Thinking?

[ciderman]

I am trying to get my head around the thinking of the EZY flight from EDI to BRS yesterday evening. There were very strong winds forecast for BRS till about 2100 and the flight was due to land at 1845. In the event it came south, did not try an approach, diverted to BHX and passengers put on coaches to BRS, including my grandson, hence the post. The empty aircraft then positioned to BRS when the wind had died down, landing 20 minutes before the coaches arrived from BHX. My questions. Why did they not sit on the ground at EDI for the wind to die down? Why, having come south did he not make an approach? He v(or she) may have been lucky. Why, having diverted to BHX did he not keep the pax on board and fly them to BRS. I am not criticising, merely trying to understand the thought processes.

[rog747]

BEGGARS BELIEF

At BMA LHR we never really departed if we knew the chance of getting in was remote - we usually hung around and watched the forecasts closely

[ciderman]

BEGGARS BELIEF

At BMA LHR we never really departed if we knew the chance of getting in was remote - we usually hung around and watched the forecasts closely

Common sense would indicate that was the easiest and cheapest way around it but there must be other factors to dictate a bizarre course of action. The aircraft was not doing anything else having arrived at BRS and if they flew from BHX the duty time was not an issue.

[DaveReidUK]

Why, having diverted to BHX did he not keep the pax on board and fly them to BRS.

If you divert, how long do you keep your passengers on board before you realise it would have been better to send them on by coach, and how do you then explain to them that you have just unnecessarily added several hours more to their overall delay ?

[ciderman]

If you divert, how long do you keep your passengers on board before you realise it would have been better to send them on by coach, and how do you then explain to them that you have just unnecessarily added several hours more to their overall delay ?

Yes, but the wind was forecast to drop and the aircraft arrived back before the pax on coaches. Who was pulling the strings is my question really?

[DaveReidUK]

Yes, but the wind was forecast to drop and the aircraft arrived back before the pax on coaches.

Some you win, some you lose.

Who was pulling the strings is my question really?

The weather gods? :O

[PAXboy]

I suspect it's like you hear of a long delay on the motorway (or your satnav reroutes) and you have to decide whether to take another Motorway or the A roads. Whichever one you take - you may hear that the jam and backlog quickly dispersed and you could have stayed on your original route.

You just have to take the information and prevailing conditions as presented.

[Gulf Julliet Papa]

Why not wait in EDI? The answer is likely - schedule integrity. It is a low cost carrier which means they don't have spare aircraft lying around so an aircraft can sit around and wait. The airline would not allocate any extra time in the day schedule for delays, the aircraft has to operate other routes and flights, not just your grandsons. If there is a chance they can get in, the chances are they will depart (if they can do so legally).

Why not leave passengers on in BHX? Again schedule integrity. The chances are operations will plan for the plane to leave BHX > BRS, and if they can't get in go onto the next scheduled destination of that aircraft (BFS?) therefore having some small attempt of annoying less passengers. If you still have passengers on board then what do you do if you can't get in the next time round?

[ciderman]

Why not wait in EDI? The answer is likely - schedule integrity. It is a low cost carrier which means they don't have spare aircraft lying around so an aircraft can sit around and wait. The airline would not allocate any extra time in the day schedule for delays, the aircraft has to operate other routes and flights, not just your grandsons. If there is a chance they can get in, the chances are they will depart (if they can do so legally).

Why not leave passengers on in BHX? Again schedule integrity. The chances are operations will plan for the plane to leave BHX > BRS, and if they can't get in go onto the next scheduled destination of that aircraft (BFS?) therefore having some small attempt of annoying less passengers. If you still have passengers on board then what do you do if you can't get in the next time round?

I'm sure there are reasons for the way things worked out. However I doubt that a 2200 hours arrival would mean another departure from BRS. if they were going to arrive that late why not with pax? 3 coaches could not have been cheap.

[Gulf Julliet Papa]

You said yourself the scheduled arrival was 1845. Therefore it is likely the aircraft had somewhere else to go in the evening (and at least one more load of passengers)