ThomsonFly - Schedule Changes

[QWERTY9]

I'm pretty much a frequent flyer with the likes of Easyjet, Ryanair and Thomsonfly, but one thing that has struck me is the amount of schedule changes Thomsonfly make to your booking. I know it's cheap and you get what you pay for etc etc.

I booked my 11th flight with Thomsonfly from Bournemouth last week which is to Amsterdam. The previous one I had to cancel as they changed the departure time by 13 hours !!!!!! Now the new one has also changed, this time by 7 hours. It got me thinking, that out of my 11 return flights only 2 have not been subject to a change. Whereas, having flown Easyjet and Ryanair over 100 times between them I've not once had a schedule change.

Do Thomsonfly actually have a Scheduling dept that knows what it's doing ? or is the airline run on such a shoestring that they don't know from one day to the next where their aircraft will be ?



I'm pretty flexible in my travel plans, but surely the time comes when the punters start to get really pissed off with constant changes and they take their business elsewhere !!

[arthur harbrow]

I have had this happen to me twice with Thomsonfly.
The final straw was last September.Flew to Jersey from Coventry for airshow next day, took off, couldnt land due to fog, returned to Coventry and cancelled flight.We could fly next day but from Doncaster.
Basically Thomsonfly did not want to know.
Also, seemed to be short of aircraft last year, 2 flights were by Titan 737.
I know i am a very tiny drop in the ocean but i no longer use Thomsonfly.

[WHBM]

.Flew to Jersey from Coventry for airshow next day, took off, couldnt land due to fog, returned to Coventry
Presumably therefore the fog did the airshow in as well, at least you got your money back :)

[Pax Agent]

actually most of the s/c occur because of losing ATC slots throughout Europe. As this works on a Historical value last summer was a nightmare for them. They had to publish some kind of timetable but lost sooooo many slots as they had 0 years behind them. At least now they have 1 but compared to others they are still having to fit in with every1 else.

[arthur harbrow]

The airshow was the next day and went ahead as planned.Lost money on car hire and hotel and worst of all paid £29 to park at Coventry but was refused refund despite the fact i am pretty certain the car park is owned by Coventry airport, which i believe is owned by Thomsonfly.
Ah well, thats the way of the world i suppose.

[QWERTY9]

actually most of the s/c occur because of losing ATC slots throughout Europe. As this works on a Historical value last summer was a nightmare for them. They had to publish some kind of timetable but lost sooooo many slots as they had 0 years behind them. At least now they have 1 but compared to others they are still having to fit in with every1 else.

So what you're saying is :- they publish a fictitious timetable (which appear to be good flight times) to get the punters to purchase their seats, then change the times as they didn't get the slots, knowing full well that most people will just run with the time change and not cancel ? They're taking us for mugs aren't they !!! Seems a very professional way to run an airline !

PS. one such flight from Bournemouth to CDG last year was changed 3 times in approx 6 weeks. I can't believe that was all down to slots.

[SeamusCVT]

If I may say, Arthur Harbrow, the fact that your flight could not land in Jersey was not due to the Airline's fault or schedule change. I very much doubt anything landed in the fog at Jersey on that day, at that time.

Was there actually a flight on the following day from Coventry to Jersey? I think it would be unfair to imply that the company just picked flights from Doncaster out of the air. The reason they may have suggested Doncaster was because the reason you wanted to go to Jersey was on the same day that the DSA flight operated, and yet there was not a CVT flight scheduled for that day, ergo meaning that you could get to Jersey for your event. If there was a CVT - JER flight operating, then it may have been full already, or made full by re accomodating passengers from the original cancelled flight (due to fog) on to the flight the next day.

Re car parking at Coventry Airport. Thomsonfly do not own the airport, TUI do not and never have owned the airport, at the time of your flight TUI owned the lease to the airport. However, the car park is owned and managed by Coventry Airport Parking, two completely separate companies....it's a bit like saying that BA would be responsible for parking at Gatwick, however many companies such as BCP are responsible for that

[RobT100]

So what you're saying is :- they publish a fictitious timetable (which appear to be good flight times) to get the punters to purchase their seats, then change the times as they didn't get the slots, knowing full well that most people will just run with the time change and not cancel ? They're taking us for mugs aren't they !!! Seems a very professional way to run an airline !
PS. one such flight from Bournemouth to CDG last year was changed 3 times in approx 6 weeks. I can't believe that was all down to slots.

It gets even better than that - ThomsonFly at LBA bang the drum for nearly 12 months regarding new routes in europe and winter flights to the Canaries, then somewhere nearer the time (maybe if DSA is low on bookings) they have pulled the plug on the LBA flights and bumped the pax to DSA - never the other way round !
The whole operation stinks in my opinion.

[arthur harbrow]

Thanks for the reply Seamus.My point was, apparently instead of diverting to Bournemouth for instance the plane had to return to Coventry to maintain a schedule.
Thanks for pointing out my error re car park.I stand corrected, however it would have been nice to have received a response to my 2 e mails.
I was keen to use Coventry but will do so no more.A silk purse from a pigs ear comes to mind.

[QWERTY9]

They are really taking the piss now - I've just had a look at their online timetable to see if it shows my new 7 hour delayed flight. Guess what it, doesn't !!!! Rang Thomsonfly to ask why it's not on their timetable - Answer - We don't have a flight at that time, its been changed again and now departing a further 6 hours from the changed time. So thats now two flights they've changed by 13 hours, but this time they haven't even had the courtesy to let me know.

A COMPLETE AND UTTER SH1T ORGANISATION !!!!

Wonder what the BBC's watchdog programme will make of them ?

[banewboi]

the reason that you are returned to cvt rather than dropped at bournemouth (which is closer) is because the airline have a responsibility to get you to your destination, not halfway, so for the company it is easier for them to get you back to coventry and either refund your ticket or offer you an alternative. if they dumped you at boh then you would then need hotel, taxi, further transport via a 3rd party etc etc, unfortunately they are cutting costs rather than giving you satisfaction.

[arthur harbrow]

Banewboi.Thanks for your reply also.To be honest what annoyed me when we returned to Coventry was the response from the staff who were dealing with queries.We were told reasons such as Captain out of hours, air traffic control decides where the aircraft goes, etc.
I do appreciate their job must be a nightmare when this happens.Personally i would rather be told, "tough what do you expect when you pay next to nothing," end of story.
I still think Thomsonfly are all over the place when it comes to schedules.
I have had other flights with them and times have been altered drastically.

Seamus, i see you have CVT after your name, so although i am none too impressed with Thomsonfly, having attended Air Atlantique open days i am mightily impressed with the aircraft at Coventry.I really hope it does well.
As it been sold/leased again?

[AirSurfer]

people do not seem to look at the bigger picture when it comes to these type of scenarios, regarding the JER flight, in my experience whenever thomson has had to return back to the UK with passengers when JER is closed due to fog then, if their is a flight the next day they have in the past put passengers up in a hotel, with ryanair or easyjet i dont think u get this same service, also thomson re honoured your flight yes granted from DSA, but none the less as pointed out ealier probably due to CVT flight being full or not one being scheduled.

as for the slots, these are always a last minute thing when they are being published and when they are granted to the airline, the reason flights may get schedule changes in the future etc etc is probably due to aircraft having to go to the hanger for their checks and also slots changing daily from ATC,

people are all to hot to start bad mouthing however when a company does good for them nothing is ever said!!

p.s if your flight is ever that bad or you have issues with thomson then fill in the questionaire on the flight i know for certain they contact you!!!! and resolve the issue

:ok: :ok: :ok: thomsonfly are a great ariline :ok: :ok: :ok:

[QWERTY9]

the reason flights may get schedule changes in the future etc etc is probably due to aircraft having to go to the hanger for their checks and also slots changing daily from ATC,
people are all to hot to start bad mouthing however when a company does good for them nothing is ever said!!
p.s if your flight is ever that bad or you have issues with thomson then fill in the questionaire on the flight i know for certain they contact you!!!! and resolve the issue
:ok: :ok: :ok: thomsonfly are a great ariline :ok: :ok: :ok:

You obviously know little about the way a decent airline works :- Schedule changes do not take place due to 'aircraft having to go to the hanger for their checks' - These are known and planned well in advance. Last minute technical issues are a different story though
A more realistic reason is that the airline doesn't have the necessary aircraft numbers to publish and operate such a schedule.
I've never stated that the flight itself has been bad, just commented on the number of schedule changes and the airlines failure to notify it's customers prior to finding out for themselves.
Customer services are appalling. When enquiring about the changes you get a scripted reply and when questioning their failure to notify, they blame lost-e-mails !!! How convenient for them, absolute garbage.

Since Thomsonfly have failed to answer my questions, I've passed it into the hands of others who may get a more significant response .

Thomsonfly are a poor excuse for an airline. Maybe this is why their pax yields from Bournemouth are not too good.

[SeamusCVT]

QWERT9, you are not travelling in May are you? I only ask because I have had my Coventry to Paris flight cancelled in May, and apparently there have been a few cancellations in May affecting all bases. I found out about mine via E Mail sent on March 1st, apparently that is when the flights were cancelled. You might want to check that?

Mr Harbrow, the lease to Coventry airport was sold to a joint American and British venture, CAFCO-C. The American arm of the company, AFCO Inc, has a very strong presence in the USA, and specialises predominantly in cargo, although they are interested in developing Coventry as a 2 million passenger airport. I guess their cargo experience will come to the fore, if the Government Inspectors are stupid enough to decide in favour of rejecting a permanent passenger terminal.