European Aviation - how do you rate them?

[bmibaby.com]

After hearing some of the rumours about European looking at replacing their Boeing 737-200 in the not too far future, I was wondering whether some people could tell me a bit about the airline.

I have met crews from EAAC at EMA when they did flights to/from ALC last summer and most seemed to be young, happy and tired, but:

1. What are the Boeing 737-200s like to work/fly on?
2. How efficient is the fleet of Boeing 737-200s?
3. Does anyone have any comments about how their trips on EAAC shorthaul have been?

I am just very interested in this outfit.

Thanks

[BAe 146-100]

Hi,

The 737-200's are not very efficient. The flights from/to MAN are mostly delayed. Most of the 732's that they have are ex Sabena and were built in the mid 1970's. The cabins are worn (my dad flew on them from MAN-CDG) but you would expect that from a aircraft that is going on 30 years old.

BAe 146-100

[hotdowntheback]

Same goes for the 747 - 200's they now look great from the outside(new livery - paint job) - but are an absolute mess on the inside, the cabin on all aircraft are falling apart and are pretty thredbare!:rolleyes:

[BAe 146-100]

Hi,

The new livery is very nice though, I wish they would put it on the 737-200's :D.

BAe 146-100

[Low Cost Eng]

Hotdowntheback

Maybe you could provide some more information on the interiors of the European B747-200. When did you fly on them to make your assessment? I am interested as I know someone who is going to Florida with them very soon.

[ann1979]

Well I think European Aviation are Brilliant! I have worked for them and there is an extremely high standard of customer service on their flights.

The company is on the up and they are a good company to go with. As they merge with Bath Travel the reputation of the company will go up and up.

I say European Aviation should be highly rated.

[Low Cost Eng]

ann1979

A very interesting contribution from you as what you have said matches the feedback I have already received about European Aviation. Maybe hotdowntheback has some kind of axe to grind with them but he does little for his own reputation by spreading what is quite clearly false information.

[ajamieson]

bmibaby.com, I'd be happy to fly with EAL on a charter service (reasonable cabin crew, not bad seat pitch, sensible flight crew) but I was NOT happy when Donnington Hall thought one of the EAL 737s was an adequate substitute for the hailstone-damaged A321 G-MIDJ for two months. If I pay £300 for a domestic return I do not expect a tatty old a/c which still has ashtrays in the seats. Hotdowntheback's assessment of the cabins seemed pretty accurate to me. Fine for charter, though, I'm sure. ;)

[hotdowntheback]

I have no axe to grind, I simply speak the truth. I flew to Orlando with them last month. The crew and service are similar if not as good as any other charter airline, but the cabin is in poor shape.

There is no need to create a slanging match my comment is that of a valid one.

You will enjoy your flight whatever I'm sure.

:ok:

[Redstripe]

Except that with 'any other airline' you will probably get a minimum seat pitch of 28". The European seat pitch on the 747 is 31" - that can make a lot of difference after 9 hours...

[Mouser]

Christ, were the first half dozen threads writtern by 10yr olds, and the original question E A how do you rate them , bmi baby why did you bother to ask such an inane question.

[crewmeal]

As an experienced flyer who has flown both those 747-200's and the 737, I sent in my cv for a cabin crew job.

I didn't hear a thing. Guess they must have all the crew they need for their operaions!!!

[xr4x4]

iv been with eal for two years "feels like 20!" iv got one month to go i cant wait. no more getting fu*ked around not knowing what you are doing from week to week no more late pay no more -30 in russia in the winter "did that one a lot" i feel like my life is about to start and i cant wait rate it 2/10 "god i must be in a good mood"

[VIKING9]

xr4x4 if EAAC is that bad, why have you waited for 2 years to escape? Maybe nobody else will employ you with an attitude like that. What do you expect from an ad-hoc airline, surely not a stable roster ? Your life is about to start hey, have you just got one then ? :ok:

[jmc-man]

Just a couple of observations...

The takeover by Bath Travel has still not been completed, although they supply a considerable amount of the work that European do.

The 737-300's have been deferred indefinately

They appear to have a good team, particularly in the cabin, but they suffer from operating old tired equipment.

[surely not]

JMC Man.

'733's deferred indefinitely' that's a very firm statement to make, not sure you are correct though. I've heard differently

[TRISTARLOVER]

Flown on the 747-200 as cattle class four times now , intend to
do it again later in the year to Florida again. As a charter flight the service is excellent , aircraft okay for their age , but the interiors are now looking and feel shabby.

They get you to were you want to go for the price you pay , I've
had no significant delays or problems.

Good luck for the future European ..keep on truckin !!

[FOZ]

Over the last 4 years, I have flown with EAAC on several occasions - all private charters and have found them to be fine. Yes the preference would be to fly on newer aircraft, but the 200's are OK if not a little noisy. The interiors are always clean, and more importantly the crew have always been polite, friendly and professional.

The role of providing "ad-hoc" charters is a difficult one - you don't always know where your next job will be or when it will come. EAAC carry out some regular charter work, but without the ad-hoc side, there would be many flights that possibly would have been cancelled which EAAC have operated. G-MIDJ and if the choice is 737-200 or no flight, I'd take the 737-200.

I hope that the takeover by Bath Travel will not change EAAC to just another charter airline - its services are needed (even with older a/c).

[mrgoodguy]

I worked at EAL in 2002 and it was the worst experience of my life, I left after 9 disrupted months. They need to be investigated by the CAA, dodgy long hours, no notice of changes to rosters, incompetent crewing, promotions given to "friends" of management, crappy old 25 year old aircraft, falling apart and not repaired inside.
I say AVOID

[surely not]

So nothing to do with you then Mr Good guy?

[Paul Wilson]

mr goodguy well,
dodgy long hours - did you document it and report to senior managment and CAA?

no notice of changes to rosters - errrr it is an adhoc charter business, by definition one of their customers is going to call up wanting a aircraft, the customer would not be happy if EAAC said "okay, but it will be next month as we've got to print up and distribute new rosters, the staff likes 4 weeks notice you see"

promotions given to "friends" of management - well it is their airline they can promote who they like, unless that is you all join a Union and get recognition, when it will be a matter that can be brought up at negotiations

crappy 25 year old aircraft - You knew that before you joined - and you can't make money in the ad-hoc business with new aircraft, they simply cost too much to buy. Any airline has annual costs (ie debt to buy planes, head office etc.) and hourly costs (maintanance, fuel, catering, crew) EAAC make it work by having high hourly costs (25 year old planes cost more to run) and low annual costs (25 year old planes are cheapto buy)

Other points may well be valid, but as I've never flown with them I couldn't say

[Kelas]

Several months ago I had the pleasure of inspecting one of EAAC B747-200's as we were looking at chartering the aircraft to operate several flights to the Caribbean. I found the aircraft to be more than suitable for the type of work they were offering the aircraft for. The interior was clean and in a good condition. The staff members I met were proffesional and polite. In my opinion they are a good airline for what they offer (not in the league of Emirates or Virgin).

Also don't forget that in a consumer vote undertaken last year by a travel magazine, Palmair was voted the best airline to fly with. These are flights operated & crewed by EAAC on behalf of Palmair on a full charter basis!

[pug munter]

I flew EAL from Gatwick to Sydney in January stopping in Colombo which was not really prepared for the numbers.

I paid and extra 50 quid to get the economy seet upstairs (and 10kg extra baggage) so did not see contidions in the main cabin. However, the tired comments are apt. There were only 8 pax in the bubble so it mean lots of attention.

For long haul the biggest issue was the old entertainment system but with the money saved it mean I could afford a few magazines. The toilets were the older versions so no idea how they fared on the ground floor.

The crew were fine and friendly but some clearly did not have the hang of the intercom upstairs and were confused. Door crosschecking meant lots of running up and down stairs.

Austravel certainly saved bucks on the meals. Should have taken sandwiches.

[UFGBOY]

Small point- Palmair actually recruit their own crew in the cabin but use EAC pilots - that way they get more control of the quality of staff

Any news on the nmuber of SFB they are doing this year?

[AIRHOSTIE:)]

:O I work for Palmair as Cabin Crew.

Just to clarify that Palmair are totally seperate in the way that we operate. We are linked with European because we use their planes and their pilots work for us.

We have totally sperate owners and managers.

Im not bragging but palmair crew are hand picked by our manager and the company owner Peter Bath. Its an airline like no other.

We fly the 737-200 and we WILL be getting the 300's in very shortly.
Even flying the 737-200 we still won best airline of the year 2003.... the aircraft is old but its well looked after and we keep it looking nice and tidy.

Bath Travel have not yet signed an agreement to buy into European, but when they do the companies will still stay seperate in the way that they run. If anything European have been improving over the last year and i think will improve even more when Bath Travel buy into them.

So....Although EAAC may not have the best reputation to work for, its based on your own opinion. Ive got a few friends there and they love it.
You could go for the interview and see how you feel. GO for it!:ok:

[jmc757]

I will have the pleasure of sampling a European flight from BHX-PMI in July. We were booked on a nice Monarch A321, but for some reason, that has changed to EAF, presumably the 732. I'm sure it will be an experience...:p

[kneecap]

isn't it about time 737-200's were banned from UKairports?
Bloody noisy things!!

[Groundloop]

Can't ban 'em, Kneecap, if they meet the current noise regs.

[Pirate]

I did 6 years with European as a One-Eleven captain. Generally a wonderful bunch of people, whether flight crew, cabin crew, ops, commercial or engineering. There was the odd idiot here and there but you find that in any organisation employing more than a handful of people. Very much a "can do" approach to life which is the lifeblood of an outfit that lives in the ad-hoc charter world. Because of the nature of the work the roster often bore little resemblance to what one ended up doing but the flying was very varied and interesting.

The only real reservations I had were an overfondness for airport standy duties and the practice of having crews positioning by self-driving hire cars, which is tiring prior to a duty and positively knackering afterwards. I'm told the latter problem is being addressed - perhaps a current European could comment?

Certainly a good place to learn the flying trade if you're a new pilot. As for me - I'd go back tomorrow!

confundemus

[Thunderbird One]

Pirate,

That sounds very re-assuring abou this company and I hear nothing but good comments about EAAC apart from the salary.

One thing worrys me though is the age of the fleet. How long can these aircraft go on flying for? and does anyone know if they have plans to get new aircraft?

[Redstripe]

The noise regulations will ground the 737-200s by March of next year. Before that date they will be replaced with -300s.

[Pirate]

TB1

Last time I looked, EAC salaries were pretty well par for the course for narrow-bodies. Not at the top, but by no means bottom. I don't know about the747.

[richterscale10]

I worked for EAC on their management team - for one month !!!!!

Wild horses wouldn't make me go back........

Lack of equipment, lack of professionalism, no focus or real vision and all the profits being poured into the racing team that Mr Minardi owns ................