easyJet buys GB Airways
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The inflight service is the least of your worries when flying with the loco airlines.
Although, I have to fully admit, the incident rates don't seem to support that suggestion. The incidents we're told of, that is. There's definitely no substitute for working within such an airline to see a fuller picture.
Although, I have to fully admit, the incident rates don't seem to support that suggestion. The incidents we're told of, that is. There's definitely no substitute for working within such an airline to see a fuller picture.
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ACBUS1 you are way off...
Easy has more than 1500 sectors a day mate. That is far more than any other operator in the UK and Europe apart from Ryanair.
The incident rate is far less than the industry average.
The training is second to none, exactly because guys like you would try to point out to the locost nature of the business.
On the cabin side I can also confirm that as the cabin crew are there mainly for your safety they are doing a superb job daily, as they deal with 35 mil passengers a year.
Easy is not in the business class transport sector. It is a damn good product, though it is tiring for the crews.
Easy has more than 1500 sectors a day mate. That is far more than any other operator in the UK and Europe apart from Ryanair.
The incident rate is far less than the industry average.
The training is second to none, exactly because guys like you would try to point out to the locost nature of the business.
On the cabin side I can also confirm that as the cabin crew are there mainly for your safety they are doing a superb job daily, as they deal with 35 mil passengers a year.
Easy is not in the business class transport sector. It is a damn good product, though it is tiring for the crews.
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I'm not quite sure what you are driving at, Acbus. I've been in BA and I'm now with "orange". Believe me, the training standards at EZY are at least as high as BA's and the engineering standards are, I think, higher. Orange aircraft carry far fewer ADDs. I have yet to fly an aircraft in EZY (been there 18 months) with a reverser locked out, a brake deactivated, APU u/s or a pack inop whereas in BA it was not an infrequent occurrence. That's not to say it doesn't occur because it does. The difference is that it gets fixed fairly quickly.
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Well said Wingswinger..........it is so true,look at BA aircraft at LGW....the vintage fleet! Just shows what BA think of shorthaul. Ezy do have to be a cut above the rest, whiter than white because of the very nature of their business and they do it well....keep it up Ezy
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"Final 3 Greens"
I totally agree with you in relation to seat choice. Having used Ryanair quite a lot recently, it was a joy to board TTOC last week at ALC: I was almost the last passenger to board and it was great to know that the seat I had chosen online would be vacant. Not having to queue at the gate was another benefit - I simply waited in the lounge until the queue had disappeared.
I totally agree with you in relation to seat choice. Having used Ryanair quite a lot recently, it was a joy to board TTOC last week at ALC: I was almost the last passenger to board and it was great to know that the seat I had chosen online would be vacant. Not having to queue at the gate was another benefit - I simply waited in the lounge until the queue had disappeared.
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Easy1
I rarely post on R&N, as I'm aware it's for pilots mainly, but I though the opinions of GB pax may be relevant. It is very sad to see GB go.
I stand by my comments. I'm sure everyone who works at easyJet have a great time, and that's fine.
As a very frequent flyer, I don't like easyjet. I have flown with them, many years ago, and made the decision I didn't like them. Cramped aircraft, no food, staff pestering people to buy things, no pre-allocated seat. I do not doubt they will get many people looking for 'cheap deals' to the canaries.
They suit a certain type of passenger.
When I (and many others) fly on holiday, I look for quality. GB offered quality (I have flown with them many times), and it is sad to see them go.
Some people like easyjet, that is their choice.
I also stand by my comment, that the canaries tourism board would dearly love to encourage more 'high quality' tourists, regardless (unlike you) of nationality. The ending of the BA services cannot be of any help in this.
Please don't try to tell me Easyjet are as good as GB, as it just isn't so, by any stretch of the imagination.
As regards driving (??!)- a silly comment. I'll just choose to go somewhere else instead.
I rarely post on R&N, as I'm aware it's for pilots mainly, but I though the opinions of GB pax may be relevant. It is very sad to see GB go.
I stand by my comments. I'm sure everyone who works at easyJet have a great time, and that's fine.
As a very frequent flyer, I don't like easyjet. I have flown with them, many years ago, and made the decision I didn't like them. Cramped aircraft, no food, staff pestering people to buy things, no pre-allocated seat. I do not doubt they will get many people looking for 'cheap deals' to the canaries.
They suit a certain type of passenger.
When I (and many others) fly on holiday, I look for quality. GB offered quality (I have flown with them many times), and it is sad to see them go.
Some people like easyjet, that is their choice.
I also stand by my comment, that the canaries tourism board would dearly love to encourage more 'high quality' tourists, regardless (unlike you) of nationality. The ending of the BA services cannot be of any help in this.
Please don't try to tell me Easyjet are as good as GB, as it just isn't so, by any stretch of the imagination.
As regards driving (??!)- a silly comment. I'll just choose to go somewhere else instead.
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good for you.
and good for the people who prefer paying 50 % less for a 3 hours flight and invest those money in something else, they' ll have one more seat available.
by the way don' t worry there will be plenty of opportunities to find a first class seat to malaga or canary islands with other companies.
and good for the people who prefer paying 50 % less for a 3 hours flight and invest those money in something else, they' ll have one more seat available.
by the way don' t worry there will be plenty of opportunities to find a first class seat to malaga or canary islands with other companies.
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Why do people assume the BA fleet at Gatwick is vintage?!?! They were factory new 737-400s delivered direct to BA from 1992 and are on a par with the Lufthansa B737-300s and similar KLM 737-300s. It's not an age thing, it's just that they don't get the TLC that the Heathrow fleet gets.
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I'll be sad to see the end of GB, but if the truth be known the 'family' run airline died a few years ago. Unfortunately poor management over the last few years did the airline no good. The termination of Fred's contract was the start of the downward spiral. The airline has lacked direction since then as it was neither a BA look-a-like or a lo-cost.
One good thing to come out of this buy-out is a clean sweep of the management and hopefully a culling of the bully boys in the training department.
I see there are one or two cc members feathering their own nest, one of them actually does training for Easy now, no wonder he is very upbeat about the whole thing. Remember the recommendations of the cc earlier in the year?
On the plus side we all have a job to go to. It could have been a lot worse, just remember Laker,Dan Air, Air Europe etc, etc.
One good thing to come out of this buy-out is a clean sweep of the management and hopefully a culling of the bully boys in the training department.
I see there are one or two cc members feathering their own nest, one of them actually does training for Easy now, no wonder he is very upbeat about the whole thing. Remember the recommendations of the cc earlier in the year?
On the plus side we all have a job to go to. It could have been a lot worse, just remember Laker,Dan Air, Air Europe etc, etc.
Easyjet = big profit, continuing business.
GB = not big profit, forced to sell out (mainly for slot value rather than trading business value).
Sorry, whatever your definition of good is, if there's no cash in the bank and you stop being around I can't see how that can be good in any sense.
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Been a long time since I posted here, since I left the industry a while back.
But I do have a family interest in this particular matter, and whilst I fully appreciate that this forum is principally for the flightdeck, please do spare a thought for what you might generally term "admin", i.e. sales, commercial, accounts, staff travel etc etc, who will, without a doubt, be losing their jobs in the coming months.
The lack of information coming from within GB is a real concern to them, because their jobs disappear entirely, they won't be moving across to Easyjet, and they are getting into the thumb twiddling stage as all the planning for post-March has stopped from the GB perspective.
So, a question that some of the EZY people might be able to shed some light on: what is their policy on redundancies? My personal belief is that the newly extremely rich Bland Group have a responsibility to these people, but if they opt out of that, then they could well be faced with statutory redundancy from the moment the takeover is completed, which is a pretty harsh return on them. Naturally, they'd like to know what precedents might apply, because few of them want to be in the position of being out of a job, with limited time to get a new one, and a small cheque to try to tide them over.
Obviously, these are questions that the GB senior management could, and bloody well should be finding out for them, but thus far, nothing has come back to them.
But I do have a family interest in this particular matter, and whilst I fully appreciate that this forum is principally for the flightdeck, please do spare a thought for what you might generally term "admin", i.e. sales, commercial, accounts, staff travel etc etc, who will, without a doubt, be losing their jobs in the coming months.
The lack of information coming from within GB is a real concern to them, because their jobs disappear entirely, they won't be moving across to Easyjet, and they are getting into the thumb twiddling stage as all the planning for post-March has stopped from the GB perspective.
So, a question that some of the EZY people might be able to shed some light on: what is their policy on redundancies? My personal belief is that the newly extremely rich Bland Group have a responsibility to these people, but if they opt out of that, then they could well be faced with statutory redundancy from the moment the takeover is completed, which is a pretty harsh return on them. Naturally, they'd like to know what precedents might apply, because few of them want to be in the position of being out of a job, with limited time to get a new one, and a small cheque to try to tide them over.
Obviously, these are questions that the GB senior management could, and bloody well should be finding out for them, but thus far, nothing has come back to them.
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Well, having also been subject to some takeovers during my career, I guess to know the sinking feeling...
Some positive sides:
- You still have a job
- If you don't like the orange way you can always change, there still are plenty of opportunities around
- Thrust me, you'll love the stable roster
- You will be made welcome by most of us, including me
All the best for the move and everyones future
live 2 fly 2 live
Some positive sides:
- You still have a job
- If you don't like the orange way you can always change, there still are plenty of opportunities around
- Thrust me, you'll love the stable roster
- You will be made welcome by most of us, including me
All the best for the move and everyones future
live 2 fly 2 live
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As a passenger, while I am very sorry for those people at GB who may lose their jobs, I have long since abandoned GB on my frequent visits to the Costas. Their service has steadily got poorer but don't despair try Monarch who offer a good old fashioned friendly service into Granada, worth the extra drive through the lovely countryside.
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To 10secondservey
Well lets face it at the end of the day it does not matter what flag you fly under, whether it be BA, GB, Virgin or god forbid Garuda, you will be sitting in a tube heading to the canaries.
As for slagging the crew off, are you a trainned commercial pilot, or perhaps you have worked as cabin crew, having to put up with snobs ( who let's face it are trying to be something they are not ) or even having to deal with a medical problem onboard whilst other pax are moaning about not getting there drinks.
As for GB being the dogs
, let face it sunshine you are getting ripped off!!! EZY has had many changes over the last couple of years, yes 2 or 3 years ago it was full of chavs all going to ALC(if you're a seasoned traveller you should know where this is!) But i tell you what EZY is on the way up
As stated before, if you dont like it WE WONT MISS YOU
Well lets face it at the end of the day it does not matter what flag you fly under, whether it be BA, GB, Virgin or god forbid Garuda, you will be sitting in a tube heading to the canaries.
As for slagging the crew off, are you a trainned commercial pilot, or perhaps you have worked as cabin crew, having to put up with snobs ( who let's face it are trying to be something they are not ) or even having to deal with a medical problem onboard whilst other pax are moaning about not getting there drinks.
As for GB being the dogs
, let face it sunshine you are getting ripped off!!! EZY has had many changes over the last couple of years, yes 2 or 3 years ago it was full of chavs all going to ALC(if you're a seasoned traveller you should know where this is!) But i tell you what EZY is on the way up As stated before, if you dont like it WE WONT MISS YOU
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There are no doubt good folk like 62K who had a bad experience with easyJet some years back and will never have an orange thought in their head as long as they live. To them the demise of GB is the end of an era. There are others who believe a trip to the Costas with Monarch is somehow better than flying with easyJet - I personally would take easyJet every time but that is my own choice. The simple reality is that there were not enough 62k's to make GB work, but there are plenty of passengers to make easyJet work - which would explain their relative profit per set of less than £1 to more than £4 respectively. The plain economics are that GB could not make the money easyJet can and therefore, for the pilots and cabin crew at any rate, the future will be bright. It is easy to knock how easyJet does business with the hard sell to passengers etc, but the fact is that it works and consequently easyJet are creating countless new opportunities across Europe. As others have eloquently pointed out, if GB had slowly continued down the plug hole and pilots had started to leave, or worse still been kicked out en-masse, they would have ended up at easyJet on 90% for 6 months and then started from there. My best guess is that they will now have seniority for pay purposes applied which is a bonus that virtually no other new easyJet pilot has had. The only others who have not started at the bottom are the ex-Go guys who were the subject of a merger as opposed to a takeover which is the case here. They make up a handful of the total current pilot workforce and I think that the GB pilots can look forward to a long and happy career with easyJet. We all genuinely wish them well.
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Thanks, Norman S-F, I appreciate the welcome.
I'm actually looking forward to easyJet - maybe not for the first x months when I'll have to find another way to commute up/down the country after losing BA concessions - but things could go very well for me personally and I'm sure all the other pilots too.
As has been said in earlier postings, the GB management has been hiding behind the BA franchise for many years while the company cuts, cuts again and finally makes some more cuts. I think, to be fair, that the franchise was as much a millstone around the neck as a lifeline and BA has been difficult at times, letting GB do the groundwork for new routes, for instance, and then saying no to GB operating the route before announcing it as their own.
So, let's integrate! I can't wait!
Scouse Geordie
PS
Who do I e-mail for a transfer to a northern base?
I'm actually looking forward to easyJet - maybe not for the first x months when I'll have to find another way to commute up/down the country after losing BA concessions - but things could go very well for me personally and I'm sure all the other pilots too.
As has been said in earlier postings, the GB management has been hiding behind the BA franchise for many years while the company cuts, cuts again and finally makes some more cuts. I think, to be fair, that the franchise was as much a millstone around the neck as a lifeline and BA has been difficult at times, letting GB do the groundwork for new routes, for instance, and then saying no to GB operating the route before announcing it as their own.
So, let's integrate! I can't wait!
Scouse Geordie
PS
Who do I e-mail for a transfer to a northern base?