Memories of Airlines No Longer Flying

[rollo]

Kayo, fhanks.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Anyone mentioned British Caledonian, I flew on the BAC 1-11s a couple of times. LGW- GVA and LGW-GRO. Other defunct airlines I have flown on is Laker , TWA , JAT and Sabena.

an unusual one I flew on was Janus Airways Lydd to Ostend , Le Touquet and Beauvais.

British Caledonian is in the list as BCAL. I just copied each airline from each post.

Kevin

 

[rollo]

Cal Air came out of BCAL after British Airways takeover flew with them on a DC10 from MAN to MCO in the 1980s really good flight,
long time ago.

 

[superking]

Flew AMS to MCO with northwest. We stopped in Bangor Maine for fuel stop. Then aircraft went tech as the door would not shut. We waited till they fixed the problem. Not a good flight as the air conditioning was faulty,would not keep cabin temperture at a good level. I vowed never to fly with them again.

 

[thunderchild]

Flew AMS to MCO with northwest. We stopped in Bangor Maine for fuel stop. Then aircraft went tech as the door would not shut. We waited till they fixed the problem. Not a good flight as the air conditioning was faulty,would not keep cabin temperture at a good level. I vowed never to fly with them again.

Ironically one of my best ever flights was with Northwest - an A330 AMS-EWR. We were allocated the back row seats so we could recline all the way and not worry about the people behind. The third seat was also unoccupied so we could spread ourselves out a bit too.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Flew AMS to MCO with northwest. We stopped in Bangor Maine for fuel stop. Then aircraft went tech as the door would not shut. We waited till they fixed the problem. Not a good flight as the air conditioning was faulty,would not keep cabin temperture at a good level. I vowed never to fly with them again.

Ironically one of my best ever flights was with Northwest - an A330 AMS-EWR. We were allocated the back row seats so we could recline all the way and not worry about the people behind. The third seat was also unoccupied so we could spread ourselves out a bit too.

Interesting - two posts conveying opposite views about the same airline.

My wife and I used to fly a lot to North America (USA and Canada) in the 1990s and early 2000s. We would do a short hop from the UK to AMS and flew with either KLM or its then partner Northwest Airlines across the Atlantic.

Whereas in general we found KLM good the exact opposite applied with Northwest. Onboard service was poor and surly and cabin staff members could be quite rude. An American passenger on one of the flights told us that the airline was known as 'Northworst' by many passengers.

After one flight from the USA to AMS in which the behaviour of some of the cabin staff was appalling - not to us directly that time but to a very elderly couple sitting nearby - I took some action. I haven't used Schipol for several years but 20 years ago there were help desks scattered around the terminal. I was so incensed that I made a complaint to the help desk woman pointing out the differences in service between KLM and its partner Northwest. She seemed very sympathetic and invited me to complete a complaints form.

There was little internet communication in those days but a week or two later I received a letter from KLM - not Northwest - which was guarded but noted my complaint and regretted that I had felt the need to complain (that's always a good way of not apologising but appearing to do so). Nevertheless as compensation for my 'disappointment' my Flying Dutchman frequent flyers account (as it was then) was loaded with enough extra complimentary points (as was my wife's) to enable us to make a trip from the UK to AMS and back.

Northwest merged with Delta in the late 'noughties'.

 

[thunderchild]

A few years later we flew with United Airlines from LHR to SFO and despite the free upgrade to Premium Economy I think Northwest was probably the better experience. However, I think the plane breaking down, a four hour delay and a diversion to ORD probably played a factor!

 

[Kevin Farnell]

For those interested, I've found an excellent YouTube channel by Expo Aviation regarding 'grounded airlines' -

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXoO1d-7CCmSBnvxvHxAWwv6H-JxAV2vf

It details the history, operations and eventual demise of the airline. I'm sure there will be more videos to come.

Kevin

 

[airforced]

TheLocalYokel said, "Whereas in general we found KLM good the exact opposite applied with Northwest. Onboard service was poor and surly and cabin staff members could be quite rude".

Sounds just like BA to me. Never had a flight with them where the cabin crew weren't snotty and rude. They always gave the impression that they were superior beings and it was an imposition to have to deal with lesser mortals (ie customers). I might have been unlucky or maybe not.

Back to the thread. The only ones I can think of that are no longer around but that I flew with are BCAL from Gatwick (good). Air UK from Stansted (excellent) and Debonair from Luton (good from memory). They weren't around too long.

 

[Cambrian]

Best flight I have taken was with Ansett Airlines from Sydney to Coffs Harbour. Flight was on a Saab 340. Crew were great and the food served was the best I have ever had on a flight. When I told an Australian friend that I had flown Ansett, He said Aussies refer to the airline as Chance it with Ansettt. We also flew Sydney to Adelaide on a Qantas A330 with about 30 pax. It was used as a positioning flight as the aircraft was going on to Singaporeand we were told that is was full from Adelaide. When the food was served , my son found insects in the salad. When he told the crew, the reply he had Dont make fuss or every one will want some. Aussie humour.

 

[Poshgirl]

A good friend started his commercial flying career with Yorkshire European. Sadly, they didn't last long (1992-93).