Easyjet losing the plot at LTN

[LTNman]

Ray Webster has said London Luton airport has been "overstretched'' in the last 12 months and that he will focus U.K. capacity expansion at BAA Plc's London Gatwick airport, the world's busiest single-runway airport, and East Midlands airport. All very strange since TBI revealed that Luton is running at only 50% capacity.

Maybe what Ray Webster means by this statement is that easyjet who are self handling at Luton have struggled to recruit enough staff with the wages they are paying and are suffering from a high staff churn. Rather than pay a few extra pennies an hour to their baggage loaders and check-in staff they see their future at congested Gatwick.

Or is it the thought of Ryanair basing a few aircraft at LTN that has put the wind up the old chief executive?

[OLNEY 1 BRAVO]

LTNMAN - quite possibly Ray Webster has in mind the various issues and factors that you list in your post, however let's step back a moment.

TBI say that Luton is only running at 50% of capacity and judged over a 24 hour or 7 day period that is probably true, but you and I both know that that free apron space is in extremely short supply at times and particularly overnight. Basing additional aircraft at Luton to operate more routes is therefore very difficult until more apron space is built.

Matters have been made considerably worse by the establishment of the Operations Centre at Luton (for the uninitiated - a small core of staff provide Apron Control, Security Control, Coaching Management functions plus answer enquiries from the public) which saw the experienced Apron Controllers not employed in the new roles and leaving TBI. All had double digit years of experience (no - I wasn't one of them).

As a result there are frequent last minute changes of stand as the new staff forget that they've still got an aircraft on the allocated stand because it is running late. They have no procedures to know which stands are occupied as the "bunker" they are in has no view of any part of the apron and I'm reliably informed they often have to despatch a Marshaller to find out which stands are empty!

Such a situation recently resulted in a easyJet aircraft holding for 20 minutes after landing until a free stand could be identified by the Marshaller.

And then there was the episode of the Air Atlanta 767-300 being parked on Stand 47 and nearly making a nice hole in the "easytent" ... as Stand 47 can't accept 767's!

I could go on, but there are already a number of threads on this forum about the inability of TBI Management to get new business and to run an airport that looks like a proper airport.

Discuss!!

Edited for a typo!

[LTNman]

I think the one big issue for easyjet at the moment is the shortage of walk on stands which hasn’t been helped by stand closures due to pier construction last year and apron realignment work this year. Coaching passengers takes added time and can often lead to delays. TBI’s plans for a new pier will add 6 much needed walk on stands although how many easyjet will get is another story.

Anyone noticed the gradient between the new north apron and the main apron. It seems one hell of a slope. I wonder what the limits are for aircraft going up and down hills?

[Buster the Bear]

Now would it not be a farce if one of the reasons easy are shying from Luton is the stand allocation debacle since the closure, whoops, re-siting of apron control and the resultant redundancies, early retirements and redeployments of skilled staff?

[In trim]

LTNMan

The gradient from the old apron (stand 9) down past the new 3 pack to the cargo taxiway is indeed a bit steep.....but only something like 0.2 degrees steeper than the ICAO recommended limit. This effectively means that it is approved, but may have to be closed in icy conditions.

Undoubtedly the new link will improve the level of holding for the cul-de-sac once a 'one-way system' can be introduced. That should help the taxi time at peaks.

In trim.

[LTNman]

With only one security gate by Signature serving the northern, eastern and western aprons I know for a fact that the link taxiway will close in low visibility conditions due to vehicles having to use the crossing point.

[PAXboy]

When is the new link taxyway due to open? I had presumed that it would be one-way (down) as it would generate a fair amount of jet wash and noise for a/c coming up hill!

[OLNEY 1 BRAVO]

The new Taxiway will be designated as "Echo" and although it was scheduled to open around September time, however I'm advised by a number of reliable sources that work has been put on hold due to a spot of bother with a third party as to who owns exactly which bit of land! Both parties think they own that land and until the issue is resolved .... no building.

As for one-way .... I understand that embryonic plans call for the flow of traffic to be determined by which runway is in use, so therefore aircraft could go up and down the ski slope!

[rentaghost]

I really shouldnt reply to the above (as I always appear to be negative), but I just cannot believe (I can really!) that yet again construction at LTN appears not to have been properly thought out...

WHY build an extended taxiway that cannot be used 100% of the time?

Reading these continual problems just depresses me, but then again its been like it for years despite many many management changes...

Going back to the post title - any ideas which Airport is going to buckle to the EZY 6 Aircraft 'auction' which they are currently running???

[Buster the Bear]

easy selling 6 737's via eBay, what a story.

If they are resorting to these selling tactics then there can be little profit for such an airport operator?

Echo could be used in LVP's with an escort. When you are shifting less planes in fog, ones ability to use it in LVP's matters little in the thickest of fog conditions.

[Buster the Bear]

Gardermoen courts easyJet

Oslo's Gardermoen International Airport (OSL) will submit an application Wednesday which they hope will attract the budget carrier easyJet to Norway before the end of the year. Passengers may cheer, but the news could mean another tough competitor for troubled airline SAS.


"After a long period of dialogue with easyJet we will send a new application to the company today. With luck we can welcome them as early as our winter schedule this year," OSL marketing chief Knut Staebekk told Aftenposten.

Airline easyJet, Europe's larget budget carrier, has had a week-long advertising campaign to attract bids from potential airports eager to help the growing giant establish themselves in new ports.

Avinor, which owns and runs 45 airports in Norway, including OSL, is also eager to talk with easyJet and wants them to fly from Bergen and Trondheim as well.

Press contact Samantha Day at easyJet headquarters in Luton, England, said that the company had made no decisions about opening a base in Norway, but that if they did domestic flights would only begin in the long run.

SAS boss Soeren Belin told Aftenposten earlier this year that the entry of a company like easyJet into the Norwegian market would be the "worst thing possible".

The easyJet model of low prices and heavy traffic to major capitals makes the airline attractive both to individuals and corporations.

"We are prepared for the arrival of new competitors and we wish them welcome, but that is on the assumption that they will not receive better conditions that we do," said SAS press spokeswoman Siv Meisingseth.

[Buster the Bear]

24 June 2003

Self-selection process speeds easyJet airport decision

easyJet said Tuesday it had received responses to its request for tenders from 80 airports in 20 European countries.

Ten days ago, the airline began advertising in national newspapers across Europe for airports prepared to offer ‘easy-to-use facilities with good access to a large, attractive population’. It insisted it was only interested in those that could handle six easyJet aircraft simultaneously while also being able to ensure rapid turnarounds.

In a statement today Ray Webster, easyJet chief executive, said: ‘This has been a strong response and clearly demonstrates the scale of the growth opportunities for easyJet in Europe. By asking only those airports that match our strict criteria to tender, we have succeeded in outsourcing the selection process to the airports themselves and in doing so we have completed two years’ work in ten days.

‘The equation is simple and everybody wins: lower airport charges mean lower airline fares and more airport passengers. I am delighted that many submissions have come from airports which we already serve, indicating a desire to attract even more easyJet services. There is a lot more to do, but the airport industry is clearly beginning to adopt the low-cost airline model.’
easyJet did not say when a decision on the airports would be made.

[Breeze Block]

Real shame but Easy seem to be losing the plot. Is it a management problem?