No flight change airside?
Thread Starter
No flight change airside?
Mrs _driver found herself delayed by four hours (so far) on EZY coming from Belfast to Luton this evening. She asked to be transferred to the Stansted flight and was told that there was availability, but she would (despite not having any checked baggage) have to go back landside and rebook there. And there wasn't time to get back through security. 
Can anyone suggest a valid reason for not being able to take care of this airside?
Ta.
Can anyone suggest a valid reason for not being able to take care of this airside?
Ta.
Yes. There are no commercial staff airside or facilities for amending reservations. The number of pax airside on a low cost carrier (as here) who might want to make ticketing changes and get a new boarding pass is tiny.
Thread Starter
Ah. So, no telephones either? 
Flight was over four hours late. The one out this morning was an hour late after missing its slot because "the catering was late".
Flight was over four hours late. The one out this morning was an hour late after missing its slot because "the catering was late".
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It is not just a phone call - if you want to change your booking there are fees and fare differentials to be paid for so a third party (the handling agent) can not do this on the passenger's behalf.
You might be able to it by mobile from airside if the agent has the facility to access the departure control system from airside and amend the two sets of flight details and print a new boarding card. It is not normal for this to be available airside for EZY as this facility carries and additional cost on every departure to the carrier and is utilised very rarely.
EZY do not pay their airport handling agents to provide any more than a very basic service; this does not include airside ticketing services nor providing 'runners' to provide the service in the event of a delay.
Sadly, long gone are the days when this could be done quickly and manually; the low cost carriers all have sophisticated fare yield programmes and your wife would probably have got an horrible shock at the cost of a ticket bought only a very short time before departure.
As the man said, you pay your money and take your choice.
You might be able to it by mobile from airside if the agent has the facility to access the departure control system from airside and amend the two sets of flight details and print a new boarding card. It is not normal for this to be available airside for EZY as this facility carries and additional cost on every departure to the carrier and is utilised very rarely.
EZY do not pay their airport handling agents to provide any more than a very basic service; this does not include airside ticketing services nor providing 'runners' to provide the service in the event of a delay.
Sadly, long gone are the days when this could be done quickly and manually; the low cost carriers all have sophisticated fare yield programmes and your wife would probably have got an horrible shock at the cost of a ticket bought only a very short time before departure.
As the man said, you pay your money and take your choice.
Thread Starter
The flight was over four hours delayed. There was availability on the (also delayed, but not as badly) Stansted flight, so I would have expected the change to be at no charge. There should have been no commercial aspect to it. It just needed someone with the authority to make a brief phone-call and hand-write a new boarding card, resulting in a slightly happier customer. Not exactly rocket-science, hmm?
Really, lower cost should not be an excuse for failure to apply commonsense. Sadly, it appears to be.
Really, lower cost should not be an excuse for failure to apply commonsense. Sadly, it appears to be.
Paxing All Over The World
I would have expected the change to be at no charge.
There should have been no commercial aspect to it.
It just needed someone with the authority to make a brief phone-call and hand-write a new boarding card, resulting in a slightly happier customer.
Really, lower cost should not be an excuse for failure to apply commonsense. Sadly, it appears to be.
Yes it is frustrating but many of us have been through similar. On one occasion I missed a flight because I was delayed in traffic and had to wait for the next but they managed to put me on at no extra cost, as that flight was not heavily loaded and I was, of course, still land-side. On another occasion, I had to pay a penalty but that is what the deal is.
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Common sense and extra staff are part of history. The great British public decided (in concert with every other human being on the planet) that they wanted to get more flying for less cost. Your wife met the place where the cost and the service meet. That balance point can sometimes be changed by a member of staff exceeding their authority. But, if they did it for this case, they have to do it for every case and that is not what LCCs do. What happens to staff that consistently exceed their authority? They lose promotion and, possibly, their job.
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Disgusted of Tunbridge
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C150 driver- you seem to expect Full Service with a Lo-Cost carrier! Please, just try Ryanair's business model a few times to see how much you can expect for your 20 pound ticket!
Thread Starter
Oh I've tried Ryanair. Once.
Easyjet have always been pretty good, in my experience. I've made use of their "turn up early and we'll put you on the earlier flight free is there's space" thing quite a few times, and it's an excellent reason to fly with them.
I would have (from experience) expected better of them than the way they treated Mrs _driver.
Unfortunately, that seems to make me naive.
Easyjet have always been pretty good, in my experience. I've made use of their "turn up early and we'll put you on the earlier flight free is there's space" thing quite a few times, and it's an excellent reason to fly with them.
I would have (from experience) expected better of them than the way they treated Mrs _driver.
Unfortunately, that seems to make me naive.
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I would have (from experience) expected better of them than the way they treated Mrs _driver.
Next thing, you'll be expecting them to join IATA and offer to transfer your baggage on to other airlines!
Every time I see a post like this, it makes me thankful because millions of people still put their trust in the "heritage" airlines due to the support that can be offered when things go pear-shaped.
Although not in this case because those grand "heritage" airlines pulled off the Belfast International to London route some years ago (BMI went over to City and BA pulled off the route completely). Not much evidence of support for pax there.
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Although not in this case because those grand "heritage" airlines pulled off the Belfast International to London route some years ago (BMI went over to City and BA pulled off the route completely). Not much evidence of support for pax there.
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Every time I see a post like this, it makes me thankful because millions of people still put their trust in the "heritage" airlines due to the support that can be offered when things go pear-shaped.
That is a very disingenuous post Bealine.
On point to point services, easyJet generally offers a very good service.
Their t&cs in relation to disruption outside the airline's control are excellent and having been given hotac and meals for a weather diversion and then flown the next day in line with these, I would ask what the heritage airlines' t&c's say in that respect?
You would do better to focus your efforts on improving the attitude of BA groundstaff; last week, I took the shuttle from LHR to MAN and asked the customer service rep on the desk at gate 5 if she knew where I could find a strong wifi signal for my laptop.
That is the kind of thing I would have thought quite a normal and reasonable question in a business travel environment.
She looked at me (having put down her Suduko book a little reluctantly) as if I was from Mars and replied "I have no idea."; I had to agree.
That is a very disingenuous post Bealine.
On point to point services, easyJet generally offers a very good service.
Their t&cs in relation to disruption outside the airline's control are excellent and having been given hotac and meals for a weather diversion and then flown the next day in line with these, I would ask what the heritage airlines' t&c's say in that respect?
You would do better to focus your efforts on improving the attitude of BA groundstaff; last week, I took the shuttle from LHR to MAN and asked the customer service rep on the desk at gate 5 if she knew where I could find a strong wifi signal for my laptop.
That is the kind of thing I would have thought quite a normal and reasonable question in a business travel environment.
She looked at me (having put down her Suduko book a little reluctantly) as if I was from Mars and replied "I have no idea."; I had to agree.
Not only disingenuous but factually wrong as well, as events this week at BA show (and I presume the poster's name shows an affinity with BA).
All of a sudden BA are "short of cabin crew", and services are being cancelled due to this. Nothing more than the crew management desperately seeking to meet or beat their staffing and budgets and getting it wrong.
Now last year Easyjet got to the same position. What did they do ? They saw it coming in advance, managed it, and chartered in substantial capacity to cover their services. Air Finland were operating a 757 out of Gatwick for Easy for some months due to this, Titan and others were also operating services, at no mean cost to Easy's profits.
But what have BA done in the same situation this week ? Flights just cancelled on the day, passengers told they were just rebooked on the next BA service where there was space. One of the first cancelled was the once-daily BA service to Montreal. Pax were just put on the flight the next day, then when that was full 2 days later, and so on, entirely as convenient to BA. No attempte to rebook them on other carriers (because that costs BA money and thus screws some manager's bonus). No attempt even to send pax the same day to New York or Toronto and then by connection. That costs BA money for the connection. Oh, as an alternative you can have your money back. Sure, when to rebook same day on another carrier costs 4 times as much as the original fare paid.
So no lectures about "support" from heritage airlines please. The attitude to pax, as ever, is "Do as BA tell you or get stuffed".
All of a sudden BA are "short of cabin crew", and services are being cancelled due to this. Nothing more than the crew management desperately seeking to meet or beat their staffing and budgets and getting it wrong.
Now last year Easyjet got to the same position. What did they do ? They saw it coming in advance, managed it, and chartered in substantial capacity to cover their services. Air Finland were operating a 757 out of Gatwick for Easy for some months due to this, Titan and others were also operating services, at no mean cost to Easy's profits.
But what have BA done in the same situation this week ? Flights just cancelled on the day, passengers told they were just rebooked on the next BA service where there was space. One of the first cancelled was the once-daily BA service to Montreal. Pax were just put on the flight the next day, then when that was full 2 days later, and so on, entirely as convenient to BA. No attempte to rebook them on other carriers (because that costs BA money and thus screws some manager's bonus). No attempt even to send pax the same day to New York or Toronto and then by connection. That costs BA money for the connection. Oh, as an alternative you can have your money back. Sure, when to rebook same day on another carrier costs 4 times as much as the original fare paid.
So no lectures about "support" from heritage airlines please. The attitude to pax, as ever, is "Do as BA tell you or get stuffed".
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Disgusted of Tunbridge
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Quite disgraceful to see the BA cabin crew problems resurfacing eternally, and being handled so poorly. I had to laugh once when this happened years ago, and the crusty old BA Captain I was with bellowed 'short of cabin crew? Send to Tescos! It takes 3 weeks to train them!' Trouble is BA so violently overpays them (for all their straightjacket industrial agreements) compared to all other UK airlines, it is eternally trying to juggle the numbers to employ the minimum (who still don't know what real work is because of their industrial agreements), and the fallout inevitable falls on the customer....but in November? Boy did they screw up!
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That is a very disingenuous post Bealine.
I must, however, defend our loyal cabin crew because the vast majority are hard-working and not wrapped up in the cosy little industrial agreements you seem to think they are! The thousands of accolades they receive from customers speak volumes about their dedication and loyalty to both customer and company alike.
Just as much of BA's problems actually come from bad people-management and these are being addressed one by one! The fact the cabin crew have had industrial unrest in recent years shows the harshness of some of the management style!
EasyJet have been forced into hotac etc during disruption by the European Commission - if the "EC Charter" hadn't been introduced, the descendants of Stelios would still be crying "tough" every time an aircraft went sick!
The heritage carriers have the infrastructure and BA are swiftly delivering the customer service that goes with it!
Paxing All Over The World
Firstly, bealine, always good to have staff posting here.
Thread drift:
I was very cross with the RU for forcing hotac compensation on the LCCs. It forces up prices and I would rather pay out for the oen time an LCC flight is canx, rather than pay a bit every time in case it is canx. I have insurance and, if needs be, will just pay the price. There is no doubt in my mind that this change was engineered by the 'old lags'.
Thread drift:
I was very cross with the RU for forcing hotac compensation on the LCCs. It forces up prices and I would rather pay out for the oen time an LCC flight is canx, rather than pay a bit every time in case it is canx. I have insurance and, if needs be, will just pay the price. There is no doubt in my mind that this change was engineered by the 'old lags'.
I don't think so. The centre of this was some high profile completely unacceptable practices by, yes you guessed it, Ryanair, who on a number of occasions cancelled flights which were once-daily services and just told pax the next flight there were seats on was some days later. On one occasion it was an Italy to UK flight with a large number of UK travellers returning home and Ryanair said the next flight with seats available was 11 days later. Or you could have your £25 fare back but only after applying to Dublin for it. This left pax stranded in airports across Europe and was quite unacceptable, hence the regulation.
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Final 3 Greens.
Why on earth would you expect an individual who has no need to use a laptop or any other mobile electronic equipment relying on wi-fi to know where, within the terminal, there are strong signals?
What do you expect staff to do, wander around the terminal holding a laptop to see where the signal is strong?
Beggars belief that so called 'intelligent' passengers can think that this is some form of customer service failure.
Why on earth would you expect an individual who has no need to use a laptop or any other mobile electronic equipment relying on wi-fi to know where, within the terminal, there are strong signals?
What do you expect staff to do, wander around the terminal holding a laptop to see where the signal is strong?
Beggars belief that so called 'intelligent' passengers can think that this is some form of customer service failure.