Delay Stories
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cwatters: Your loss.
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On the only route I can think of where BA and FR go head to head (LGW-DUB), Ryanair are a lot better than BA. Ryanair also schedule the flight to take less time, making their results even more impressive.
http://www.flightontime.info/schedul...utes/2004.html
Other interesting data appears to show that those nasty US airlines appear to do better than their European competitors when flying out of LON
LHR simply sucks, one delayed flight out of a couple of dozen is not feasible when visiting that place. In fact the stats show that BA gets 69% of its flights 'on time' from LHR, putting it in 18th place for all carriers.
http://www.flightontime.info/schedul...utes/2004.html
Other interesting data appears to show that those nasty US airlines appear to do better than their European competitors when flying out of LON
LHR simply sucks, one delayed flight out of a couple of dozen is not feasible when visiting that place. In fact the stats show that BA gets 69% of its flights 'on time' from LHR, putting it in 18th place for all carriers.
Late 1970s and I have to go to Seychelles and Mauritius on business-honest guv.
LHR to SEZ on a SVC10 via Nicosia, Khartoum and Addis Ababa. Nice trip-nice stay in SEZ. Time to leave and pick up the once a week BA 74 which routed LHR Bahrain Sez Mauritius .Sched departure 1 pm on Monday afternoon.
We do get boarded but nothing happens -flight engineer torch in hand head inside engine Time passes, eventually Captian says sorry folks we hit a bird on departure from Bahrain and damage worse than we thought. He didnt like the idea of three engines in the middle of Indian Ocean (have times changed for BA skippers -ie the infamous Manchester Diversion post now running). He says a new engine needs to be ferried in, we will be on the ground 'until tomorrow'.
Leaving aside the fun and games over hotels for 400 pax and crew we then get the classic domino effect delay.
How do you get a 74 engine to Seychelles-easy you fly it there in a chartered Herc from Jo'burg along witha engineering team.
Problem 1 To get to Seychelles from JoBurg means overflying countries not very friendly with South Africa so it a long long over water diversion taking maybe 9 hours for the trip.
Problem 2 Torrential rain when it arives and Sez has a very very tricky approach and it has to divert to Nairobi
Problem 3 Crew for Herc out of hours and need mandatory rest period of 12 hours ? before trying again
Problem 4 -how do you do an engine change ona 74 at an airport where the 74 is bigger than the terminal-answer you modify a cargo scissor lift which takes a fair while before you even start the job and then you have to be very very very careful not to drop it.
So the scheduled departure Monday 1300 becomes an actual departure Thursday 1300
3 entire days . Not BA's fault just one of those things (mind you doing an engine run power check on a 74 100 right next to a tiny cinder block and wood terminal with open windows is interesting)
Had a fair few delays since but nothing comes close to that one
PB
LHR to SEZ on a SVC10 via Nicosia, Khartoum and Addis Ababa. Nice trip-nice stay in SEZ. Time to leave and pick up the once a week BA 74 which routed LHR Bahrain Sez Mauritius .Sched departure 1 pm on Monday afternoon.
We do get boarded but nothing happens -flight engineer torch in hand head inside engine Time passes, eventually Captian says sorry folks we hit a bird on departure from Bahrain and damage worse than we thought. He didnt like the idea of three engines in the middle of Indian Ocean (have times changed for BA skippers -ie the infamous Manchester Diversion post now running). He says a new engine needs to be ferried in, we will be on the ground 'until tomorrow'.
Leaving aside the fun and games over hotels for 400 pax and crew we then get the classic domino effect delay.
How do you get a 74 engine to Seychelles-easy you fly it there in a chartered Herc from Jo'burg along witha engineering team.
Problem 1 To get to Seychelles from JoBurg means overflying countries not very friendly with South Africa so it a long long over water diversion taking maybe 9 hours for the trip.
Problem 2 Torrential rain when it arives and Sez has a very very tricky approach and it has to divert to Nairobi
Problem 3 Crew for Herc out of hours and need mandatory rest period of 12 hours ? before trying again
Problem 4 -how do you do an engine change ona 74 at an airport where the 74 is bigger than the terminal-answer you modify a cargo scissor lift which takes a fair while before you even start the job and then you have to be very very very careful not to drop it.
So the scheduled departure Monday 1300 becomes an actual departure Thursday 1300
3 entire days . Not BA's fault just one of those things (mind you doing an engine run power check on a 74 100 right next to a tiny cinder block and wood terminal with open windows is interesting)
Had a fair few delays since but nothing comes close to that one
PB
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A few years ago, with BA in SIN. They had a brand new 747-400 delayed for 24 hours in SYD. Luckily I new someone in SIN airport checkin so new the flight was delayed into SINonroute to LHR, so I didnt even go to the airport. The next day, turned up ontime, checked in, got to the gate and another tech delay was apparent. Due to flight crew hours on this long sector, BA again wanted to night stop the aircraft but due to a big convention in SIN at the time there was a lack of hotels for the pax. So after several hours the fault was fixed (we had been given food and drinks in the departure gate) we departed for London. Due to the crew hours we landed in Rome (I think), in the meantime BA had flown out a complete set of new crew on a 757 from London. So we landed in Rome, the new crew got on, the old crew sat in the cabin, fuel was uplifted together with some more food, and we were on our way in 45 minutes. Personaly I was impressed by the way BA looked after every one. Bet you wouldnt get this with RYN or EJ
You get what you pay for
You get what you pay for
Paxing All Over The World
Thread Starter
Bet you wouldnt get this with RYN or EJ
That said, their Ts&Cs are on their web site and are plain for all to see.
--------------------
"I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you any different." Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Aisle seat, please.
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Three hour delay waiting for an Air Afrique plane from Lomé to Abidjan. Wasn't a long delay, but the power went off in the airport so there were no lights and no a/c.
Mind you, there may not have been any a/c even if the power had been on if other West African airports are anything to go by.
Mind you, there may not have been any a/c even if the power had been on if other West African airports are anything to go by.
Ah, Brymon, sorely missed! I wonder if the bar tab did for you?
When I worked offshore in the Netherlands, I flew Schiphol - Gatwick, with time to spare for the flight down to Newquay, which invariably ran on into a couple of hours delay due to late arrival of the inbound. I started to think it must have been just me, but the regulars told me it was like that nearly every day.
Then when I moved to working out of Aberdeen, I tried their Aberdeen-Newcastle-Bristol-Plymouth service, with a change of aircraft at Bristol, until they kept running out of aircraft at Bristol.
Since I was spending so much time on the road, I reverted to doing the journey from West Cornwall to Aberdeen by car.
When I worked offshore in the Netherlands, I flew Schiphol - Gatwick, with time to spare for the flight down to Newquay, which invariably ran on into a couple of hours delay due to late arrival of the inbound. I started to think it must have been just me, but the regulars told me it was like that nearly every day.
Then when I moved to working out of Aberdeen, I tried their Aberdeen-Newcastle-Bristol-Plymouth service, with a change of aircraft at Bristol, until they kept running out of aircraft at Bristol.
Since I was spending so much time on the road, I reverted to doing the journey from West Cornwall to Aberdeen by car.
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My worst to date...
Land Salzburg @ 10:00 local: Starts snowing @ 10:15 when all pax disembarked. Continues snowing, more heavily. Inbound pax boarded @ 11:00 but SZG now experiencing intermittent runway closures: Expected departure 11:30. And then SZG ran out of de-iceing fluid - additional had to be driven in from Vienna (for chrissakes!)
Total delay 6 hours, with pax on board throughout (terminal too congested and would not allow them to disembark). No additional food on a/c and insufficient bar stock to maintain drinks/snacks throughout delay. IFE system u/s pending spares on that day only.
Obtained Commanders permission for pax to use mobile phones during delay: Most popular request was for phone number of airline MD. One man rang customer relations and then invited Commander and I to speak to them directly in order to "report" ourselves for "incompetence".
Not the longest delay by any means, but for both customers and crew, one of the least pleasant.
Ski pax - You gotta luv 'em!
Land Salzburg @ 10:00 local: Starts snowing @ 10:15 when all pax disembarked. Continues snowing, more heavily. Inbound pax boarded @ 11:00 but SZG now experiencing intermittent runway closures: Expected departure 11:30. And then SZG ran out of de-iceing fluid - additional had to be driven in from Vienna (for chrissakes!)
Total delay 6 hours, with pax on board throughout (terminal too congested and would not allow them to disembark). No additional food on a/c and insufficient bar stock to maintain drinks/snacks throughout delay. IFE system u/s pending spares on that day only.
Obtained Commanders permission for pax to use mobile phones during delay: Most popular request was for phone number of airline MD. One man rang customer relations and then invited Commander and I to speak to them directly in order to "report" ourselves for "incompetence".
Not the longest delay by any means, but for both customers and crew, one of the least pleasant.
Ski pax - You gotta luv 'em!
Paxing All Over The World
Thread Starter
TS I think that you have probably got the winning score there. Not in duration but for high quality aggravation!
A delay from South Africa to UK in 1990 was not an incovenience as such but it had a running problem....
It was a daylight (dep about 09:00) JNB~BRU via (I think) Kinshasha on Sabena. I was in club on the upper deck of the 743 and expected a beautifully quiet trip, with a simple connection on to LHR.
The stop went OK but we were about to enter Libyan air space when they closed it. We had to go west to get around them and Algeria. Then a tech stop for more go-juice in Casablanca (not allowed off, of course) then on to BRU. Delayed by all the summer traffic over Spain with difficult routing to add on, meant that we got in at midnight and so had to night stop (their expense) as the last London had gone.
Now, since I was in Club, what am I complaining about? The baby in the row behind me.
It was very small and new and the mother appeared to be inexperienced as, whenever it made any noise, she simply poured milk into it. In due course, the baby 'overflowed' and the smell was 
In the upper deck of the 74, the locker bins are beside the window and provide a very good flat surface. These are particularly suitable for ... changing the baby's nappy... until the person sitting in the window seat one row in front hits the call button and points out the problem.
I drank more alcohol on that trip than on ANY other trip in my life! A journey that is seared into my memory.
A delay from South Africa to UK in 1990 was not an incovenience as such but it had a running problem....
It was a daylight (dep about 09:00) JNB~BRU via (I think) Kinshasha on Sabena. I was in club on the upper deck of the 743 and expected a beautifully quiet trip, with a simple connection on to LHR.
The stop went OK but we were about to enter Libyan air space when they closed it. We had to go west to get around them and Algeria. Then a tech stop for more go-juice in Casablanca (not allowed off, of course) then on to BRU. Delayed by all the summer traffic over Spain with difficult routing to add on, meant that we got in at midnight and so had to night stop (their expense) as the last London had gone.
Now, since I was in Club, what am I complaining about? The baby in the row behind me.
It was very small and new and the mother appeared to be inexperienced as, whenever it made any noise, she simply poured milk into it. In due course, the baby 'overflowed' and the smell was In the upper deck of the 74, the locker bins are beside the window and provide a very good flat surface. These are particularly suitable for ... changing the baby's nappy... until the person sitting in the window seat one row in front hits the call button and points out the problem.
I drank more alcohol on that trip than on ANY other trip in my life! A journey that is seared into my memory.
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Ski pax - You gotta luv 'em!
d off with sitting there watching the only snow fall they'd seen in the entire holiday.I can remember a similar incident a few years back, it threw snow out of the heavens one evening at about 1800, so nothing was moving, with the result that we sat there for several hours more going nowhere.
Snag with SZG is that it has an evening curfew. So, we're now sitting there at 2240, and 2300 is the curfew. Eventually, we got start clearance, and were airborne by the tower clock at 22:59. Somewhere along the line, my watch "miraculously" gained about 3 minutes in that hour, as I reckoned we were airborne at about 23:03, and even more strange, those 3 minutes somehow migrated to LGW, as when we landed there later, my watch and the clocks in the terminal were somehow in agreement, exactly as they had been when I flew out a week earlier
I never did find out how the crew managed to massage time so effectively, but how ever they did it, a 757 full of very stressed and tired passengers were VERY happy to be back in the UK.
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may as well have a delay story with a happy ending.
In 2001 I was commuting every Monday out to Paris from Heathrow T1 on the first BMI flight. Very heavy storms and winds had shut DeGaulle and caused trouble at other airports. Delayed 3 hours, took off got turned back over the channel and returned to Heathrow at midday. I went home but being self employed needed to get out there ASAP. On returning to T4 for a BA flight at 8 that night got chatting to a lady also waiting around. Eventually leaving at 11:30pm for a very early morning arrival in France
Married that lady last June.
In 2001 I was commuting every Monday out to Paris from Heathrow T1 on the first BMI flight. Very heavy storms and winds had shut DeGaulle and caused trouble at other airports. Delayed 3 hours, took off got turned back over the channel and returned to Heathrow at midday. I went home but being self employed needed to get out there ASAP. On returning to T4 for a BA flight at 8 that night got chatting to a lady also waiting around. Eventually leaving at 11:30pm for a very early morning arrival in France
Married that lady last June.
Last edited by manintheback; 8th Apr 2005 at 08:04.
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manintheback
Congratulations and many happy years together, you old romantic.
I had a similar thing - raced downstairs from my hotel in Tokyo for a taxi. Got one, but a lady had also started waiting for one, so I offered it to her.
Got to Narita with 45 mins but even in J checkin there was a huge queue for HKG. I missed the flight. Bugger!
Reseated with JAL, I went into the lounge and enjoyed a drink and a smoke for the six hours I would have to wait (I also missed an important meeting, and my boss would be Unpleased). When who should come up to me but ... the taxi lady. We sat and talked for a while before boarding, then discovered we were to have adjacent seats.
When we arrived in HKG, we found we were both staying in the Hyatt in Wan Chai.
When we both came back to Europe, I visited her not a few times in Paris, where she lived.
Unfortunately, and for tragic reasons outside our control, that was as far as it could go. But there's another semi-happy ending, anyway.
BOFH
(BTW, I had to reparse what you said when you mentioned 'another lady' in your post)
Congratulations and many happy years together, you old romantic.
I had a similar thing - raced downstairs from my hotel in Tokyo for a taxi. Got one, but a lady had also started waiting for one, so I offered it to her.
Got to Narita with 45 mins but even in J checkin there was a huge queue for HKG. I missed the flight. Bugger!
Reseated with JAL, I went into the lounge and enjoyed a drink and a smoke for the six hours I would have to wait (I also missed an important meeting, and my boss would be Unpleased). When who should come up to me but ... the taxi lady. We sat and talked for a while before boarding, then discovered we were to have adjacent seats.
When we arrived in HKG, we found we were both staying in the Hyatt in Wan Chai.
When we both came back to Europe, I visited her not a few times in Paris, where she lived.
Unfortunately, and for tragic reasons outside our control, that was as far as it could go. But there's another semi-happy ending, anyway.
BOFH
(BTW, I had to reparse what you said when you mentioned 'another lady' in your post)
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Flew from LHR to JFK with Virgin to spend a few days in New York and then onwards to Nicaragua with Taca. After 2 days, I was to do the whole thing in reverse, but without the NY stopover. Well, I managed to miss my return flight to JFK and was told to come back the following day with $240 for a new ticket 
So I go back to my hotel and turn up the next day only to find that the whole eastern seaboard of the states is snowed in and that no flights were leaving that day for NY.
Because I literally couldn't wait to get out of Managua (horrible place IMHO), I just asked to be put on their next flight to the US and said that I didn't care where it was going. I was offered a flight to Miami with Iberia and told it would be comped, the whole $240 thing never mentioned.
So now I am a thousand miles away and a day overdue for a connecting Virgin flight home; BUT - The weather is beatiful and I'd never been to Miami before, so I just thought what the hell....who am I to complain. Got a Taxi to Miami beach, booked a cheap hotel, stayed for 3 days, had an absolute blast and got a great tan.
The best part about it was, when I finally did make it to the miami airport, I went up to the Virgin desk handed over a ticket for a flight that had left New York 5 days earlier and was handed a boarding pass. Not an eyebrow raised or a question asked. Couldn't belive it.
So I go back to my hotel and turn up the next day only to find that the whole eastern seaboard of the states is snowed in and that no flights were leaving that day for NY.
Because I literally couldn't wait to get out of Managua (horrible place IMHO), I just asked to be put on their next flight to the US and said that I didn't care where it was going. I was offered a flight to Miami with Iberia and told it would be comped, the whole $240 thing never mentioned.
So now I am a thousand miles away and a day overdue for a connecting Virgin flight home; BUT - The weather is beatiful and I'd never been to Miami before, so I just thought what the hell....who am I to complain. Got a Taxi to Miami beach, booked a cheap hotel, stayed for 3 days, had an absolute blast and got a great tan.
The best part about it was, when I finally did make it to the miami airport, I went up to the Virgin desk handed over a ticket for a flight that had left New York 5 days earlier and was handed a boarding pass. Not an eyebrow raised or a question asked. Couldn't belive it.
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manintheback
Sorry, I hope I didn't insult your grammar - it's one of the vagaries of the English language, much in the same way that 'old romantic' didn't mean I thought you were old. Now you have cleared that up for us It was a nice story and must have cheered a few of the rest of us up.
I was flying to SYD from JKT one night. One poor chap was flying J, like I, but was trying to get to PER (his wife was having a baby). Seems they were overbooked on his flight. Poor bugger managed to negotiate a flight via SYD in Y - best they could do. Must have been the longest flight of his life.
I wish all our stories sounded like yours or Barnstorm's.
BOFH
Sorry, I hope I didn't insult your grammar - it's one of the vagaries of the English language, much in the same way that 'old romantic' didn't mean I thought you were old. Now you have cleared that up for us
It was a nice story and must have cheered a few of the rest of us up.I was flying to SYD from JKT one night. One poor chap was flying J, like I, but was trying to get to PER (his wife was having a baby). Seems they were overbooked on his flight. Poor bugger managed to negotiate a flight via SYD in Y - best they could do. Must have been the longest flight of his life.
I wish all our stories sounded like yours or Barnstorm's.
BOFH
