Flybe

[LBAYORKIE]

I must also add that ground handling agents such as Swissport really need to vastly improve their pay and conditions. This will not only attract new staff more quickly but also retain staff who become ever more valuable as their experience and skill sets increase. The packages currently on offer are dire. With the current cost of living crisis, staff leakage is a real problem

If they did improve their pay, it would have to be nationwide. Of course they would then have to pass this on to the airlines, who would then pass it on to their customers- US!

 

[SierraHotel]

Maybe customers would be prepared to pay a little more for improved reliability?

 

[752]

Returned from my overnight stay in London flying down Thursday and back yesterday. Flight was both on time - outbound on the dash 8 and return on Marathon E175. both flights was excellent and the marathon plane and crew was great. loads was very weak considering the rail strike etc.. disappointing to see. outbound had about 21 onboard, inbound had 25.

 

[LBAYORKIE]

Returned from my overnight stay in London flying down Thursday and back yesterday. Flight was both on time - outbound on the dash 8 and return on Marathon E175. both flights was excellent and the marathon plane and crew was great. loads was very weak considering the rail strike etc.. disappointing to see. outbound had about 21 onboard, inbound had 25.

Loads very disappointing. Given the rail strike I would have expected much better.

 

[Len Fish]

I suspect many people would have opted for working from home or not bothered travelling unless it was absolutely necessary.

 

[752]

i think it is more of a issue with Flybe revenue management, the prices shot up, but obviously the load factor did not reflect this / justify it. maybe they should of kept the fares low, get people on board then start increasing fares. Heathrow express was running every 30 mins and some tubes was running which didn't affect my journey around London. London itself on Thursday was very quiet though.

 

[White Heather]

What do you mean ‘their contract with Swissport‘ ? The contractual relationship exists between airline and handling agent, does it not ?

I suspect there are contracts between Swissport and the airlines they serve, and also with LBA, given that they have to keep their equipment in the airport premises and also rent space for office accommodation etc. So it's a 3 way deal.

 

[markietg]

Just returned from my latest trip to Argentina. It was the SwiftAir ATR on this mornings LHR-LBA. Flight on time. Nice clean cabin. Friendly service. 51 on board. I’d say a good 15-20 were off to the cricket. Heard the cabin crew supervisor talking to one of them as we were waiting for the ground staff to sort themselves out (15mins) on arrival. He said they were going to be based in Belfast for the next 2 months.

 

[whoshotjimmi]

Thank you Heather for your response and I can fully understand what you are saying. It would appear that what @whoshitjimmi has failed to understand is the need for all airside staff to get the necessary - and time consuming - approval. Once that has been achieved things will hopefully improve for all handling agents across the U

I have no issue with my opinion being challenged - it's a forum at the end of the day. One should expect people to have opposing viewpoints. However, I took an amount of umbrage at the suggestion that my point of view was uninitiated. Even if I had zero experience of anything in life, I don't think it is appropriate or necessary.

Speaking as a regular customer, and as a local who desperately wants the airport to succeed, I've watched LBA flounder on their customer experience for years (regardless of pandemic) and I personally want to see more from LBA management to improve it. Whichever way you look at it, LBA has a poor reputation for their customer experience, has had for a long time and their words seem pretty empty a lot of the time.

I also haven't failed to understand anything. I fully appreciate the challenges that airports have faced, particularly with staffing, but if you read my post again, you'll note that I suggested the specific issue the other day appeared to be more one of inadequate local decision making rather than a lack of staff. Once the first aircraft was pushed back following a hefty delay, the others were pushed back relatively quickly. My question would be why was the tug made to wait for the first flight when the others were ready, thus delaying the rest? I could be wrong of course but that is how it appeared.

If I was responsible for improving the customer experience at LBA, that's the sort of thing I'd want to know and want to resolve and I'd work with the third parties and airline partners to make improvements to procedures - along with trying to resolve all of the other things that people write about on Google reviews. Honestly - go have a look at it. It is absolutely brutal and zero PR comes from the airport to counter this. And that's before we consider the own goals. Improving the customer experience could start with a more adventurous social media and PR presence that shows it listens to customers, outlines what it is doing and is honest about the problems they face. LBA is 100% in control of it, it would go a long way and customers would respect it.

That's not to say that Flybe doesn't have its role to play. They need to make sure that their planes are in the right place at the right time and don't heap pressure on the system that is not currently as resilient at dealing with delays. If an inbound flight is delayed that then results in a further delay due to low staff numbers at the airport, they should then also be honest enough with their customers and offer apologies of their own.

ALL of that said, my personal experiences of both Flybe and LBA over the last couple of months have been very good, as they often were pre pandemic, but it doesn't alter the fact that the issues now are the same as the issues then and the same as the issues that have been for many years, nor does it alter the fact that they have a responsibility to identify and rectify problems such as this.

Historically, Flybe has been a great addition to LBA, even during its most difficult days, and has been bold enough to try things at LBA that nobody else would have done. They are very obviously being over ambitious at the moment and probably need to scale back and add things in more periodically to ensure that their operations are working well but you can't argue with them throwing in a Heathrow operation when the risk/reward could be particularly damaging.

I'd personally like to see a late evening departure from Belfast to Leeds as that would help me out massively at the moment. None of the up to six flights between Belfast and Leeds a day offer that currently so I'm sure it would be useful. But hey ho. Baby steps.

Finally, Scottie Dog, it is whoSHOTjimmi, but I'm sure it was just a typo 😉

 

[LBAYORKIE]

My Flybe flight on Sunday the 17th of July has just been cancelled with no alternative offered. Its worrying when they cancel the only flight of the day. They have also cancelled my return flight the BE758 on the Monday (late pm)with an offer to take the BE752 (early am) that day. So no flights Sunday the 17th and only one return on Monday the 18th- all very worrying.

Hopefully I can get down by rail. If not I have a big problem.

 

[Scottie Dog]

Oops @whoshotjimmi that was a really bad typo and I do apologise - or put the blame on Covid.
Anyway thank you for taking the time to explain your rational more fullyand I'll reread your post later in the day.

 

[SierraHotel]

I agree LBA Yorkie. Worrying developments. Let's hope our fears are not realised.Having said that, scaling back may well be the sensible option at present.

 

[jason1-11]

My Flybe flight on Sunday the 17th of July has just been cancelled with no alternative offered. Its worrying when they cancel the only flight of the day. They have also cancelled my return flight the BE758 on the Monday (late pm)with an offer to take the BE752 (early am) that day. So no flights Sunday the 17th and only one return on Monday the 18th- all very worrying.

Hopefully I can get down by rail. If not I have a big problem.

I feel your pain LBAYORKIE. My flights (LHR-LBA-LHR) on the 22nd and 24th July have also been cancelled. Down to one a day on the 22nd and no alternative available on the 24th.

In its current state and based on the fact this is the 2nd time in less than 2 months they have trashed my travel plans, I have to say avoid this airline at all costs.

 

[a300boy]

I only booked a few days ago for early September and they have just cancelled the return evening flight Lhr to Lba and offered me a seat on the morning flight return aoI loose a day in London.

 

[LBAYORKIE]

I only booked a few days ago for early September and they have just cancelled the return evening flight Lhr to Lba and offered me a seat on the morning flight return aoI loose a day in London.

Sounds like they are reducing to one return flight per day, perhaps none on a Sunday.

 

[White Heather]

The cancellations maybe as a result of the recent directives to the industry that they should reconsider their schedules up to the end of September to ensure they not only can operate all flights but that they have flexibility to cover unexpected issues. Plus, LHR has already been asking airlines operating out of Terminals 2 and 3 to reduce their operations.

 

[LBAYORKIE]

The cancellations maybe as a result of the recent directives to the industry that they should reconsider their schedules up to the end of September to ensure they not only can operate all flights but that they have flexibility to cover unexpected issues. Plus, LHR has already been asking airlines operating out of Terminals 2 and 3 to reduce their operations.

If that were so would it not make sense to cancel only the tea time departure/return and leave the early morning and evening flights in place? With no code shares and no possibility of a 'day return' what chance does the route have? They would be better off suspending the service altogether until the Autumn.

 

[KARFA]

I doubt very much that the rationalisation of the BE schedule has anything to do with the any external directives or recent request from HAL to reduce flights by around 10%, and much more to do with low demand and internal reliability issues.

and of course still no sign of any codeshare agreement which frankly is essential if they want this route to be viable.

 

[LBAYORKIE]

I doubt very much that the rationalisation of the BE schedule has anything to do with the any external directives or recent request from HAL to reduce flights by around 10%, and much more to do with low demand and internal reliability issues.

and of course still no sign of any codeshare agreement which frankly is essential if they want this route to be viable.

As I said, suspension would be my preferred option. This would give them the options of blaming Covid or LHR restrictions rather than low demand. Reintroducing the route in Autumn would coincide with the seasonal upturn in business travel.

Im not sure anyone would want a codeshare as things stand. The constant schedule changes and cancellations arent going to appeal to any potential partners.

I must say I am surprised at the reported load factors during the rail strike. I think it suggests that point to point is never going to be enough to support a London service.

 

[White Heather]

I have read elsewhere that flights are not bookable from September - if that's true it will mean the end if the overnighting aircraft too, which will save Flybe a chunk of money.