A catalogue of errors!!!

[redfield]

Oh dear! The curse of Transjet strikes again. Lots of happy holidaymakers flying from Bristol to Corfu on SWL706. The pilot tells the passengers that they can see Paris off to the right, then ten minutes later he's back saying "errr it wasn't Paris after all." Slightly worrying? He then tells the passengers that he has to land at Milan to refuel, before touching down in Verona where the airline have no fuel credit. On the return flight SWL705 the following week, the pilot tells the pax that he has to return to Corfu as all the oil had leaked out of the engine because "someone hadn't put the filler cap back on properly." Also on another recent SWL flight the pilot didn't speak enough English to communicate with the co-pilot, so they had to have a second co-pilot on board to translate between the two!!! Is this normal for this airline? Would you fly with Transjet? What do you think about this?:confused:

[A300Man]

What type of aircraft was involved in these incidents? From what I've read, I wouldn't wish to set foot near the airline.

[Anti Skid On]

Why bother correcting the 'Paris' error message - Johnny Holidaymaker wouldn't have the first clue anyway!

Yeah what type - what airline uses a jet that can't do a 4 hour charter hop without a refuel? A stupid one by all accounts!

I was on the flight deck of a Turkish charter where the FO couldn't speak English, and only had a basic grasp of Turkish (he was from Azerbaijan!) - made interesting watching on the descent checks! (it seemed various things like APU and flaps were understandable)

Ah, found them here (http://www.transjet.se/) &$& classics and MD80's. Dont think tehy are related to the Aussie Transjet Group (http://www.transjet.com.au/) , who may want to distance themselves from the above!

[moe]

Oh dear,

This lot did a charter flight yesterday to the World cup from Dublin to Osaka and NRT. Have they arrived yet??? Any diversions?? Not that the Irish fans will miss much.... :rolleyes:

[Alloy]

I think Transjet use MD83s and 747-200s and hire pilots on an ad hoc.

;)

[old-timer]

very scary.....where are the regulatory authorities when we need them !!!!!

[Bright-Ling]

Go see the website - and click Aircraft Fleet.

You get a message saying:

"Under Construction"!!!!

That explains everything really

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

Last week they were flying into BRS in an MD. They declared some kind of fuel emergency and got a priority landing. I had to slow down to min clean and stooge around.

They did not declare a PAN or Mayday.

They seemed to be using some obscure terminology about "fuel distress". Their accent was tricky.

Landed without incident and I have no idea of the facts.

I speculated at the time as to why ATC did not force their hand to declare a PAN.

WWW

[Safety's No Accident]

Maybe somebody should make a discrete ;) call to the CAA.

If nothing else, a thorough check of pilot licenses, medicals, company AOC & aircraft paperwork, etc would surely prove that all is well, or not ?!

[dallas dude]

Folks,

You asked what happened to the 747 at dublin. Well, dear reader...from the Irish Independent....


Wives fly off the handle at plane delays

THE wives and partners of Ireland's World Cup stars flew into controversy last night.

A plane carrying them to Tokyo was hit by a cargo truck loading food at Stockholm airport, delaying the flight for almost two hours.

And some of the women also claimed the plane had only one working toilet for almost 500 people and no in-flight entertainment.

They said some of the Irish party had to sit in economy class despite assurances they would travel first class.

Members of the Irish squad were said to be "furious" last night at the treatment their partners and families received. There was a deluge of calls to the team's hotel in Japan from angry families, with a bulletin board understood to be covered in messages for players to ring their wives.

The travel agent who arranged the trip admitted last night the Transjet Boeing 747 was delayed in Stockholm for 1 hour after a freight door was damaged in a minor collision. But he denied reports that the flight had been a disaster.

David Slattery of Tralee-based Slattery's Travel Agents said the plane had suffered minor damage to one of its doors following a collision with a truck, but that this had been repaired within two hours.

Mr Slattery, who travelled to Japan on the same flight, added that four of the eight toilets on the 747 were still working when the plane landed in Japan, and that a movie had been shown on the Dublin-Stockholm leg of the flight.

After dinner, which was served an hour outside the Swedish capital, most passengers were tired and the cabin lights had been dimmed and most went to sleep, he said.

Mr Slattery said that the families of both captain Steve Staunton and Niall Quinn had been accommodated in first class because they booked their seats last January.

Partners of players who were named in the squad last month could only be accommodated in economy because the plane had just 27 business or first class seats.

"Our business class section of the plane has 27 seats," he said. "Some people were in there but when most people booked in early May business class was full. "There were eight toilets and by the time we landed in Tokyo four were fully working. A film was shown between Dublin and Stockholm and an hour outside Stockholm the meal was served and that took about two hours. After that, people were tired and went to sleep."

The FAI said the trip had been arranged privately and could not comment.

Paul Melia

[Knold]

redfield,Safety's No Acciden,Bright-Ling,old-timer,moe,Anti Skid On,A300Man

You should all get you shait together!

You don't know half of what you on about.

Do you really think that the Swedish CAA doesn't do their job.

You can all bug*er off with your made up stories

[A300Man]

Dear Knold,

Thanks for posting your message. By suggesting that we all bug*er off does not - I'm afraid - allay any concerns that we have and the general public has regarding, for example, extremely poor communications between the two drivers on ANY aircraft, not just Transjet aeroplanes.

Are you seriously suggesting that the professionals - which we all are - visiting this website and forum - are incorrect to question proven safety breaches?

For God's sake, please do not be so immature. The "stories", as you call them, are NOT made up. As I said already in this despatch, we are all professionals. So, please Knold, start behaving like one.

I know for an absolute fact that the accounts posted by the other members are true. 100% true.

Take care guys and happy driving!!

[SilentHandover]

SWL are not exactly top of the popularity list at Gatwick these days, in the last week they have caused a go-around, got lost on numerous occasions, failed to understand the meaning of CFMU slots and best of all stated that they did not have the necessary SID plates for departure so could not follow said SID. What sort of airline lands at a major airport without the correct SID plate for departure?

One I would rather not fly with!

[hostie2024]

Well it seems good old Transjet are not popular at Newcastle either. With 3 MD83 movements within a few hours of each other they are causing chaos for the poor handling agent. Delays of 7 hours plus are very regular, swapping aircraft at last minute, not to mention that passengers are not impressed with the airline. It seems that this man, the "owner" so to speak is going down the same road as what he went down when he was in charge of Nordic European - the road leading to insolvency or bankruptcy! I seem to remember that Nordic were not the most popular airline at NCL or LGW either. My bet is he won't last the season if this is how its going to carry on.

[kaikohe76]

As a matter of interest, which holiday comanies does Transjet provide the actual aircraft and crew for.

[jetstream7]

Had a search around for Transjet on the web and found the following...

"I recently came home from Zante on a Kosmar holiday. Our flight out of Glasgow with Transjet was delayed from 2:30 until 23:00 The Transjet plane eventually took off at 23:00 and within the hour we were diverted to Gatwick with an engine low on oil pressure for an emergency landing. It was a very bad experience and when we landed most of our group were totally shattered and had no intention of going any further. We were eventually told that we would be boarding an Air 2000 jet at 8:00 and given blankets to make the best of our Gatwick visit. For the return journey we were picked up on the Sunday morning at 8:30 and were first to be checked in at Zante airport at 9:00 our flight was at 11:30. At 12:00 we were told that the aircraft had been diverted to Kefalonia and had landed with damage to the undercarriage. We were eventually flown out of Zante at 21:40 During this second delay we had no contact from any Kosmar reps' as we were stuck in the departure lounge beyond passport control. I now await Kosmars explanation to the whole mess. Will keep you posted "

(Can be found on following website...
http://familytravelforum.com/forum/travelnightmaresandclaims/messages/209.html )

Some interesting similarities (and I'm not an expert so I may not be correct in my presumption) with another Transjet tech problem with oil pressure here? Begs the question whether the problems are being fixed properly when they arise ?

Out of interest, as Transjet seem to have an extensive programme out of the UK this summer, are there UK carriers that have sufficient spare capacity to be operating these flights instead of them ?

(Edited to add, I hope they sort their issues out soon as this kind of situation is no good for anyone - airlines, tour ops or passengers...)

[redfield]

Handling agents aroud the country all received a telex the other day from Transjet: it said "....we know we are not the handling agents most popular airline at the moment...." This must be the first thing they've got right! And just to clarify, everything that I wrote when I started this strand IS true!

[Chocks Wahay]

SilentHandover
at Gatwick these days, in the last week they have caused a go-around

That wouldn't be Tuesday morning, around 0930 by any chance?

[clipstone]

Interesting, when I was delayed at LGW on 27th May, I noticed an SWL flight was on the board (think it was to CFU) with a delay which seemed to be into double figures in hours.

Wondered who they were! at least if they continue as they are they'll provide the UK charters with some more work, hopefully before anything particularly nasty occurs.

[simon brown]

Funny you should all be talking about delays and fuel emergencies with Transjet etc.

I Flew Tranjsjet out of NCL a couple of weeks ago to Rhodes. the original flight out of Rhodes was an indefinite technical delay, so they whilstled up an MD80 outy of Manchester with a new crew.

Before pushback the Captain comes down the isle telling all us passengers that he may not have enough fuel to get to Rhodes owing to his fuel contingency and runway length/wind at NCL so he may need to divert to some place he cant pronounce but its the second biggest airport in Greece apparently. A bit disconcerting to a low hours PPL whom always made sure I had an hours worth of fuel left and knew all my alternates.

About 4 hours in to the flight we start descending and all goes v quiet on the engine front which was most disconcerting. This carried on for some forty minutes, until we where told that we were landing in Rhodes. A simple message to the passengers stating we where not diverting for fuel would have been nice and reasurring.

Apart from that everything else was fine, although some entertainment would have been nice.

I get the impression there are far too many charter airlines flying aircraft which should be doing the freight run which go tech on a regular basis.Next time I book a package holiday (if ever again) I will insist on the name of the airline they fly with. ( and Im not talikng the likes of Britannia. Monarch , Air 2000 etc ) If I havent heard of them I wont book.

:(

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

You want to fly with Go mate - I'll even chuck in a lift to and from the airport ;)

WWW

[Knold]

A300man

There is allways two sides of every story.
For what I can see, this thread has many contributions by people that are only interested in giving the worst view.

Nothing offensive but do you really think you have a better knowledge of what's going on at TJ than me?

[flyhalf]

Knold,

The above reads like youve just appointed yourself as spokesman for Transjet. Can I therefore ask:

1) Can you confirm that Transjet pilots are operating into Skiathos with no prior pilot training. Skiathos is a Category C airfield where UK flight crews are required to undertake a briefing and route check.

2) Is the two-day cabin crew training course (covering both the 747 and MD83) legal and if so, under what jurisdiction? What emergency drills and procedures, first aid, aviation security and CRM do you cover on that course? If you are reading across cabin crews experience from previous airlines how are you satisfying yourself as you are required to do under JAR that they have received this training? How would you ensure that they are all following the same procedures (instead of their previous employers procedures) in the event of an emergency.

3) If all is going so well why has one UK tour operator already withdrawn quite a lot of its work from Transjet this summer to go elsewhere and why is another customer looking to reduce its flying with Transjet? Is the second aircraft really going to appear at Gatwick or is there no work left for it?

4) What was the corrosion problem with the fourth UK-based MD83 and what is being done to fix it before it enters service?

5) I see that this weekends operation fell apart yet again, with Sunday's ZTH-LGW eventually turning up on Monday afternoon (15 hours late) and the LGW-JSI Monday flight departing about 10 hours late. Add this to the engine failure ex Corfu, the fuel leak at EMA two weeks ago, the total shambles on the day of the Swanwick ATC failure, various subs etc - it doesnt exactly create a very good impression of Transjet.

What is the company doing about it, or are UK passengers this summer expected to suffer the consequences of their tour operators contracting with cheaper foreign airlines operating to standards that simply would not be tolerated by the UK CAA (per 1-2 above)?

[jetset445]

swl seem to be delayed more than any other airline out of man with more than 5 hours being commonplace. last week a crew was stood around at T2 early hours of the morning for about an hour after arriving back 4 hours late . Evetually i asked them was there a problem, they had no idea of how they were being transported to a hotel and seemed to be speaking 3 different languages, eventually we pointed them in the direction of T1 Arrivals to get a taxi. Dont know were to though.

[sharpshot]

Amazing thread !:(
The strangest thing happened here a couple of weeks ago; I noted they were operating an MD-88 on their second flight of the day from Rhodes. The registration showed "ONM".

My thought was ONUR - but Turkish operated MD out of Rhodes ??
:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Well it turned out that it was TC-ONM and I am still :confused: :confused:

Maybe Knold can enlighten me!

[World Traveller]

Sharpshot/All, Transjet did use an Onur Air MD88 for a Corfu-Birmingham flight a few weeks back. And yes, timekeeping is not their strong point at BHX either.

WT
<just a punter>

[sharpshot]

WT

It was one of those Greek Islands anyway (HER ??)

:confused: :confused: Apart from on Opposite sides of the Cypriot Green Line, I have never seen Greek/Turkish aircraft operating in one or the other's territory. Was this some quiet diplomatic coup??

[Wing Commander Fowler]

Attaboy flyhalf!!!!! Hehehe - that should rattle "knold"'s cage a little........


Knold - how could any of the guys reply to your question regarding whether they would be more qualified to make a judgement on Transjet than you when none of us a friggin' clue who you are or where you work???

Might assume you work for Transjet now I come to think of it.......

I'm all for people supporting their employers but when it boils down to it there ain't too many fragrances that'll overpower the smell of pure shoit!

[Doctor Cruces]

I see they're two and a half hours late out of MAN for RHO again today. Should have gone at 0500z and they're still there at 0740z.

I'd love to see their dispatch stats!!!

Doc C.

[Wing Commander Fowler]

Well c'mere - there's more.... hehe

In answer to your question regarding this morning's flight Dr "C" I happened to be taxiing out of MAN at six this morning at 0555 hrs (narrows it down a bit - so much for this perfect disguise...) and lo and behold what should I stumble across?? Only our friend "Knold" and a buddy in an MD80sumthing being held in detention at B1 (I think it was) by our lovely lady ground controller school mistressy type thing. She had administered a severe [email protected] to the transjet for missing his turning - well we've most of us been there before but my point is that she seemed rather close to the end of her tether.......

[starship]

Sorry Transjet guys and girls, I know you have some great people working for you in the cabin et all but the operational reliability really must improve if you are to have a future. If it doesn't other independent charter carriers will benefit, and SWL will lose out. At Newcastle Kosmar/Libra/Priceright use Air Scandic for a large proportion of their flying using the 757 which has an excellent reliability. At Bristol, Nordic Airlink is flying the programme with an MD82 which so far seems to be doing a good job, and has a strong plan for future development.

Strange how things work out though. Several people who work for NDC and SCY were working with Mr Transjet in the days of Nordic European (which reflects SWL this summer quite well) when the NCL/MAN L-1011 bases were operating in Summer 1997, and became for a time tarnished with the same brush.....quite inappropriately considering how well things have turned out for them.

Quite honestly though, I wish SWL good luck for the future and hope that you are going to build a strong and reliable airline - the performance at the minute though leads me to believe that is going to be a very hard task.

With regards to JSI - I really would not like to operate in and out of there without some kind of prebrief - it is a small, not very well equipped hole however with a beautiful island attached!

Get it together SWL! Relive AirOps and you'll be laughing all the way!

cheers,

starship :cool:

[mozzie]

It all makes frightening reading. With their apparent record so far and a summer season looming, it seems that there is a more serious incident in the making. I hope it won't be this that finally get the CAA to take a closer look, one that seems well over due.

[iwish]

I see from Knold's profile that he is a fishmonger! Is that the standard of all of TJ's pilots?

Seriously Knold come on defend TJ we are waiting to hear something positive.

[Anti Skid On]

Wasn't getting at TJ, just pointing out that if you want to run a service you use the right tool - You don't use a Concorde for shuttle services, likewise and MD80 should be able to do a 4 hour charter hop if fuelled correctly and with the benefit of the right route/winds.

[saffron]

from newspaper report (times) one of the travel co's is
mark warner, a good co. who i'm sure won't be renewing
their contract!

[Max Flyup]

Knold

"Do you really think that the Swedish CAA doesn't do their job. "

A few years ago I worked for a jet IT operator out of Arlanda. One day I was informed that a Swedish CAA Flight Ops Inspector was coming along for the ride to do a check on us. He was a nice enough chap - however during the flight it became apparent he had never flown a jet and had little knowledge of jet operations. I regret to say that all of us had the same impression of the Swedish CAA - nice amateurs who had spent too long dealing with SAS and not enought time dealing with anybody else.

In the light of this I very much doubt their ability to monitor the activities of an outfit like Transjet.

[Dyce001]

Come on don't give the guys a hard time......

Speaking to another skip downroute tonight on the MD-83 who works with SWL.....

Yes. like the best of us they have problems, and like me their a/c are not in their first youth! They have 5 MDs all ex-AOM/Air Liberte with op bases in Sweden, Greece, and UK.

....Don't believe everything you read in the papers. My mate enjoys his flying in a professional way and still prioritises good old fashioned airmanship. He enjoys the mixed flying mainly out of MAN but really loves those visits to GLA (well no accounting for taste - west coast!) He takes the MD into places I can only dream of driving the B757 into (not on the European tour - OK it might be at 2am in the morning.) Lets give this new airline a chance to fly some happy holidaymakers.

...and remember every morning he still walks out to an MD-83 - OK folks the B757 is still the best ride! Next time you pass an SWL MD-83 in the sin bin for 24L down at MAN give him a wave - for he is flying to the sun!

[Wycombe]

....saw there was another one with a very big delay into BRS last night from CFU

....on Ceefax arrivals, it said Corfu via ??????, so did he have to tech. stop somewhere, explaining the delay?

[rentaghost]

Not really wanting to stir this any more, but I just cant accept 'Dyce001's' points on Aircraft age being the problem.

If TJ's MD's are all ex AOM/LIB, then the oldest one was built in 1987. Therefore how can EAC (737's YOUNGEST built in '79!), AIH(757's oldest built in '82), and MON (757's oldest built in '83) continue to operate to decent schedules?

Something with to do with them being established 'year round' UK airlines maybe?

I am not saying that they are unsafe in any way, but these 'Summer only' Airlines continue to pitch up in the UK each year, offer cheap rates, cheap service, poor time keeping, and poor service.

Yes its good that additonal jobs are available for 6 months for Cabin Crew and Ground Staff, but dont forget, potentially this equipment is taking business away from the UK charter airlines which in turn means less flying for you boys and girls within the UK fleets!

At the end of the day, 'buy cheap', get 'cheap'!

[Alloy]

Rentaghost, there is a lot of truth in your words but like most other things in the UK, initial cheapness rather than quality seems to take priority in the consumers mind.:rolleyes:

[Wing Commander Fowler]

Knold??? Finger trouble or got yer headset on the wrong way round..............? Or perhaps yer on an extended tech' stop hehe.

:D :D :D

[redfield]

Starship: Re. Nordic Airlink "doing a good job out of Bristol." Hmmmm!!!!! Admittedly they are better than Transjet, but only slightly. Nordic seem to specialise in crew shortage-induced delays, which have resulted in the 1400 EFL departure going out at 0200 on more than one occasion. As for the latest Transjet delay this week, it was another fuel diversion, into Palermo this time. One of these days the tour operators will have had enough of the delays and passenger complaints and insurance claims, then maybe next summer........ hey I've just had a thought! If Transjet rescheduled their entire flying program for twelve hours later, they might be almost on time!!!!!

:D :D :D

[rupetime]

There is, and always will be, a demand for cheap capacity, whether its G registered or SE or anything "European".

If the UK charter airlines cant provide it, the tour operators will
go elsewhere for it....there are plenty of aircraft brokers that service these tour operators with capacity from the UK airlines and non UK.

Why do you think Libra use SWL to service their regional's ? Answer is that their own airline (XLA) would be too expensive to set up in those places for what will only be six months on six months off.

Rentaghost - you dont really believe that because an airline isnt based here year round means they cant perform a punctual reliable programme ?? Rubbish.

Its because its an airline being run badly and on a shoe-string....watch this space for journo interest in SWL - airline stories whether it be loss of life or loss of punctuality sells papers
and thats what will ultimately damage SWL .

RT

[Misbehaving]

Just to let all you cynics out there know, yes here at Transjet we have had our share of mis-haps, tech problems, slot delays and bad mouthing, but hey, that's the aviation industry all over!! I have been in this business a long time and carry on trying my best to provide a good service to my pax. For the past two weeks, all the flights I operated went on time with NO tech stops, No ATC delays and NO tech problems! A lot of pax commented on the excellent service they recieved onboard ( all be it, minimal ) and we recieved several complimentary letters to our Base Stewardess's. All airlines have problems, some are just better at speed taping over them than us! Just glad that not everybody believes all the rubbish they read and all of us here at Transjet HAVE been paid our full salary on time! Good flying to you all, A Very Happy Transjet Crew Member