Being on the 1650 FlyBE flight Southampton-> Nice I was right in the eye of the storm. It did seem chaotic in terms of the information from NATS to the airport. In the space of 30 mins, our slot (time when the aircraft is allowed to take off) went from Indefinite Delay to 2050 then 2350 to 1755. The last change was amusingly heard over every Aviance Ground staff radio as "oh SH#t they bought forward the Nice to 1755 - get those OAPs moving" - before the flights was more formally announced on the Airport tannoy in the correct way.
To be fair to the Aviance/FlyBE staff they did manage to cajole the 100 so passengers (mainly OAPS) very fast onto the Embraer 195; only for the Captain to explain that although we had a slot, we could not fly because our flight was outside UK airspace ......mmh .....obviously NATS needs some geography lessons. We finally left Southampton 2 hours and 35 minutes late.
Showing posts with label southampton airport. Show all posts
Showing posts with label southampton airport. Show all posts
26 September 2008
16 April 2008
Fly(may)be- lets me down again
Top draw incompetence from my friends from Flybe - this morning went like this:
0600 check in for the 0715 Southampton to Brussels services. Offered emergency exit seat on an embraer 145.
0645 in aura restaurent with tuna wrap, cappucino and emails
0650 announcement: plane delayed by technical issues more 0730
0730 nothing - can see the engineers working on the plane problem with de-icing kit on left wing.
0745 - announcement that there will be more info at 0830 - all the early start planes to perhaps 12 locations have left....except for Brussels. - engineers have gone for breakfast
0830 nothing - engineers back from breakfast and have bits off the palne
0845 Flight delayed until 10:30 as plane is faulty and we have to wait for new plane
0915 making calls - doing emails - pilots come out after consultation with engineers get in plane and start it up i guess to fly it to Exeter for maintennace but it's a frustrating moment watching the plane you should have be on ...............fly away
0945 planes start coming in on morning return flights including embraer 145s, however no effort to try and shuffle planes to get our flight away.
1030 nothing
1045 we are going to board soon according to announcement
1050 Boarding but it's a Dash 8 - seating free for all because all our boarding passes were set up fro an embrarer 145 - how come Flybe couldn't have found us an earlier Dash 8
1105 Paperwork buggered because no doubt some people have given up & gone home
1115 still no paperwork - hold -re-opened to sort bagggage issue.
11.25 Door closed - push back
1320 (cet) land brussels
1345 in taxi to restaurent
1410 arrive 1 hour 10 minuts leate for lunch meeting with morning meeting completely blown.
Come on Flybe - How's about a spare plane at southampton or some decent ops people to shuffle planes/flights
0600 check in for the 0715 Southampton to Brussels services. Offered emergency exit seat on an embraer 145.
0645 in aura restaurent with tuna wrap, cappucino and emails
0650 announcement: plane delayed by technical issues more 0730
0730 nothing - can see the engineers working on the plane problem with de-icing kit on left wing.
0745 - announcement that there will be more info at 0830 - all the early start planes to perhaps 12 locations have left....except for Brussels. - engineers have gone for breakfast
0830 nothing - engineers back from breakfast and have bits off the palne
0845 Flight delayed until 10:30 as plane is faulty and we have to wait for new plane
0915 making calls - doing emails - pilots come out after consultation with engineers get in plane and start it up i guess to fly it to Exeter for maintennace but it's a frustrating moment watching the plane you should have be on ...............fly away
0945 planes start coming in on morning return flights including embraer 145s, however no effort to try and shuffle planes to get our flight away.
1030 nothing
1045 we are going to board soon according to announcement
1050 Boarding but it's a Dash 8 - seating free for all because all our boarding passes were set up fro an embrarer 145 - how come Flybe couldn't have found us an earlier Dash 8
1105 Paperwork buggered because no doubt some people have given up & gone home
1115 still no paperwork - hold -re-opened to sort bagggage issue.
11.25 Door closed - push back
1320 (cet) land brussels
1345 in taxi to restaurent
1410 arrive 1 hour 10 minuts leate for lunch meeting with morning meeting completely blown.
Come on Flybe - How's about a spare plane at southampton or some decent ops people to shuffle planes/flights
30 July 2007
It's those middle east stamps again
Well I had my second dodgy passport check today - coming off a Leeds Bradford to Southampton flight i.e. domestic, I was asked by a zealous immigration control officer to show my passport. His hair nearly stood on end when he saw my 25+ UAE (various)/Oman stamps in my passport + 2 chinese visas (expired) + assorted SE asian stamps + 1 from Canada and 1 from US. Demanded immediately to know what my job was (still not plucked up the courage to say more than Chemicals), who I worked for, where their head office was and why was I travelling.
of course when you say travelling to our HQ in Lyndhurst (the truth).....he gets really suspicious.......but then just waves you on your way !
they really amuse me..........................you could see him itching to stop me.....but then the story was so incredible it had to be the truth! They're going to be far worse when they all get uniforms !
of course when you say travelling to our HQ in Lyndhurst (the truth).....he gets really suspicious.......but then just waves you on your way !
they really amuse me..........................you could see him itching to stop me.....but then the story was so incredible it had to be the truth! They're going to be far worse when they all get uniforms !
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