for a week (surely very expensive) or carry two crews (in the crew rest area or in the passenger cabin) which would be surely very tiring for the crew? How long are crew allowed to work for a particular day?

Sorry for my ignorance but what is a bullet flight and is a rotation there and back or just one-way?

Thanks ;) :ok:

On arrival in Aruba our crew made their way to Margarita I believe and operated the return from there. Our crew from Aruba back to the UK had operated an outbound to Antigua then crossed on an internal to Aruba to operate the inbound to LGW.

Apologies to FCA if I've got the islands wrong but the principle is correct.

Just for the record - the crew from Aruba back to LGW fly out to Margarita from Manchester and do some lovely positioning across to operate the flight back. Crew sometimes spend up to a week in resorts (sometimes, not all the time!) depending on the operational requirements - every other week, a Manchester crew spend a week in the Bahamas operating the flight out on the Sunday and the flight back the following Sunday, however on the odd weeks the crew get one night in the bahamas and position elsewhere to operate home (poss. Antigua). Also in response, most of the cabin crew are great, BUT, unfortunately some are less so... I'm sure it's the same in any job...

I think the FCA crews do the same positioning between Cancun and Puerto Vallarta aswell. They don't get as long in these holiday hotspots as you might think :ok:

G-DBLAand G-PJLO both contain the initials of key figures in First Choice, hence personal registration plates.

They are due in Feb and April respectively.

Do personal registration plates cost more, such as those two and the Virgin ones which are all rather clever?:confused:

I doubt it, it will cost the same to register a plane, its not like they are changing it from BN to LA. Its coming from Eva Air anyway.

freddie

A bullet is airline guk speak for a 24hr layover. Out today, back on tommorrows service, which normally departs late afternoon / evening UK time. A rotation is (in my view) is there and back so LGW-Aruba-LGW, a sector would be LGW-Aruba.
Quiet often the Charter Companies don't go to the same place every day and this can be complicated as sometimes passengers are going on cruises when they get to destination so the schedules are driven by Boat schedules. This often results in all the long haul aircraft going to the same place on the same day, not good for crew patterns. A common schedule would possibly see an aircraft go to Orlando on Friday and Saturday (so crews would operate a "bullet") then on Sunday to Barbados, Monday Jamaica, Tuesday Orlando, then Wednsday Dominican Republic, Thursday Cancun. The decison then is to leave the crews in place for a week, or shuttle them around. If shuttling this is is down by two methods, scheduled airlines so crews could fly example from Orlando to Jamaica normally via Maimi which takes time and is fairly tiring, or sometimes then airlines hire small commuter aircraft to pick the crews up as soon as they arrive, Dom Rep to Jamiaca is a common schedule. This is more expensive but a lot easier, particularly when there are no scheduled flights.

It costs a lot to leave 11 crew in Barbados for a week, but sometimes this is the best and cheapest option it really depends on the schedules.

In terms of Crew hours, longer flights such as Cancun will often see the need for an extra Pilot but thats about it. Maximum hours around 14 + discretion of the Captain. If the crew are going to Barbados for a week, up to 3 hrs can be used, if going to Dom Rep for 24 hrs, between 0-2 hrs!.
Sometimes a crew will operate two sectors such as LGW-BGI-ANU but only within the limits set by the CAA. Rest assured they then get off and take rest (although they may then position somewhere as above)

Lastly rest assured that for every week in Barbados, the most common trips are bullets normally returning into a Airport not the crew base, followed by a coach home. Its not all that glamorous!:\

Although the Manchester - Male flights do mean the cabin crew stay 7 nights in the Maldives and fly back to Gatwick.

freddiebroders
To my knowledge they do charge extra for an out of sequence registration.
I will try to find out what the two cost.:ok:

Does make your airline management look frivilous when they 'personalise' the aircraft registrations, then complain about the trading position and look to lay crews off in order to save money, only to change the airline name with a rebranding/ repainting and keep the now 'old' registrations with the old company name on them!.:rolleyes: take jmc/ Thomas Cook for example.:D

PP

all of MyTravels registrations are not in sequence so this either cost them a lot of money or there was no other charge

Just out of interest, why did we have a Delta pilot on our flight on Thursday, are FCA low on pilots for the summer? Was it a one off or is he (and others?) there for the summer period?

The extra cost is £160 on top of the normal £120 that you would pay for a normal reg.
This is peanuts, to the total cost of getting the aircraft in the first place.

I'm afraid not! MAN crew dep UK Tues evening arriving MLE Weds lunchtime. They then operate the MLE-LGW on Mon morning. My maths makes that 5 nights. In addition, it's not just the cabin crew, the WHOLE crew operate these rotations, as with all FCA longhaul. There are no trips where the cabin crew and flt deck split into different rotation patterns.

30W

I believe that Airtours/MyTravel Airways registrations contain the initials of employees of the company, so although look random they mean something.

pilot pete

Or on the same vein of "botched" rebrandings, how about Britannia to Thomsonfly......:)

Need I say more?:confused: :) :confused:

I was talking to some members of the cabin crew a couple of weeks ago and they seemed to think G-OOAN was on its way out next year, either because of the configuration issues or cost

Does anyone know if thats the case or not?

FCA Short Haul Premium cabin, where is it?
 

I've tried to book a holiday to Madeira flying from BRS on the Premium service. Apparently according to the helpful lady on the phone, FCA are withdrawing their short haul premium cabin from virtually all services. She was surprised herself saying it was always very popular, so what have they withdrawn it for, does anyone know?