EasyJet ABZ - LTN

[LowNSlow]

Why is the 19:15 Aberdeen - Luton flight always at least an hour late. So far they have scored 3 out of 3 the last one being 1.5 hours late. No apologies, no free drinks, nothing. It's got so bad I'm thinking of using BA to LHR which is a lot more inconvenient but a lot more reliable.

[Flap 5]

Simple really. Just look at the departure time. That aircraft and crew have already been flying all day. Any delays during the day are cumulative (and there are many oppurtunities for delays) therefore an evening departure will invariably be late. They only allow 20 minute turnrounds in Scotland - so no way time can be made up on the turnrounds. They allow 25 minutes in Luton but Luton is probably the worst place for turnrounds.

[Next Generation PSR]

Frustrating as it is, no-frills means 'no' to a lot of things. I think an apology of some description should at least be forthcoming from someone. As far as a free drink is concerned, even most charter airlines will not give free drinks out for anything 3hrs or less delayed, then it has to be their fault - eg. mechanical failure.

I don't know how much is being paid for your ticket, but to make it cheap as possible the no-frills/charter airlines do as many flights as possible with minimum turnarounds.

At the end of the day one just has to weigh up all the pros and cons.

If lowest possible cost is going to swing it, go no-frills. However if you want near 100% reliability it may be best to pay the extra if you really need to get somewhere and go BA.

[Big Tudor]

It also pays to shop around for deals.
LHR-ABZ next weekend on BA £59 rtn +tax.
LTN-ABZ with EZY is £110 rtn.

[Doors to Automatic]

But if you fly during the week you can get flights with easyjet for as little as £70 rtn all in. Not bad if you are on business and therefore not able to stay a Saturday night.

This is about 25-30% of what the big boys charge so you should not really complain if the plane is an hour late coming home.

[G-INGER Roger]

So why if it is reliably late almost every day do they not reschedule some of the later flights by 15mins or so?

Would this not be better in terms of happier customers, predicted crew hours etc than regularly flying late? I guess the concept of missing slots doesn't apply to this route.

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Just keep it Ginger!

[LowNSlow]

Unfortunately I get the 06:40 on Monday and the 19:15 on Friday. Cost isn't an issue cos the company pays, it's just the inconvenience. I live near Luton so getting into LHR isn't a thrilling idea either!

I do understand the possible reasons for the delay but do not understand why the other 2 EZY flights which leave around the same time do not suffer from the same problem. If there is a leg which causes this delay so regularly why doesn't the Ops department get their stuff together and look for alternative route plans. Apparently the 19:15 used to be the 18:30 (or similar) until it was so regularly late they admitted it on the schedule. If they did that again and made the flight say 20:00 I wouldn't mind cos I could stay in town for a pint in the bar of my choice rather than drinking at the airport bar!

After all is said and done, a bit of courtesy and an apology would be nice. It doesn't do EZY any favours with the public when they just portray a "tough s4it" attitude. If there was another carrier doing a similar flight + or - 2 hours, I'd be taking it along with a plane load of other people. After all, this flight is regularly 80-90% full, predominently with people on company expenses, somebody must want that money? Also, I know that, for my personal travel, I would be very dubious about EZY's timetables and would probably fly with somebody else if possible.

End of rant.

If the flight on Friday is more or less on time I'll let you know.......

[LowNSlow]

Well, I'd just sat down with a ciggie and a pint of Guiness and it was announced that the flight was on time! Good going chaps/chapesses!