Flybe - 3 (Including the FlyBe/BACon merger)

[Dash-7 lover]

DAZA

Don't forget that alot of things will not happen and can't until the deal has been signed.....

[Daza]

Dash-7-Lover
My point exactly, people will have made their plans by the time its all sorted out. They are handing passengers to the opposition which at BHX is the foreign full service airlines and BMIBaby.
Daza

[NickBarnes]

Norwich - Guernsey has returned for Summer 2007 and is available to book on their website altough they havent seemed to have anounced it yet, perhaps it will be tomorrow.

You can fly out from Norwich on sunday but there is no return flight:uhoh:

flights start on the 25th of March a month away:\

[conradmueller]

and is the tranaction going to take place tomorrow?

[skiddyiom]

It had bloody better! Things are getting somewhat tense here :}

skiddy

[Daza]

From 14th March at BHX we can wave goodbye to MAD,BCN,TXL,LYS,GVA some GLA and EDI services. There will be just 5 ER4 aircraft based at BHX along with the previous based Flybe aircraft, in terms of routes its nothing short of disasterous at BHX. I believe MAN is seeing many routes discontinued also. Some of the flights that Flybe plan to take on ie: HAM look doomed, Flybe have 3 different timings for this flight ex BHX dependant on which day of departure, either early morning ,mid-morning or some other time at weekends!!!?? Hardly business friendly? Lets hope we can attract a real low fares airline like EZY or GSM who have real plans and ambitions for regional travel.
Daza

[Scottie Dog]

Interesting looking on the CRS to note that....

1/ Flybe flight numbers on MAN/GLA have changed from 3 to 4 figure numbers
2/ They show services being operated with ER4 equipment from 2nd April (the date I checked)

Presume this is an early loading of schedules prior to the announcement!!

Scottie Dog

[OltonPete]

One curious aspect is that BACON BHX-ABZ continues in March in
competition with Baby and flybe.

Okay the flybe only starts during the second week and BA ends around 26/3 but you would have thought that rather cancel flights where there is
no alternative ABZ would have gone first. Also some of the flights
cancelled are RJ100's (BCN & MAD), does this mean they are going
to cover the 145 flights?

I agree with Daza, major blow for BHX in the shortfall. Baby have tried
their best and are reaping the rewards already pax wise on some routes
but there is only so much they can do.

OP

[Modderator]

Financial Times 27 February 2006

Flybe flies into loss

By Kevin Done, Aerospace Correspondent
Published: February 27 2007 16:56 | Last updated: February 27 2007 16:56

Flybe, the privately owned UK regional airline, fell sharply into loss last year as a result of the rapid expansion of its route network, write-downs on the value of some of its oldest aircraft and a big rise in fuel costs.
The group also incurred £1.6m in costs for its deferred initial public offering, which the group was forced to postpone last year as it embarked on the takeover of BA Connect, British Airways’ loss-making UK regional operations.

[tilewood]

So flybe has made a small loss. It would be surprising if it hadn't after the heavy investment in new equipment and routes, and the huge rise in fuel
prices over the last 12 months.

The proposed acquisition of BACON, and all the costs that that involves are part of the old adage 'speculate to accumulate.'

I don't think the headline tag to this thread is helpful .

[Sh3113y]

The report does not mention collapse at any point and is merely reporting on the latest results.

The Chief Exec reports that the expansion was aimed at laying the foundations of further profitability in future years, It was recognised that such an ambitious expansion would involve a significant financial risk to the business.

The group was seeing “very significant” financial benefits from the route expansion in the current financial year to the end of March 2007, as the network matured.


As with any business you need to read the financial results yourself as the report does not mention them in detail.

[Suspicious Gentleman]

Well chaps, I used to lurk here about two years ago when I had more time to devote to flight sims (I was also studying towards a PPL at the time but ran out of cash)... I visit again and can already be of (some) use. So I've signed up for an account here to give you the full article - not that it is that interesting:

Flybe, the privately owned UK regional airline, fell sharply into loss last year as a result of the rapid expansion of its route network, write-downs on the value of some of its oldest aircraft and a big rise in fuel costs.

The group also incurred £1.6m in costs for its deferred initial public offering, which the group was forced to postpone last year as it embarked on the takeover of BA Connect, British Airways’ loss-making UK regional operations.


The acquisition of BA Connect, due to be completed shortly following clearance by the Office of Fair Trading, will double Flybe’s turnover and greatly increase its presence in Manchester and Birmingham, two of the biggest regional markets in the UK. It will make the group the largest regional airline in Europe.

The takeover has delayed the IPO by at least a year, however, to the summer of 2008 at the earliest. BA is expected to take a stake of 15 per cent in Flybe as part of the BA Connect transaction, but has said it will sell the stake at the time of the IPO.

According to its latest accounts, published on Tuesday, Flybe fell into a pre-tax loss of £12.2m in the 12 months to the end of March last year, including exceptional items of £8.09m. That compares with a pre-tax profit of £7.8m a year earlier.

Turnover increased by 13.9 per cent to £304m, while fuel costs rose from £27.3m to £49.1m.

The airline embarked on a costly expansion in particular of is UK domestic network, as it responded to the restructuring of the UK aviation market, increased competition at its Birmingham airport base and the need to replace the loss of its lucrative franchise business flying for Air France, which was terminated in March 2005.

The franchise operation generated annual profits of £3.4m.

Jim French, Flybe chairman and chief executive, said in the annual report that the group had added 44 new routes in the year, a 68 per cent increase to 109, which had increased capacity, measured by available seats, by 32 per cent.

Losses on the new routes totalled around £7.5m.

Passenger volumes on the Flybe network rose by 25 per cent to 4.75m, while turnover increased on the Flybe routes, excluding the earlier Air France franchise, by 26 per cent to £304m.

The expansion was aimed at laying “the foundations of further profitability in future years,” said Mr French. “It was recognised that such an ambitious expansion would involve a significant financial risk to the business.”

Mr French said the group was seeing “very significant” financial benefits from the route expansion in the current financial year to the end of March 2007, as the network matured.

Flybe also expected to generate profits of more than £10m from the introduction of charges for checked-in baggage and for advance seat selection.

The group is 81 per cent owned by Jersey-incorporated Rosedale (JW) Investments, one of the family trusts established to oversee the estate of the late Jack Walker, the steel millionaire and owner of Blackburn Rovers Football Club. Flybe has previously traded as British European and as Jersey European.

Mr French holds a 9 per cent stake. A 10 per cent stake is held by an employee ownership trust.

Ta,

Dave

[CheekyVisual]

Is there any news on what is happening to the other german routes. i.e. FRA, STR, DUS and HAJ. If they are not going to continue the FRA and DUS with multiple daily rotations then there is really no point continuing at all. However, with ten nightstops this month and regularly carrying single figures on the earlies out of FRA a reduction to day trips would seem a sensible money saving idea ! (Plus I don't want to do the nightstops !).

I am sure the German 145 routes could make money for Fly Be when unshackled from the BACON/BAR cost base. A half hearted load of intermitent Q400 services will be seen off by the competition pretty quickly. Still it's their train set now and I wish them luck with it. On balance I have decided not to come along for the ride.

Good luck to all who are taking the next generation airline forward. And as I said previously try to be NEW Fly Be rather than ex-anything. It will make life much easier in the long run.

[G-FLYB]

One must speculate to accumulate!

[Red Snake]

This is old news. Remember, the terms of the BA Connect acquisition involves cash from BA to Flybe in exchange for 15% of the shares. This provides extra cash to fund the airline through its expansion - starting tomorrow.

[Algy]

Really very eccentric start to this thread...

This from the report:


According to its latest accounts, published on Tuesday, Flybe fell into a pre-tax loss of £12.2m in the 12 months to the end of March last year, including exceptional items of £8.09m. That compares with a pre-tax profit of £7.8m a year earlier.

Turnover increased by 13.9 per cent to £304m, while fuel costs rose from £27.3m to £49.1m.

[anotherspaceman]

No doubt it will be given 2 years to make a profit or it will be closed down - or else (god forbid) it might be bought out by BA and made into a franchise!
Music to the BACON boys ears who thought it would be safe to get back in the water - NOT :ugh:

[dash6]

Mmmmm. sounds goood! off to terms and endearment then!

[dv8]

The very next paragraph Kevin Done writes

The acquisition of BA Connect, due to be completed shortly following clearance by the Office of Fair Trading, will double Flybe’s turnover and greatly increase its presence in Manchester and Birmingham, two of the biggest regional markets in the UK. It will make the group the largest regional airline in Europe.

He goes on....

Jim French, Flybe chairman and chief executive, said in the annual report that the group had added 44 new routes in the year, a 68 per cent increase to 109, which had increased capacity, measured by available seats, by 32 per cent.
Losses on the new routes totalled around £7.5m.
Passenger volumes on the Flybe network rose by 25 per cent to 4.75m, while turnover increased on the Flybe routes, excluding the earlier Air France franchise, by 26 per cent to £304m

So as others have suggested read the report in full and make your own judgement

[GBALU53]

Reading what information is available the result will not be known until some time tomorrow.

So another sleepless night for a number of us again.

[conradmueller]

according to Amadeus all flights eg. for DUS-MAN are now loaded double into the system.
1. old BA flight no. operated by BA connect
2. new BA flight no. 47XX operated by Flybe.

[mathers_wales_uk]

No announcment has been made yet again about the acquisition of BA Connect.

Another sleepless night for a lot of staff, when will this finally happen?

Sooner the better i say, theres gaps in their scheduling at the moment and they really need to start to announce their final schedule.

[Ian Brooks]

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=260702&page=19


Try this link to Term and Endearments and look at link from Remoak on last page, there is a press release from BA re delay

Ian

[mathers_wales_uk]

Thanks Ian, to be honest it's taking the biscuit now. Theres a lot of people waiting for this announcment to see where they jobs stand and the announcment is comming months late and still being delayed.

[Ian Brooks]

It`s such a shame that so many people are getting bitter about the whole thing, something had to give and I really thought that perhaps Flybe could make a go of it but with so many people upset it is going to take a long time to get people working together for the same thing.

If this all falls in a heap so many people stand to lose a lot from what was once a proud airline

Good luck to all involved

[mathers_wales_uk]

Has anyone got any idea of when the deal is expected to actually be finalised? Theres no sign of any update on the Flybe website.

Cheers :ok:

[towser]

Depending on who you listen to its either not going to happen at all or its expected to be signed imminently!

[jet2_at_blk]

UK airport news say next week.

Can anybody clear this up:

1. How long will the current BA schedule run after the takeover?
2. When will BE order more planes to replace the Dash 8s etc?
3. Will all thr routes still operate, i.e) MAN-Germany etc.

I have seen lately that BE are expanding from MAN, they have introduced new services, and also have increased services that BA currently operate, such as MAN-GLA. Hope that BE turn MAN into a larger base than BA have done.

If BE continue the BA schedule from MAN and start new services, will this help them overtake LS as MAN's no.1 LC airline?

[4 engines 4 longhaul]

Well a slight answer, at BRS there seem to be the odd cancellations here and there and they arent keeping routes such as ZRH but EZY will no doubt pick that one up:} . For BRS they got EZY, but other airports could suffer from the loss of BACon lets see how it goes, i dont know the situation at other airports as of yet:ok:

[jet2_at_blk]

Your right.

BRS shouldn't feel it too hard with EZY supporting it, but MAN and BHX may feel a little nip in side over the next few months. Hope BE can expand at both the airports (probably not so much BHX as it is already a huge force there).

[johnnychips]

Any idea what's happening with the Manchester-Brussels route? I would have liked to book the last flight back from Brussels on a Sunday in June (currently BACON) but with all this speculation I decided to go earlier with Brussels Airlines. Everything seems all up in the air, as it were, at the moment.

[GBALU53]

Who knows full stop?:ugh: :ugh:

Only Jimmy at Exeter and Willie at Heathrow are the only ones where the next step lies if at all.:ugh:

With the summer 3 weeks away every thing was going to be in place by then it is sad for all us workers who have been down a similar road before.:D

May be time to pick up a brush and sweep for the council. :D

[Avman]

I was a regular on BACon's DUS-BHX route. Due to the uncertainty of what is actually happening and grumpy staff (even though they have my full sympathy), I've now switched my custom to FLYTUI out of CGN. I wonder how many other former BACon customers are switching to alternate carriers? It may cost Flybe a great deal of money to lure these customers back.

[13Alpha]

I've also given up on them.

I mainly flew EDI-LCY, which is supposedly to become a route for "BA Cityflyer" rather than flybe. So in theory I should be unaffected by the takeover. But in practice there have been a few delays at EDI caused by (justifiably) grumpy EDI groundstaff who were about to lose their jobs as a consequence of the takeover.

Also, having written complaining about BA's neglect of anyone who's unable or unwilling to fly through Heathrow both to the Exec Club (i'm a gold member) and the boss himself and had no reply, I'd prefer not to spend any money (even if it's someone else's) with BA any more.

For EDI -LON I take the train now and for international travel there are plenty of other (non BA, non Heathrow) options.

13Alpha

[tilewood]

Jim (call me James) French on Radio 4's Today programme this morning
states the deal is now done, and that he foresees about 200 redundancies.

[mansp]

Whats the latest that anyone has heard regarding the contract for the new BE setup? According to the BE website after 23 March all pax will be checking-in with BE and no longer BACON, 3 weeks to get the staff in and trained, thats a big order!!

[OltonPete]

I can't believe that nobody has posted the revised basing plans from
nextgenerationairline.

I am stunned that BHX reduced to just two DH4's (plus a 195 & 7 x 145's)from originally four and in April it shows a total of 23 DH4's in service throughout the network, they currently have 29 delivered.

It increases by one a month until 31 are in service by December 2007.

Re BHX is this part spite & to send a shot across BHX management's bows for getting into bed with Baby. I know some of it is to do with their crewing problems but down to two DH8's is an absolute insult to BHX and the people of the West Midlands on top of the loss of Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin & Lyon - total disaster for BHX!

I know it is better than what Bristol has got from 25/3/07 but I just
cannot believe them. There was over capacity on some routes at BHX
but this is just surrender to BMI Baby.

Also their press releases are starting to make Ryanair's look tame -
BHX to Edinburgh and Glasgow was to be 10 a day, then another quoting nine a day for summer 2007 (Press release a few weeks ago) and what is currently in the timetable.....eight.

Sound commercial decision or part spite?

OP

[treaclecat]

Tilewood
200 redundancies bit short methinks - there must be that many employed, sorry, previously employed by BACON on the Isle of Man alone.
Still what company director ever speaks the truth

[StoneyBridge Radar]

Been told today over a pint or two of Robbies Best at The Thieves Neck this evening with one or two in ICI that following the cessation of all things BA at MAN, the Northern account with them is to be terminated once the miles agreement terminates in autumn.
To quote, "some organisations might feel pressurised to even relocate, but why would we stay loyal to an organisation which is turning their back on years of loyal patronage?"
How many other major companies will follow suit and trade in their accumulated years of miles?

[Ian Brooks]

I would think they are likely to do very little with the DH3 as they are staying only 3 months or so other than taking BACon off side
EMB145 good question as by December they will still have 20 so maybe white tail and Flybe titles but maybe a good time to have the camera handy

Ian

[TechProblem]

Well after the take over, how is it where you are?

[mansp]

ok, wasnt quite sure where to put this one, just wanted a general feedback on the flybe/bacon takeover. Airports coping, anyone else have crew issues? staff issues? GHA coping? too much too soon? or has it gone dead smooth where you are..............

you get the idea?

[EMA01]

Hi. Well I surpose that Flybe is coping well with the BACON takeover. There has been a number of issues at BHX however due to handling I think. But Apart from that its ok!

[OltonPete]

mansp

For a pax point a view I would imagine a week to forget. One day three
aircraft were running over two hours late, another day seven out of ten departures were late in one afternoon (not weather related).

On the plus side, hardly any (if any at all) cancellations and by last night,
just one or two delays of note.

Has there been problems with the new 195? I notice that there were two in yesterday with one positioning out after doing, I think an EDI return or was it covering for a sick dash?

Some feedback of loads indicate a good start on that score but with the
amount of consolidation at BHX this is what I would have expected.

OP

[boynefly]

Anyone tried the FlyBe lounge at Gatwick South - just a few chairs and a coffee machine!

Can just imagine the reaction from a BA long haul Gold card member wanting to recuperate before the last leg home!

[super furry monkey]

yeah mr olton

out of the box ec went tech so eb came in to operate the delayed be 7063 with over 90 tired and unhappy edi bound pax. Left at 2340 ish.

with brand new a/c tech issues are expected - overall the 195 a/c have performed well and have received positive passenger feedback

herman

[merlinxx]

LGW exec lounge, you mean they're having to use the crew lounge!!

[bmibaby.com]

I'm surprised that aviance weren't all over the flybe merger, considering that they are planning to take over the bulk of British Airways' handling contracts in the regions. They arguably have one of the most professional handling agent products around, and I don't think their lounges are too shabby either.

[OltonPete]

As a BHX local I have monitored the 195's dispatch rate, and for a new aircraft (obviously similar to the 170 & 190) it has been brilliant, especially "EA" when it was the only one.

Also when you compare it to the Jetblue 190's (big difference in numbers I know), flybe must we very happy with it's performance.

I have seen a couple of trip reports from passengers and they have been very positive but what about from an operating crews perspective in respect of flying and its fuel burn etc?

OP

[Haven't a clue]

To be frank any lounge facility is preferrable to the shambles that is LGW South terminal.

Returned home on Thursday with family. Had found the on-line booking process, seat selection with all of us paying for Economy Plus, check-in and boarding pass print (complete with meal vouchers!) worked well both out and back.

Braved the terminal chaos for a while. Disgusted by the food, sun lotion bottles and other detritus strewn on the floor. Dissapointed by the lack of choice for food (Big Mac or Crusty bun) for both us and the kids.

Finally located the lounge and set the kids up with their video player and headphones. Woman came in, took all our four vouchers and mentioned that kids weren't allowed in the lounge, but as they were quiet it would be OK. No mention of this restriction on the website; kids' lounge vouchers happily printed on their meal voucher sheets. Longe facilities were fine, and as good as many of the smaller lounges I have encountered in far flung corners of the world.

My wife an I concluded (and incidently I am a BA Gold Card holder - for now) is that without the lounge facility we would under no circumstances use FlyBe from LGW South again, and if my kids are in fact banned from the lounge, then we'll be travelling with the competition via LCY in future.

Which is a shame as the crews were, as usual, absolutely wonderful.

[Tinwald]

Then use london city,fella! Anyone who still uses gatwick to get into central London is mad! Yessir!

[mansp]

a general feed back that i seem to be getting from pax, is that they are :mad: at the delays the BE have had over the last few days, however, alot off these delays are actually being caused by crewing issues. Now i dont want to go down this road about the ex BACON crews now operating for BE, but when i hear about a skipper refusing to push back because BACON always gave him a hot breakfast and BE dont it makes the mind boggle!!

Customer service at its best, i think not.

[TechProblem]

Another problem ive heard of at manchester is that its all manual load sheets atm, so if the Capt changes his fueling figure its a brand new loadsheet, which takes time.

Hopefully FS will get a computized system up and running, would make things alot easier.

[Persimmon]

Does anyone know why Flybe cancelled two IOM - MAN rotations today?

[Tinwald]

Word down the Albie was that they had no pilots to fly them and a the gatwick jet had to do a manchester run this morning too so the redtails had to use there big prop job to fly the flybe people over so ggod for the redtails.:D

[EMX81L]

The services from the Isle of Man were cancelled this afternoon as Flybe needed the aircraft in manchester for some routes that were well overbooked.

The auto loadsheets in manchester should be up and running sometime this week, as they need to be approved by BE management before rollout. They have been tested already with completed manual loadsheets and they are fine. Believe they are just waitin on some new equipment to arrive before it all comes to life :ok:, and agreed, it will be alot easier for changes, and save alot of time.

But the guys in manchester are doin a great job, goin from not alot on saturday evening, to an additional 50 odd services a day, they are doin well, and all credit to them

[treaclecat]

Are you going automated in the IOM as well?

[EMX81L]

Treaclecat, FS in the Isle of Man will also be goin automated aswell very :ok:

[treaclecat]

Certainly good news for loadcontrollers working for both FS and MR manual loadsheets are OK to do but automated will be quicker for everyone concerned. I should think at least come June FS should be well up and running with them which will make their lives a lot easier for the completed transition.

[dublindispatch]

as a dispatcher i have lost count of the number of there flights that are delayed as the poor crew havent had time for breakfast/cuppa tea/a smoke/a rest!!!!!

[marlowe]

dublindespatch your only miffed cos they never offered you a brew!!

[flyingbug]

Too true, you can almost guarantee to be late out of Dublin almost every turnaround!! If the crews have a brew its while they are waiting for fuel/passengers/service.....................................

[The Shop Floor]

Dublin dispatch, what delay code have you been using against these miscreant crews ? - had more than a few 31s recently, certainly a case of the pot calling the kettle black I reckon.

[ducksoup]

I thought this was the Proffesional Pilots rumour network!

Seems to be chat forum for whinging wanna be load controllers and despatchers.

[The Shop Floor]

Yeah, agree - us pilots record the delays on our journey log too, 31 is for a late loadsheet btw, I don't like being accused of delaying flights so I can finish a cup of tea or satisfy a nicotine craving.

[Nubboy]

I thought multi tasking was the ability to drink my coffee, mess up the sudoku, watch the pax board, wait for a tug and correct bar, and live in hope for a correct loadsheet:cool:

trying to work out my position on the seniority list is just too much to do though:ugh:

[OltonPete]

As G-JECV the next Dash 8 will be (or could even be) on its way to BHX shortly, I thought I would add my observations re flybe at BHX yesterday.

They have been as good as their word (per the nextgeneration site) with
six aircraft parked up at BHX yesterday at one point, whilst the midday FRA took a two hour delay outbound and an inbound GLA three hours
(a good job the average pax doesn't know the half of it). On the positive side no cancellations :ok: .

I assume they had a tech Dash in GLA as the 12.05 in/12.30 out (GLA based craft) ran as a 145 originating in BHX. In other words the 12.30 outbound went on time and it operated back at 15.00 ish instead 12.05.

I assume the crew used were from the midday FRA which went out two hours late?

I suppose there is only so much you can do when an aircraft goes tech, with few crew available.

Unused aircraft on the deck at 10am were G-JEBD (on the 20's), G-EMBD (on the 20's), G-JEBB (on T2), G-JECR in hangar 2 but came out did some engine runs and parked on the 20's, G-MANS was outside hangar 2 but did position out and another Dash 8 was outside hangar 2 all day.

Mirana eat your heart out and it has been almost as dry this month;)

OP

[GBALU53]

Not much better at Manchester on Friday several EMB145s on the ground all day without any movement in them.
Down in the Islands this week the have had there problems.
G-JECT Dash 400 grounded early in the week due to ground incident Bombardier involved due to the damage done by the tow bar and tug.
Thursday early morning Guernsey Southampton cancelled due crewing, not good with Blueislands due to start the route shortly.
The Thursday morning Manchester Jersey cancellled due tech.
The Friday morning Birmingham Jersey cancelled tech or crewing problem?
Friday morning Manchester Jersey delayed due crew sickness and stand by being called in but taking nearly two hours to do this.
these are just some that have come to light this does not give a good picture for the takeover lets only hope with a few more months the problems will have been ironed out.

[cabingal]

The captain in question just wanted a breakfast - not necessarily hot. I did a 14 hour shift last week with no food at all. I brought powdered soup with me but couldn't even have that as we didn't have any hot water. Surely this is a health + safety issue - food=energy.

[RED WINGS]

Olton pete, Have also noticed that since the combined airline started operation 3-4 Flybe aircraft appear to be parked all day everyday at BHX any idea why?? The BACon aircraft all seem to move however seem to stay on stand for an hour or two closed up before the next rotation! With this in mind it seems crazy to insist on 25 min turn arounds! Please let Cabingal have her soup! I totaly agree its not funny or clever being on a 12+ hour day with no access to food! Im sure if you were pax on a coach trip you would become quite worried if the driver sat in the chair without a break or taking food! Im sure the dept of transport would have something to say too! Seems ironic as the airline industry prides itself on being the safest form of travel.:confused:

[OltonPete]

RED WINGS

There are plenty of people with far more detailed knowledge but it is basically lack of crews and although the Bacon saga did not help, some
(or a lot) would say that it all started well before November 2006.

The Terms & Endearment threads about the take-over offered virtually every angle possible but whatever the real reason(s) it has been one
incredible mess and employees & pax continue to suffer on a daily basis.

G-JECV has been delivered to BHX today to add to the "spare" aircraft pile.

I have no idea how many passengers they have alienated over the last 6 weeks but at the moment loads at BHX are holding up even after Easter.

However I would imagine that there is only so much goodwill. As mentioned in my previous post they seem to have kept the BHX cancellations to a minimum which is good news for the pax if not the crew.

OP

[cabingal]

Thanks Redwings - hope I can have my soup this week!!!:)

[Anotherflapoperator]

FlyBE ensure that crews are rostered for a 40 minute turnaround in order to have a brew and eat whatever food has been supplied them, providing the crew duty is long enough to qualify for food, i.e. 6 hours.

That they do this by pulling the 30 minutes either side to an unmanageable 25 minutes is a little bit hard to fathom, but there you go.

H.A.Clue, I'll pass on you problem at LGW to management and see if that has an affect on the rules, you never know.

There is a lot of crew problems at present, with aircraft movement, some of the outstation crews are not trained on types nightstopped and touring crews sometimes go sick, or leave without the crewing folk knowing!

This should be resolved soon as Cabin crew get courses on applicable types to provide standby at some locations. The setup at Fanborough is training as many Q400 pilots as it can right now, so those newly delivered aircraft will start moving as soon as they can.

Problems with food are ongoing but are being tackled. When you get it, at least it's reasonably good nosh!

[cabingal]

I wouldn't know I've never had it ha ha!!!

[RED WINGS]

Guess the main reason for the 40 min break is really to reduce knock on delays hence the lack of crew meals, how would we catch up the schedule if we stopped for a break? No food no distraction!

Cabingal save me a cupa soup if your not banished to sou or iom this week:ok:

[RED WINGS]

O I also believe BHX is actually one of the cheeper airports for parking in the UK maybe thats the reason, plus I suppose a couple can be hidden away in the Hangar:}

[mathers_wales_uk]

I been reading this thread very closely and am actually pretty worried with what im hearing of lack of crews.

I am a dispatcher at CWL and flybe will be operating a BHD - CWL - CDG
with what i am currently hearing about short staffing with delays and Cancellations. How will this effect this route that is starting on Aprli the 29th?

I have another concern that the flight starts on Sunday and that the engineers hasn't been to CWL to install the new System yet. And only one dispatcher and 2 check-in agents have been trained on this new system.

I have heard a rumour of when flybe sorts itself out that it will be operating 14 flights a day from CWL. How much truth is behind this rumour?

Cheers

:ok:

[PAXboy]

oltonPete I have no idea how many passengers they have alienated over the last 6 weeks But since I shall be on a route that exclusive to BA/Manx/BA/Flybe then it matters not if I feel alienated. Booking today for LGW/IOM I felt highly alientated by their website and manner of dealing with me and my booking.

High prices and low service. Fab. The sooner my mother leaves the Island the happier I shall be.

[mansp]

Was just wundering, now all the abuse has died down, what SLF and staff think of the new operation?

Better? getting better? worse? improving?

[anotherspaceman]

Getting better :)

[mansp]

glad to hear it, interesting ur at SOU thought it wouldnt have mage that much difference seeing as you are a big BE base anyway.

[chrism20]

Have flown with BE a few times recently and the longest delay was 50 mins so for me things have improved. On board I haven't noticed much of a difference to be honest.

[mansp]

good thing or bad n board?

That doesnt surprise me as more on the ground has changed, glad u think its getting better though