Delay Stories
Paxing All Over The World
Thread Starter
Delay Stories
Whilst enjoying a delay at Luton, I am wondering about your best delay story?
This one is simple: LTN ~IOM to see mother, a route that I do three times a year. The island is fogged and so a 3.75 hour delay - currently. Polite staff and voucher but it is one of those days when Priority Pass really pays for itself in one!
Whilst I can sit here and PPRuNe, the only drawback is that the TV has football on it.
BUT the real kicker is this: This morning I thought, should I take the Walkman? Nah, short trip, I've got enough stuff to take, so I'll leave it out. Hah!!! Boy do I want my CDs now to mask the footie. Not to mention the bloke chomping Twiglets with a sound like a concrete mixer. Since he has now sat down at the neighboring PC, I'm off to read the paper!
So, what are your best/worst delay stories?
--------------------
"I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you any different." Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
This one is simple: LTN ~IOM to see mother, a route that I do three times a year. The island is fogged and so a 3.75 hour delay - currently. Polite staff and voucher but it is one of those days when Priority Pass really pays for itself in one!
Whilst I can sit here and PPRuNe, the only drawback is that the TV has football on it.
BUT the real kicker is this: This morning I thought, should I take the Walkman? Nah, short trip, I've got enough stuff to take, so I'll leave it out. Hah!!! Boy do I want my CDs now to mask the footie. Not to mention the bloke chomping Twiglets with a sound like a concrete mixer. Since he has now sat down at the neighboring PC, I'm off to read the paper!
So, what are your best/worst delay stories?
--------------------
"I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you any different." Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: N/A
Posts: 156
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Mid 1990s, Lanzorote. Waiting to board a charter Monarch flight to Gatwick but due to 'late arrival of inbound aircraft' we had a whopping 4 hour delay.
That's bad enough alone but coupled with 30 degree heat and a broken air conditioning system in the airport...
That's bad enough alone but coupled with 30 degree heat and a broken air conditioning system in the airport...
Too mean to buy a long personal title
Once upon a time, I thought that I might give RYR a try on a no risk trip, just to see for myself what all the fuss is about. So I got a £17 return day trip to Glasgow. Sorry, I mean Prestwick. Fly up from STN mid-morning on a Saturday, come back on the first legal return, back at STN in good time to go to Jamie Oliver's parents' pub and see whether that's as good as it's cracked up to be.
On the way up, it was a bit foggy. Nothing much to worry about, had heard aircraft inbound for LHR overhead my place in the morning, etc. Checked in at STN, no problems mentioned.
So we went through to the departure area and got a coffee, and then noticed a delay notification to our flight, amongst others. Funnily enough, the scheduled carriers seemed to be managing reasonably normal ops, but the low fares were socked in. So we had breakfast, then a walk and a shop, then lunch. Some later flights went out closer to schedule, but earlier flights including ours were still delayed - probably, I suspect, because of some aircraft had been affected first thing but others hadn't.
Finally it got to the point where we knew that even if our flight left right then, it would not leave us enough time to check in for the return flight back from PIK - which, it seemed, was going to be on time if the outbound flight of that aircraft from STN was anything to go by. So we decided to try to call it a day and see whether RYR would refund us our tickets.
Easier said than done. RYR has no customer service airside. There is a phone, but that happily produced an engaged tone. After some discussion with the security people, I negotiated my way back through security to the check-in area and made my way to the RYR ticket desk. That had a queue which snaked almost outside the building and looked like it would be about two hours long.
Back through security to airside, get on the mobile phone, call their res number - desperation by this stage. Fortunately, it only takes about 10 minutes of holding to get through to a person - and to give her credit, the process of organising a complete cancellation and refund was approved (presumably by a supervisor) within a couple of minutes, once the agent could see the booked itinerary and the flight delays. And to give RYR credit, the money was back in my bank account in 4 days.
So that was my one and only attempt to go anywhere on RYR. It yielded a large bag of airside shopping at tax free prices, which made up a bit for the petrol and parking costs. And I'm sticking to BA in the future.
On the way up, it was a bit foggy. Nothing much to worry about, had heard aircraft inbound for LHR overhead my place in the morning, etc. Checked in at STN, no problems mentioned.
So we went through to the departure area and got a coffee, and then noticed a delay notification to our flight, amongst others. Funnily enough, the scheduled carriers seemed to be managing reasonably normal ops, but the low fares were socked in. So we had breakfast, then a walk and a shop, then lunch. Some later flights went out closer to schedule, but earlier flights including ours were still delayed - probably, I suspect, because of some aircraft had been affected first thing but others hadn't.
Finally it got to the point where we knew that even if our flight left right then, it would not leave us enough time to check in for the return flight back from PIK - which, it seemed, was going to be on time if the outbound flight of that aircraft from STN was anything to go by. So we decided to try to call it a day and see whether RYR would refund us our tickets.
Easier said than done. RYR has no customer service airside. There is a phone, but that happily produced an engaged tone. After some discussion with the security people, I negotiated my way back through security to the check-in area and made my way to the RYR ticket desk. That had a queue which snaked almost outside the building and looked like it would be about two hours long.
Back through security to airside, get on the mobile phone, call their res number - desperation by this stage. Fortunately, it only takes about 10 minutes of holding to get through to a person - and to give her credit, the process of organising a complete cancellation and refund was approved (presumably by a supervisor) within a couple of minutes, once the agent could see the booked itinerary and the flight delays. And to give RYR credit, the money was back in my bank account in 4 days.
So that was my one and only attempt to go anywhere on RYR. It yielded a large bag of airside shopping at tax free prices, which made up a bit for the petrol and parking costs. And I'm sticking to BA in the future.
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: UK
Posts: 512
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
End of holiday in the Bahamas, needed to connect to Miami for o/n flight back to the UK. - 5th in queue with my wife at Nassau and waited to check in - for 2 hours. Whereapon we were told flight was already full, but they were putting us on another flight 15 minutes later. Somehow I didnt believe them.
Went through to the departure area, where total utter chaos reigned as we found passengers who had been waiting over 24 hours to get home.
Transpired they had 'lost' their planes due to safety or financial reasons - never did find out which was true.
Thought I would be clever by buying 2 tickets with AA and worrying about getting money back later. Only to have the tickets removed on the say so of the other airlines supervisor who claimed I had no need of them as we were about to depart and they already had my luggage.
12 hours later we did indeed depart. 1.5 days later we got a flight back to the UK - and got downgraded just to rub it in. Interestingly large compensation claim went in.
Went through to the departure area, where total utter chaos reigned as we found passengers who had been waiting over 24 hours to get home.
Transpired they had 'lost' their planes due to safety or financial reasons - never did find out which was true.
Thought I would be clever by buying 2 tickets with AA and worrying about getting money back later. Only to have the tickets removed on the say so of the other airlines supervisor who claimed I had no need of them as we were about to depart and they already had my luggage.
12 hours later we did indeed depart. 1.5 days later we got a flight back to the UK - and got downgraded just to rub it in. Interestingly large compensation claim went in.
Bludger extraordinaire
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: London/Frankfurt
Posts: 194
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
22 hours was my best. BA cancelled my flight and offered to send me back to SYD via HKG (from LHR). It was a family emergency so I assented. Okay, leave eleven hours later.
They neglected to mention that there was an eleven hour wait at HKG as well. I'd have been better off waiting for the next flight via SIN.
LHR-SYD, about 45 hours. Boy, I looked good when I landed.
It didn't matter - by the time I arrived my relative had died. Full marks to the BA lounge in HKG. My gold had dropped out but they let me in anyway. Very sympathetic.
BOFH
They neglected to mention that there was an eleven hour wait at HKG as well. I'd have been better off waiting for the next flight via SIN.
LHR-SYD, about 45 hours. Boy, I looked good when I landed.
It didn't matter - by the time I arrived my relative had died. Full marks to the BA lounge in HKG. My gold had dropped out but they let me in anyway. Very sympathetic.
BOFH
Travelling Toronto to London via Newark because cheaper than any direct flight. CO to Newark then CO codeshare on Virgin to LHR. Arrived at Toronto in the evening to find our CO was cancelled, next one would have missed the connection. So they transferred us onto Air Canada nonstop, who were not only all loaded and ready to go but the only seats available were in Business.
We got to Heathrow 3 hours earlier than our schedule, to see the inbound Virgin was so late, also by about 3 hours, that the next CO from Toronto would have connected to it anyway.
Lovely quick comfortable flight and all at a bargain fare. Not much profit made by Continental on us.
I was also once on BA London to LAX which was cancelled at the last minute, the pax for New Zealand were rerouted via Singapore later that day. It's not often you get rerouted the opposite way round the world !
We got to Heathrow 3 hours earlier than our schedule, to see the inbound Virgin was so late, also by about 3 hours, that the next CO from Toronto would have connected to it anyway.
Lovely quick comfortable flight and all at a bargain fare. Not much profit made by Continental on us.
I was also once on BA London to LAX which was cancelled at the last minute, the pax for New Zealand were rerouted via Singapore later that day. It's not often you get rerouted the opposite way round the world !
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: UK EAST COAST
Posts: 322
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Did a 2 week holiday in Majorca flying with British Airtours, outbound on saturday morning had choice of three flights, 0700, 0730 or 0830. Picked 0830 and arrived at LGW to find 0700 and 0730 on time but 0830 departing at 1630. Taken away on a bus for lunch at a hotel and departed about 1630.
Return flight was at 1230 and on arriving to check in noticed that British Airtours were checking in the two earlier return flights but our flight didn't even have an arrival time. Found a rep and asked what the problem was, told that our flight wasn't due to arrive at Majorca until 0400 next morning and that a few passengers would be put on any empty space on the two other flights everyone esle would be "looked after". Decided to take a chance and gathering the wife and kids went and checked in on one of the earlier flights, given boarding passes without any comment whatsoever and spent an hour worrying if we would be dumped before the flight left..
Surprising I kept a watch on the flight number ,on ceefax,for the rest of the summer and that Majorca flight was always between 8 and 18 hours late every saturday.
Return flight was at 1230 and on arriving to check in noticed that British Airtours were checking in the two earlier return flights but our flight didn't even have an arrival time. Found a rep and asked what the problem was, told that our flight wasn't due to arrive at Majorca until 0400 next morning and that a few passengers would be put on any empty space on the two other flights everyone esle would be "looked after". Decided to take a chance and gathering the wife and kids went and checked in on one of the earlier flights, given boarding passes without any comment whatsoever and spent an hour worrying if we would be dumped before the flight left..
Surprising I kept a watch on the flight number ,on ceefax,for the rest of the summer and that Majorca flight was always between 8 and 18 hours late every saturday.
Pilot of the Airwaves
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Close to the Med
Age: 74
Posts: 812
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Back in the good old days of Brymon and the Dash7's...when they used to fly Plymouth,Newquay, Heathrow.
Last flight of day from Plymouth to LHR was delayed for aprox.
4 hours.
To the astonishment of my colleague and I, an announcement was made that whatever refreshments we required were available from the bar/cafe, on production of boarding cards. That included draught Stella!
A resting BA 747 pilot, we were chatting to in the lounge couldn't believe it...thought someone had made a mistake... on checking it was confirmed that we could have unlimited amounts of whatever we wanted.....so we didn't look a gift horse in the mouth.
Many happy, pizzed passengers went to Heathrow that night!
They fed us more free booze on the flight.
Last flight of day from Plymouth to LHR was delayed for aprox.
4 hours.
To the astonishment of my colleague and I, an announcement was made that whatever refreshments we required were available from the bar/cafe, on production of boarding cards. That included draught Stella!
A resting BA 747 pilot, we were chatting to in the lounge couldn't believe it...thought someone had made a mistake... on checking it was confirmed that we could have unlimited amounts of whatever we wanted.....so we didn't look a gift horse in the mouth.
Many happy, pizzed passengers went to Heathrow that night!
They fed us more free booze on the flight.
In Macau, due to go back from Hong Kong to London that night. The rep of the company we'd booked our day trip on suddenly rushed us back to the port to catch the last Jetfoil back to Hong Kong because of an approaching Typhoon. Went to Kai Tak to check in (me to London, my then girlfriend, later my wife, to Bangkok (all that might give some date clues)) only to be told the plane couldn't get into Kai Tak. They put us in an hotel overnight. Next day we waited all day until they took us back to Kai Tak. There we discovered that there were 3 747s and 1 VC10 (the old Tokyo/Johannesburg flight, more clues) which had been waiting at various airports around the Far East waiting for the weather to lift. In the end, only 2 of the 747s came to Hong Kong and we all crowded aboard. My girlfriend missed her connecting flight to Kathmandu from Bangkok and was therefore further accomodated by BA there until the next RNAC flight to Kathmadu 36 hours later and I got back to London 24 hours late (and before she arrived in Kathmandu).
Then, even more years ago, I was in San Francisco when the controllers were on a go slow. My route home was San Francisco/Chicago/Toronto/London (don't ask). I should have been able to leave San Francisco in the morning to catch the overnight from Toronto back to London but I decided, due to the go slow, to catch the overnight to Chicago. That was delayed about 3 hours but got me back into Chicago in time for an earlier flight to Toronto which was duly delayed but got me to Toronto in time for the AC back to London. I was sitting eating soup back home next day when, I'm told, I gently went to sleep and was prevented from sleeping in the soup!
This year has had a bad start. Tried to go to Geneva three weeks ago on a Sunday night for a one day meeting on Monday. Flight cancelled due snow in Geneva (and talking to others later this was a genuine problem, stories of diversions to Lyon earlier in the day with bus connections). No alternative available for Monday morning so I cancelled, does that count as an indefinite delay? And, back in January, I arrived at Gatwick one evening to be told that my flight to Nantes was cancelled and that I was being put in the Hilton and flown the next morning. That worked but the fact that they got the passengers from the cancelled on the flight next morning with seats to spare did me make wonder (probably unfairly) how genuine the technical problem was.
Then, even more years ago, I was in San Francisco when the controllers were on a go slow. My route home was San Francisco/Chicago/Toronto/London (don't ask). I should have been able to leave San Francisco in the morning to catch the overnight from Toronto back to London but I decided, due to the go slow, to catch the overnight to Chicago. That was delayed about 3 hours but got me back into Chicago in time for an earlier flight to Toronto which was duly delayed but got me to Toronto in time for the AC back to London. I was sitting eating soup back home next day when, I'm told, I gently went to sleep and was prevented from sleeping in the soup!
This year has had a bad start. Tried to go to Geneva three weeks ago on a Sunday night for a one day meeting on Monday. Flight cancelled due snow in Geneva (and talking to others later this was a genuine problem, stories of diversions to Lyon earlier in the day with bus connections). No alternative available for Monday morning so I cancelled, does that count as an indefinite delay? And, back in January, I arrived at Gatwick one evening to be told that my flight to Nantes was cancelled and that I was being put in the Hilton and flown the next morning. That worked but the fact that they got the passengers from the cancelled on the flight next morning with seats to spare did me make wonder (probably unfairly) how genuine the technical problem was.
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Europe
Posts: 1,109
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The worst one I ever had was about 80 (eighty) hours due to weather conditions at one major gateway airport on Russian Far East.
Last weekend my friends stucked for about 35-40 hrs or so due to AOG of the charter plane (A320) supposed to take them to sunny holidays destination.
Last weekend my friends stucked for about 35-40 hrs or so due to AOG of the charter plane (A320) supposed to take them to sunny holidays destination.
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Manchester, England
Age: 58
Posts: 897
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Visited Florida in 1988 on my own, but decided to route out via New York for a couple of days tourist stuff on the way. Great flight out on an American Trans Air TriStar, and then on to Miami on US Airways. A couple of weeks later flew back up to JFK, then headed for the checkin only to be given a food voucher and told that that the flight would be going at midnight instead of 2000. This time the airline was Trans International (a short lived charter carrier, not the Trans International that became Transamerica), who were flying a couple of DC8s at the time. Transpired that our aircraft was sick, so they were going to use their other aircraft, but it had to be flown in from Las Vegas. No big deal - I had a good book to read.
Unfortunately as we gathered at the gate, the Nigerian Airways staff (they were handling the flight) then had to tell us that our aircraft had blown a tyre on landing, but they were trying to source a new one. Chatting to the engineer as we were boarding, it turned out that the captain had to do a tour of the maintenance hangars and ended up buying a new tyre from ABX, cash in hand, including fitting! We finally took off at dawn (5am), with a fuel stop at Gander before arriving at Stansted nearly 10 hours late. Then it was off into London to get a train to Manchester, so didn't get home until after midnight, with work the next day - which wasn't the most productive one I've ever had!
Learnt a lesson that day to look a little further than just the price when buyin air tickets!
Unfortunately as we gathered at the gate, the Nigerian Airways staff (they were handling the flight) then had to tell us that our aircraft had blown a tyre on landing, but they were trying to source a new one. Chatting to the engineer as we were boarding, it turned out that the captain had to do a tour of the maintenance hangars and ended up buying a new tyre from ABX, cash in hand, including fitting! We finally took off at dawn (5am), with a fuel stop at Gander before arriving at Stansted nearly 10 hours late. Then it was off into London to get a train to Manchester, so didn't get home until after midnight, with work the next day - which wasn't the most productive one I've ever had!
Learnt a lesson that day to look a little further than just the price when buyin air tickets!
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Chennai (MAA)
Posts: 407
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Not happened to me, but one of my friends was on the flight.
Indian Airlines, Madras - Bangkok, one hour into the the three hour flight, pilot informs plane returning back due to tech, landed back in Madras , pax waited for a couple of hours, switched to another aircraft.
90 minutes on, beleive it or not, the new aircraft develops tech problems, plane return backs to Chennai again.
Another 6 hours later, third time lucky- the latest aircraft made it through!!! (All three a/c were A320s).
Indian Airlines, Madras - Bangkok, one hour into the the three hour flight, pilot informs plane returning back due to tech, landed back in Madras , pax waited for a couple of hours, switched to another aircraft.
90 minutes on, beleive it or not, the new aircraft develops tech problems, plane return backs to Chennai again.
Another 6 hours later, third time lucky- the latest aircraft made it through!!! (All three a/c were A320s).
good old air atlanta -doing the travel city LGW - Sanford route. 5 day delay !!! our first and last trip with that carrier (if i had found PPRUNE before i booked, and read some of the postings, i would never have booked).
last summer thought we were going to be lucky and get out a day before the arrival of one of the hurricanes (thursday). all the other flights were out on time but ours was `see agent.` for technical reasons our flight was not coming out, and would not come until after the hurricane had passed. we managed to find somewhere to see out the storm, and eventually got out by ATA the following tuesday.
the ATA flight was at least in a 757 that seemed to look OK, not the 747 that looked and felt like is was ready for the boneyard.
last summer thought we were going to be lucky and get out a day before the arrival of one of the hurricanes (thursday). all the other flights were out on time but ours was `see agent.` for technical reasons our flight was not coming out, and would not come until after the hurricane had passed. we managed to find somewhere to see out the storm, and eventually got out by ATA the following tuesday.
the ATA flight was at least in a 757 that seemed to look OK, not the 747 that looked and felt like is was ready for the boneyard.
Spanish ATC strike, all flights from Menorca cancelled, so back to my parents' villa with a young lady I'd been introduced to ealier in my holiday - and her mother.
Baking hot, so a midnight swim for the 2 of us seemed an excellent idea - and so it was
Back the next day to Gatwick at FL170 in the DanAir 707 as that was all that Capt Sintes could talk ATC into.
As for the young lady; well, she's as lovely now as she was back then in 1977!
Baking hot, so a midnight swim for the 2 of us seemed an excellent idea - and so it was
Back the next day to Gatwick at FL170 in the DanAir 707 as that was all that Capt Sintes could talk ATC into.
As for the young lady; well, she's as lovely now as she was back then in 1977!
Paxing All Over The World
Thread Starter
BEagle, I agree
Thanks for the stories. My delay landed up being 5.5 hours and a very easy one, as I just stayed in the lounge and read the paper, drank brandy + coke, used the web connection and snoozed a bit. The TV went over to Rugby which was better as the crowds don't make such a horrible noise as football crowds do.
I learnt that the a/c had been diverted the previous evening. The last LGW home met fog and went to MAN. Once IOM opened on Saturday, they had to get back from MAN and then do the first LGW run. By the time we were on finals (around 19:00) the fog was gathering again. It was thin vertically but thick horizontally. They had to do an instruments approach and (I learnt from the Captain on leaving) not knowing if they would see the tarmac before reaching minimums. They did and we put down (no autoland) but on the roll-out, you could not see the terminal buildings. A cautious taxi up the hill was employed.
My thanks to the crew, who were very tired and remained cheerful and gave good service to the very last.
My worst was being caught at JFK in the power blackout of August 2003! I was delayed by three days but only one night in an hotel. I got back to friends in New Jersey and got another day on the beach!
Home t'row and the rain will keep the fog away. By the way, to the Northern Hemispherians ... Welcome to Spring as today is the vernal equinox. Must be time for the shades...
--------------------
"I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you any different." Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Thanks for the stories. My delay landed up being 5.5 hours and a very easy one, as I just stayed in the lounge and read the paper, drank brandy + coke, used the web connection and snoozed a bit. The TV went over to Rugby which was better as the crowds don't make such a horrible noise as football crowds do.
I learnt that the a/c had been diverted the previous evening. The last LGW home met fog and went to MAN. Once IOM opened on Saturday, they had to get back from MAN and then do the first LGW run. By the time we were on finals (around 19:00) the fog was gathering again. It was thin vertically but thick horizontally. They had to do an instruments approach and (I learnt from the Captain on leaving) not knowing if they would see the tarmac before reaching minimums. They did and we put down (no autoland) but on the roll-out, you could not see the terminal buildings. A cautious taxi up the hill was employed.
My thanks to the crew, who were very tired and remained cheerful and gave good service to the very last.
My worst was being caught at JFK in the power blackout of August 2003! I was delayed by three days but only one night in an hotel. I got back to friends in New Jersey and got another day on the beach!
Home t'row and the rain will keep the fog away. By the way, to the Northern Hemispherians ... Welcome to Spring as today is the vernal equinox. Must be time for the shades...
--------------------
"I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you any different." Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Location, Location
Posts: 642
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Apologies to those who've heard this one before!
A colleague and I were starting a 10-day whistle-stop tour of the US in cattle class on the (now discontinued) BA187 from BHX to JFK via GLA and the date was 13/03/94, which some may recall was when the boys in green decided to drop some mortars (which luckily failed to detonate) onto the runway at LHR.
We were already boarded, but were told what was happening and that our departure would be delayed because lots of flights into LHR with connecting pax for the states were being diverted, some to BHX. After an hour or so the flight, initially pretty empty (the service had only recently been launched), began to fill up.
While this was going on, it was noticeable that the aircraft (a 767) was rocking on its stand and the flags in front of BHX were standing straight out. Yes, there was a 'hurricane' on its way (parts of the UK experienced almost 100mph winds). We took off (a couple of hours late) without incident, but getting into GLA was a different matter - high crosswinds necessitated a go around and there were plenty of white knuckles on display when we were finally planted safely but firmly on the ground.
Of course, with all the disruption to UK flights the aircraft was now full to the gunwales. The captain announced that because of the high winds we would be climbing quickly after take off and reinforced the need to keep seat belts fastened until the light went out. He also told us that to avoid the strong jet stream we would be taking a more northerly route than usual - he wasn't wrong as we later passed over Greenland, which I've only previously seen on west coast routings. This added further to our delay and we eventually arrived at JFK 6 hours late at 22:00 having been on board for 16 hours.
PS We were hoping to be able to catch the last evening flight for our onward connection to ATL, but this was foiled by a yellow cab who couldn't find his way from JFK to EWR!
A colleague and I were starting a 10-day whistle-stop tour of the US in cattle class on the (now discontinued) BA187 from BHX to JFK via GLA and the date was 13/03/94, which some may recall was when the boys in green decided to drop some mortars (which luckily failed to detonate) onto the runway at LHR.
We were already boarded, but were told what was happening and that our departure would be delayed because lots of flights into LHR with connecting pax for the states were being diverted, some to BHX. After an hour or so the flight, initially pretty empty (the service had only recently been launched), began to fill up.
While this was going on, it was noticeable that the aircraft (a 767) was rocking on its stand and the flags in front of BHX were standing straight out. Yes, there was a 'hurricane' on its way (parts of the UK experienced almost 100mph winds). We took off (a couple of hours late) without incident, but getting into GLA was a different matter - high crosswinds necessitated a go around and there were plenty of white knuckles on display when we were finally planted safely but firmly on the ground.
Of course, with all the disruption to UK flights the aircraft was now full to the gunwales. The captain announced that because of the high winds we would be climbing quickly after take off and reinforced the need to keep seat belts fastened until the light went out. He also told us that to avoid the strong jet stream we would be taking a more northerly route than usual - he wasn't wrong as we later passed over Greenland, which I've only previously seen on west coast routings. This added further to our delay and we eventually arrived at JFK 6 hours late at 22:00 having been on board for 16 hours.
PS We were hoping to be able to catch the last evening flight for our onward connection to ATL, but this was foiled by a yellow cab who couldn't find his way from JFK to EWR!
Join Date: Mar 1999
Location: Ashbourne Co Meath Ireland
Age: 73
Posts: 470
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Worst delays I can recall have both been at LGW.
First was a transatlantic to MCO, we were due to travel on a Laker DC10-30 (Laker Mk II, American registered aircraft), but the 10-30 was tech, so they sent a 10-10 instead. As a result, we were warned that we would have to tech stop at one of the Canadian stops on the extreme eastern end, can't remember which it was, other than it was darn cold, minus something, (October) and we were all dressed for Florida, and had to walk across the ramp to the terminal building.
Anyway we all checked in, and at the appointed time, we boarded. Then we sat, and we sat, and we sat, watching all sorts of frantic activity outside on the ramp, as baggage cans were moved in all directions, unloaded and reloaded. Eventually, we were told that we were going to be departing shortly. Well, nearly. At this stage, we'd been sat in a full DC10-10 for close on 3 hours, and the humour was not improved any when we were told the reason for the delay. which was that (Pre 9-11 but still an American flight) the pre check in security check, and the check in bag count didn't agree, so the handling agents had been required to strip every can and ID the bags. Turned out that some *&&^^%%% at the check in had double tagged a bag. So, some 3 hours and a bit late, we pushed.
Start 3. Taxi to the hold. Wait a bit longer. Captain comes on the PA. Sorry folks, we've got a slight problem here, one of the gauges on the fuel system is not working correctly, we're going to have to go back to the gate to get it checked. Back we go, another 30 minutes, and we eventually launch. Cross the Atlantic, fuel stop, land in MCO about 5 hours late, which then caused "fun" as an entire DC10-10 worth of people are all boarding coaches to go to the same car hire company.
That's another hour and a bit in the queue, though we did quite well out of it, there was only the 2 of us that trip, we'd booked a group A, that was all we needed, the car hire rep did just about everthing that was legal to try and get us to upgrade, which I declined, and in the end, we got a 4x4 Jeep Cherokee, that was all they had left at that stage
In hindsight, the "fuel guage" was probably a good bit more complex, for the first sector to Canada, the IFE in the rear of the cabin was U/S, and the cabin crew were struggling to get meals hot and the hot drinks were'nt very. After the fuel stop, it was strange how everything was working 100%, I suspect that something more fundamental had tripped, but after looking at it, they'd decided to launch anyway to avoid all sorts of hassles with hours and the rest of the related aggravations.
To be fair to Laker, the trip back was a lot better, the 10-30 we were supposed to have had arrived, and it was configured in 3 classes, even though it was a charter, so some lucky passengers ended up in effectively first class. Yeah, we were lucky, and it was a very well configured 10-30, each leather reclining seat had it's own TFT screen IFE, and this was a good few years ago now, so we had a very pleasant flight back to LGW. It helped, as my wife had picked up a nasty bout of food poisoning, so a comfortable spacious seat made her flight a lot more relaxing.
Worst delay ever for me was also at LGW, I came in from the States on an overnight, and arrived in to LGW about 0630 ish, and was due to go on to DUB on a Cityflyer 146 at about 10:00. In the absence of anything else to do, I checked in, and then went through to departure, along with quite a few other people from the same flight.
There we sat, and sat, and sat, with no information or anything else from Cityflyer or the handling agents. By 14:00, I for one was starting to become distinctly hostile, not because of the delay, but because of the appalling bad attitude we were getting from the neanderthal at the Gatwick Handling desk, who was telling us NOTHING. Initially, we were all polite, and reasoned, but we got nothing in the way of information. After a while, the temperature rose, and along with it voices, but we might as well have been talking to a brick wall, the response was still identical.
The reason we were getting so irate was that we knew exactly what the problem was, DUB had been temporarily closed because of industrial action by the fire crews, which caused all sorts of knock on delays. They were telling us nothing, and provided nothing, not even refreshment vouchers, and at this stage, we'd been in airside departure for close on 6 hours.
By now, there was a group of very unhappy passengers around Gatwick Handling desk, and the desk clerk still refused to do anything, and would not even call a representative of the airline. The individual concerned came very close to being flattened by a couple of people, and even then he could not see that it was his total lack of respect for us that was causing the problem.
In the end, we got out very late in the afternoon. I decided then I was never flying Cityflyer again. I haven't.
First was a transatlantic to MCO, we were due to travel on a Laker DC10-30 (Laker Mk II, American registered aircraft), but the 10-30 was tech, so they sent a 10-10 instead. As a result, we were warned that we would have to tech stop at one of the Canadian stops on the extreme eastern end, can't remember which it was, other than it was darn cold, minus something, (October) and we were all dressed for Florida, and had to walk across the ramp to the terminal building.
Anyway we all checked in, and at the appointed time, we boarded. Then we sat, and we sat, and we sat, watching all sorts of frantic activity outside on the ramp, as baggage cans were moved in all directions, unloaded and reloaded. Eventually, we were told that we were going to be departing shortly. Well, nearly. At this stage, we'd been sat in a full DC10-10 for close on 3 hours, and the humour was not improved any when we were told the reason for the delay. which was that (Pre 9-11 but still an American flight) the pre check in security check, and the check in bag count didn't agree, so the handling agents had been required to strip every can and ID the bags. Turned out that some *&&^^%%% at the check in had double tagged a bag. So, some 3 hours and a bit late, we pushed.
Start 3. Taxi to the hold. Wait a bit longer. Captain comes on the PA. Sorry folks, we've got a slight problem here, one of the gauges on the fuel system is not working correctly, we're going to have to go back to the gate to get it checked. Back we go, another 30 minutes, and we eventually launch. Cross the Atlantic, fuel stop, land in MCO about 5 hours late, which then caused "fun" as an entire DC10-10 worth of people are all boarding coaches to go to the same car hire company.
That's another hour and a bit in the queue, though we did quite well out of it, there was only the 2 of us that trip, we'd booked a group A, that was all we needed, the car hire rep did just about everthing that was legal to try and get us to upgrade, which I declined, and in the end, we got a 4x4 Jeep Cherokee, that was all they had left at that stage
In hindsight, the "fuel guage" was probably a good bit more complex, for the first sector to Canada, the IFE in the rear of the cabin was U/S, and the cabin crew were struggling to get meals hot and the hot drinks were'nt very. After the fuel stop, it was strange how everything was working 100%, I suspect that something more fundamental had tripped, but after looking at it, they'd decided to launch anyway to avoid all sorts of hassles with hours and the rest of the related aggravations.
To be fair to Laker, the trip back was a lot better, the 10-30 we were supposed to have had arrived, and it was configured in 3 classes, even though it was a charter, so some lucky passengers ended up in effectively first class. Yeah, we were lucky, and it was a very well configured 10-30, each leather reclining seat had it's own TFT screen IFE, and this was a good few years ago now, so we had a very pleasant flight back to LGW. It helped, as my wife had picked up a nasty bout of food poisoning, so a comfortable spacious seat made her flight a lot more relaxing.
Worst delay ever for me was also at LGW, I came in from the States on an overnight, and arrived in to LGW about 0630 ish, and was due to go on to DUB on a Cityflyer 146 at about 10:00. In the absence of anything else to do, I checked in, and then went through to departure, along with quite a few other people from the same flight.
There we sat, and sat, and sat, with no information or anything else from Cityflyer or the handling agents. By 14:00, I for one was starting to become distinctly hostile, not because of the delay, but because of the appalling bad attitude we were getting from the neanderthal at the Gatwick Handling desk, who was telling us NOTHING. Initially, we were all polite, and reasoned, but we got nothing in the way of information. After a while, the temperature rose, and along with it voices, but we might as well have been talking to a brick wall, the response was still identical.
The reason we were getting so irate was that we knew exactly what the problem was, DUB had been temporarily closed because of industrial action by the fire crews, which caused all sorts of knock on delays. They were telling us nothing, and provided nothing, not even refreshment vouchers, and at this stage, we'd been in airside departure for close on 6 hours.
By now, there was a group of very unhappy passengers around Gatwick Handling desk, and the desk clerk still refused to do anything, and would not even call a representative of the airline. The individual concerned came very close to being flattened by a couple of people, and even then he could not see that it was his total lack of respect for us that was causing the problem.
In the end, we got out very late in the afternoon. I decided then I was never flying Cityflyer again. I haven't.
My 'this years' delays have been BA and for tech reasons.
An FRA - LHR earlier this year where the outbound flight got delayed when on the walk round at LHR, the crew found evidence of a baggage cart collision with the a/c
The last one was a week ago where the inbound into NCE had a flaps problem on the approach and did a go around. Hardly surprising that the crew wanted a very full engineering check before taking off again..........
It just meant sitting in the Exec Club lounge longer - and trying not to drink too much!
When you consider that's 2 delayed departures out of 12, though, you ask 'is this too many?' Obviously, both justifiable from a safety viewpoint ( if the bloke in the left hand seat won't fly it, I'm not going on it), but still.......
An FRA - LHR earlier this year where the outbound flight got delayed when on the walk round at LHR, the crew found evidence of a baggage cart collision with the a/c
The last one was a week ago where the inbound into NCE had a flaps problem on the approach and did a go around. Hardly surprising that the crew wanted a very full engineering check before taking off again..........
It just meant sitting in the Exec Club lounge longer - and trying not to drink too much!
When you consider that's 2 delayed departures out of 12, though, you ask 'is this too many?' Obviously, both justifiable from a safety viewpoint ( if the bloke in the left hand seat won't fly it, I'm not going on it), but still.......
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: England
Posts: 1,389
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Globaliser wrote: ...and I'm sticking to BA in the future.
Most interesting delay... We once got to STN so early there were no ground staff on hand. Had to wait ages to get OFF the plane.