Aero Maleth Diversion
Not exactly sure where to post this, but I see that an Aero Maleth flight from Barbados to Manchester, had to divert to Bermuda, after hitting clear air turbulence, with 11 pax requiring hospital treatment. Flight now scheduled to depart midday tomorrow.
Probably not the best way to spend Christmas Day. |
I wonder how many of them had removed their seat belts.
Any word on injury to the cabin crew? |
Originally Posted by Lonewolf_50
(Post 11562157)
I wonder how many of them had removed their seat belts.
Any word on injury to the cabin crew? |
Divert...
It's still there! rescue flight posn ex LGW (Maleth) today...
pax are in 5* hotel..friends of mine on it! Looks like straight turn due back in Wythenshawe International approx 0200 tomorrow.. Best part of 48 hours late! 😉 Dunno if EU 261 would apply ? |
This is the latest in a run of negative publicity - although any airline's aircraft can run into unexpected CAT of course - for Maleth-Aero.
This flight was one of a series being run by them for P&O Cruises, carrying cruise pax between LGW/MAN and BGI/ANU for the UK winter season, using 2 A332's based temporarily at LGW and MAN. Most of these flights (utilising usually 5 787's each day over 2-day weekend ship turnarounds) are provided by Tui - but Maleth were brought in quite "late in the day" to provide extra capacity after other airlines (one was Virgin, according to rumour) renaged on a Contract. I re-iterate rumour as there were lots of stories circulating as to how that "late in the day" involvement came about. I was on one of said cruises returning to the UK on 2nd Dec from BGI, flying Tui, but one of the Maleth flights (BGI-MAN) picked-up an approx 12 hour delay, apparently due to their MAN-based a/c being u/s for the outbound sector and a replacement having to be rushed there from storage in Chateauroux. I would imagine crewing was also an issue. These flights had already lit up complaints to P&O, due to pax having paid for premium seats in advance, and the Maleth a/c not having them, and also due to a lack of IFE - which the Tui, and other aircraft usually used have, of course. Rightly or wrongly, this incident will have added to P&O's woes with using this carrier, although as I said, of course, it can happen to any airline. |
Was on TOM099 on Saturday that departed an hour earlier following same route back to the UK was glad to be on TUI as always had a good experience with them flying long haul. Experienced a fair bit of turbulence in the first few hours with the crew informing us just after take off to prepare and expect the unsettled turbulence with the seatbelt sign being on for a while.
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Originally Posted by Wycombe
(Post 11562399)
This is the latest in a run of negative publicity - although any airline's aircraft can run into unexpected CAT of course - for Maleth-Aero.
This flight was one of a series being run by them for P&O Cruises, carrying cruise pax between LGW/MAN and BGI/ANU for the UK winter season, using 2 A332's based temporarily at LGW and MAN. Most of these flights (utilising usually 5 787's each day over 2-day weekend ship turnarounds) are provided by Tui - but Maleth were brought in quite "late in the day" to provide extra capacity after other airlines (one was Virgin, according to rumour) renaged on a Contract. I re-iterate rumour as there were lots of stories circulating as to how that "late in the day" involvement came about. I was on one of said cruises returning to the UK on 2nd Dec from BGI, flying Tui, but one of the Maleth flights (BGI-MAN) picked-up an approx 12 hour delay, apparently due to their MAN-based a/c being u/s for the outbound sector and a replacement having to be rushed there from storage in Chateauroux. I would imagine crewing was also an issue. These flights had already lit up complaints to P&O, due to pax having paid for premium seats in advance, and the Maleth a/c not having them, and also due to a lack of IFE - which the Tui, and other aircraft usually used have, of course. Rightly or wrongly, this incident will have added to P&O's woes with using this carrier, although as I said, of course, it can happen to any airline. Fast forward to 2023, and suddenly P&O find they need 1200 l/h seats every weekend for their winter Caribbean season, with no obvious options. The P&O shortlist for potential suppliers must have been extremely short ! Maleth must have been able to drive a pretty hard bargain, knowing that P&O had really no other options. |
Originally Posted by wowzz
(Post 11562465)
According to a P&O insider on another forum, neither BA or VS signed any contracts, so no company reneged. However P&O proceeded with their W23/24 Caribbean cruise programme on the assumption that they would get the capacity they required from BA/VS. However, BA/VS felt that their aircraft could be more profitably utilised on scheduled flights, rather than P&O charters.
Fast forward to 2023, and suddenly P&O find they need 1200 l/h seats every weekend for their winter Caribbean season, with no obvious options. The P&O shortlist for potential suppliers must have been extremely short ! Maleth must have been able to drive a pretty hard bargain, knowing that P&O had really no other options. By the way, it's a lot more than 1,200 seats needed every weekend, the 2 ships currently in Carribean, Britannia and Arvia have capacities over around 3,600 and 5,000 respectively. They do turn-arounds (in BGI or ANU) on alternate weekends. Or maybe you meant 1,200 extra seats over and above what they already had contracted? As I said to people I discussed this with on our cruise, that kind of short-notice capacity doesn't grow on trees! |
Originally Posted by Wycombe
(Post 11562481)
Well, like I said there was lots of rumour as to what's gone on, both on board ship and on various fora. What seems to be for sure, as you say, is that P&O found themselves in a tight spot short of capacity to get pax to and from the 2 ships that they have in the Carribean this Winter, and have probably paid over the odds for what has turned-out to be a far from great service from Maleth. The CAT encounter could, again, of course, have happened to any carrier, but the recovery from the situation seems to be far from optimal also (although the fact that this happened over xmas has probably not helped).
By the way, it's a lot more than 1,200 seats needed every weekend, the 2 ships currently in Carribean, Britannia and Arvia have capacities over around 3,600 and 5,000 respectively. They do turn-arounds (in BGI or ANU) on alternate weekends. Or maybe you meant 1,200 extra seats over and above what they already had contracted? As I said to people I discussed this with on our cruise, that kind of short-notice capacity doesn't grow on trees! There is a suggestion/rumour that in future, P&O will sell a certain number of cruise only fares in the Caribbean (as you know, you cannot currently unbundle the fly/cruise package). This will obviously appeal to those who want to add on a pre or post cruise hotel stay, but given the current BA/VS fares to the Caribbean, P&O will need to offer some extremely attractive prices if they wish to divert a singnificant number of custoners away from their charter flights. |
Originally Posted by wowzz
(Post 11562486)
To clarify, P&O require 1200 seats over and above the number contracted to TUI.
There is a suggestion/rumour that in future, P&O will sell a certain number of cruise only fares in the Caribbean (as you know, you cannot currently unbundle the fly/cruise package). This will obviously appeal to those who want to add on a pre or post cruise hotel stay, but given the current BA/VS fares to the Caribbean, P&O will need to offer some extremely attractive prices if they wish to divert a singnificant number of custoners away from their charter flights. To update on the current situation with the diverted flight, the A330 sent from LGW to rescue the pax is just arriving in BDA. The aircraft they were originally on when diverted arrived 58hrs ago! |
Originally Posted by Wycombe
(Post 11562497)
Yes, I've heard this rumour also. To be honest, I think they'll struggle to fill the ships if they go down that route. I think prices, including the flights out and back are already pretty good. We paid around £1,600pp for a 2 week cruise in a balcony cabin, including the return Tui flights, and with £700 on-board spend thrown in (ie, "free" money to spend on-board) for the 2 of us in our cabin. I think that's pretty good value for a Carribean holiday that took in 9 islands in total.
To update on the current situation with the diverted flight, the A330 sent from LGW to rescue the pax is just arriving in BDA. The aircraft they were originally on when diverted arrived 58hrs ago! Realistically, P&O would have to reduce their fares by over £500 pp for cruise only customers, and even then, many of us would still prefer the convenience of flying from a local airport (BHX for us) rather than the slog to MAN or LHR/LGW. |
Originally Posted by Wycombe
(Post 11562399)
This is the latest in a run of negative publicity - although any airline's aircraft can run into unexpected CAT of course
Routing to avoid suspect weather, or going straight through it, is something that does differ between operators, as anyone who has experience of various carriers operating in Asia around the equator can tell you. Fuel efficiency calculations for a direct track come into it, as does substantial experience by crews in operations in such areas, and differing approaches for seatbelts on/off in the cruise. I suspect that the readership on here are almost universally "seatbelts on" throughout cruise anyway, something not duplicated by the general pax numbers. Meanwhile we have a carrier here based in ... well, it's difficult to tell where. Aircraft registered in Malta, seemingly stood in Chateauroux, France between contracts, website that gives no indication where their executive offices or senior management are. |
On a fairly pedestrian upper Midwest commute to work in my pressurized piston twin a couple of weeks ago, I found myself being bounced around sufficiently that my head hit the headliner a few times, but the autopilot didn’t disconnect or anything like I have experienced when I felt obliged to make a PIREP in the past for such. After it calmed down, I poked around on my (fairly new) Sentry AHRS (which has a recording G monitor). It said that I was in +-2.4 G for around 10 minutes.
I always wear my seatbelt on commercial flights, but flying an airliner and having passengers bouncing around in the cabin in similar conditions is a terrifying idea. |
Originally Posted by 421dog
(Post 11562560)
I always wear my seatbelt on commercial flights, but flying an airliner and having passengers bouncing around in the cabin in similar conditions is a terrifying idea.
As an aside, I described aspects of this subsequently on here, and was most surprised that the FO of that flight made contact back. |
Realistically, P&O would have to reduce their fares by over £500 pp for cruise only customers, and even then, many of us would still prefer the convenience of flying from a local airport (BHX for us) rather than the slog to MAN or LHR/LGW. It looks like the poor people who were stuck in Bermuda over xmas at P&O/Maleth or an insurer's expense are now finally en-route back to MAN. |
Originally Posted by Wycombe
(Post 11562631)
I spoke to some people on our last day on board Britannia (2nd Dec) who had just paid £600pp to stay onboard for another 2 weeks - whilst I suspect this was a "one-off" to sell remaining cabins and not indicative of future pricing, that was a bargain and I was tempted!
It looks like the poor people who were stuck in Bermuda over xmas at P&O/Maleth or an insurer's expense are now finally en-route back to MAN. Not sure I would want to be sailing on her currently, at 110% capacity. (ie - all lower bunks filled = 100% capacity, and all pull down bunks, sofa beds etc filled =110% capacity. ) |
A friend of mine flew out on Maleth from Gatwick saying it was one of the worst flights she has ever been on (she is a very experienced traveller), the food was awful and very few drinks and of course no IFE. She contacted me saying this was not what she expected from P&O and dreading the return flight.
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Originally Posted by compton3bravo
(Post 11563438)
A friend of mine flew out on Maleth from Gatwick saying it was one of the worst flights she has ever been on (she is a very experienced traveller), the food was awful and very few drinks and of course no IFE. She contacted me saying this was not what she expected from P&O and dreading the return flight.
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Originally Posted by SWBKCB
(Post 11563458)
Didn't Maleth get the work because P&O weren't happy with TUI last winter (use of third party leases etc) - you get what you pay for?
Based on the 2 weekends that we travelled (18/11 and 02/12, when 5 Tui 787's flew to BGI and back on both the Fridays and Saturdays) and from looking at flights over subsequent weekends, Tui's performance at least from a on-time perspective seems to have been mostly ok. Service on both of our flights was professional and friendly, food was decent (easily up to scheduled long-haul economy standard) and the IFE worked! |
Originally Posted by compton3bravo
(Post 11563438)
the food was awful and very few drinks.
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