Eastern Airways

[a300boy]

Ok ! Its as bad as that is it ?

 

[Britannia94]

Just out of curiousity And this is probably already posted in earlier comments but when are we due to Lose the Saab 2000?

 

[lbaspotter]

Just out of curiousity And this is probably already posted in earlier comments but when are we due to Lose the Saab 2000?

This weekend is meant to be the change over from Saab 2000 to BAe Jetstream 41.

 

[jason1-11]

Another poor operational performance today with cancellations on both routes and some hefty delays.

We can expect significant % drops in passenger numbers if this is the level of service provided.

 

[whoshotjimmi]

It is staggeringly bad performance from Eastern. I've just been looking around the network and they are having similar problems at Norwich (another Saab base) but their other bases seem to be operating normally. This is an airline that is clearly in the throws of a serious issue and it is sad that it is currently dragging down LBA with it. More seriously for Eastern, they compete with BMI on NWI-ABZ and there is nothing like a week of poor performance to push your loyal customers to another provider.

Looking into things further, the LBA website suggests passengers should contact the airline but the Eastern customer support centre closes at 8pm. I would assume that the passengers from the cancelled flight from Southampton will have been found space on the heavily delayed flight instead so they should at least have made it home and this should all have been sorted before the closure of the call centre. Similarly I would expect that to be the case with the Aberdeen flight but, good grief. Considering this has been going on for a number of days, Eastern really ought to be doing a better job with their contingency planning. It will also be doing nothing for confidence in the codeshare routes to Norway, nor connecting flights to Wick and Stornoway.

The irony is that Eastern managed to keep their loyal customers at LBA largely due to Flybe performing similarly badly.

Diabolical.

 

[tleeds]

Eastern CEO's were outbound the other day on the ABZ. Rumour has it they are looking to replace the Jetstreams with ATR's as a longer term solution.
Discussions are fairly well developed as far as we heard as well, so keep an eye out over the next 12months.

 

[White Heather]

Well those J41s are getting on now aren't they? They were operating for BA Express back when they were based here and can't last forever. Even the ATR42 represents a growth in capacity through so they had better have a plan to increase passenger figures. If they have ATRs, it would seem a bit daft to keep the Saab 2000s as they are not that far apart in terms of capacity.

 

[whoshotjimmi]

If they are planning on acquiring ATRs, I would be very fearful for the future of many of Eastern's routes as the J41 is half the size of the smallest ATR.

From an LBA point of view, the Saab - which has the same capacity as the ATR42 - has just been deemed surplus to requirements. I'd be interested to understand how they plan to continue to service the same routes at the same frequency with aircraft twice the size and still make a profit.

Is this yet another example of some pretty madcap Eastern purchase policy?

 

[Britannia94]

Suppose if they did increase size of aircraft it would mean prices will come down (one hopes) I had to travel to Aberdeen last month and it was going to cost £220 return to fly there booking a month in advance or £35 return on train which might take longer but is a no brained.

 

[Finger66]

Some very good points and observations. We have ABZ in serious decline, not just from LBA, so how would that support an ATR. SOU would be ok. Sounds like this could be a joint replacement for the Saabs and Jetstreams. The latter I suspect are quite expensive to operate so they might improve yield on a larger ATR if they find a way to fill the extra seats. Our friends North of the border might be interested in the Saabs.

 

[White Heather]

The Eastern Jetstream 41 has 29 seats. The ATR42 can be configured for 42 and up to 52 seats - so although one looks much bigger than the other on the outside, the ATR is certainly not twice the size of the Jetstream even if in 52 seat configuration. I strongly suspect it is actually cheaper to operate too. A change to the ATR may prove to be folly - or it could provide the opportunity for Eastern to change their business plan completely and go from an airline that seems unsure of what it is, to one which operates routes successfully with the right sized aircraft and at prices that will attract more than just the business executives it seems to target. There again, this may but just another rumour that never comes to fruition.

 

[a300boy]

Maybe offering cheap leases of new aircraft if they are trying to find homes for recently built aircraft.

 

[lbaspotter]

Just been announced this morning that Eastern Airways are going into a partnership with Flybe. It will mean Eastern Airways operated routes from Leeds/Bradford to Aberdeen and Southampton will be available to book on flybe website starting from September

http://uk.advfn.com/stock-market/lo...C-Flybe-Agreement-with-Eastern-Airwa/74931839

 

[oldendays]

Don't know if anyone else has noticed but we've had a Saab 2000 back at Leeds for a few days now.

 

[lbaspotter]

Don't know if anyone else has noticed but we've had a Saab 2000 back at Leeds for a few days now.

Yes we do have as don't forget that a Saab 2000 is scheduled to operate the following rotations through LBA this summer. We currently have BAe Jetsteam 41's G-MAJB & G-MAJK as LBA based units.


Mondays
EZE4702 = ABZ-LBA / LBA-SOU-RDZ
EZE4705 = RDZ-SOU-LBA / LBA-ABZ
Thursdays
EZE4716 = ABZ-LBA
Fridays
EZE4700 = LBA-SOU-RDZ
EZE4703 = RDZ-SOU-LBA / LBA-ABZ
Sundays
EZE4719 = ABZ-LBA / LBA-SOU
EZE4718 = SOU-LBA / LBA-ABZ

 

[oldendays]

Ah. Short memory.

 

[lbaspotter]

Eastern Airways have add some really odd workings out of Leeds/Bradford today.

BAe Jetstream 41, G-MAJW operated the early LBA-ABZ, EZE4711

Saab 2000, G-CFLU operated the returning ABZ-LBA EZE4702. It then positioned LBA-NWI as EZE73H.

Embrear 145, G-CISK operated the early LBA-SOU, EZE70Y but whilst enroute SOU-RDZ diverted into ORY

BAe Jetstream 41, G-MAJL operated this afternoon’s ABZ-LBA, EZE76LK, Then operated the evening LBA-SOU-LBA, EZE76Y/77G service and looks to be night stopping.

BAe Jetstream 41, G-MAJZ positioned HUY-LBA as EZE14W and operated this evening’s LBA-ABZ EZE4705 service.

Flights Cancelled
EZE4703 = RDZ-SOU-LBA
EZE4704 = LBA-SOU
EZE4705 = SOU-LBA
EZE4716 = ABZ-LBA

 

[tleeds]

Really can't understand the logic behind many of the T3 decisions.

Heard also that whilst they are getting 2 or 3 ATR's they're going to be used on a Charter basis only..

Sums it up really!

 

[imagineif]

T3 are very short on crew at the moment, recruiting across several bases and also for GLA now ready for the Flybe Franchise. At one point it is rumored that LBA was down to one Cabin attendant which goes some way to explain the mish mash of aircraft types and cancellations of recent. Lets hope the situation stabilizes and the recruitment drive gets the numbers back up. I have it on good faith now that T3 have a brand new ATR on order and plan to acquire more as replacement for the Saab fleet which is more expensive to operate and maintain than the J41.

 

[lbaspotter]

Due to shortage of crews Eastern Airways are to lease a CRJ200 and BAe Jetstream 32 from October.

Heard a lot of the Saab 2000 crews have up and left to join Loganair.