Pakistan International Airlines

[WYIA]

There are many different companies operating within LBA which are the ones that need to address the issues but they wont be. Afterall, you pay peanuts... you get =

Am sure i dont need to put anything down down in print for you to pass it on white heather )

 

[dispext]

I have to disagree with the pay peanuts...get...

Yes it may be true in some cases, but you can also pay a lot and get...

Lots of the people working for these companies simply cannot cope with the workload/equipment/management that they recieve and are just as frustrated as the passengers; with constant cutbacks, airlines who want to pay less and less, and the simple fact that smaller stations are not going to get the investment required by the companies who operate there compared to the likes of Manchester.

 

[White Heather]

Well perhaps the investment by Bridgepoint will lead to demands that the various companies operating at LBA similarly invest, improving their staff work satisfaction and significantly improving the customer experience.

WYIA - I didn't ask you to put anything in print - you have already done that. All I asked is whether you would like me to refer your views to the Airport in some way. They often complain that they can't do anything about complaints if they are not given the chance, and one coming from someone working in aviation would perhaps be something of a wake up call as to what is going on. I would not consider passing on your comments, or anyone elses, to the airport , without express approval, and in the absence of that, I will assume approval is not given.

 

[lbia]

I am ground staff for a certain low cost airline at LBA, and all I can say is that Servisair need to get their Ar$es into motion! I'm not sure if people are aware but Servisair do all the manual handling/baggage/marshalling/bus driving for every flight at LBA, with Jet2 ground staff covering passenger services & ramp duties for Jet2 flights only. Jet2 ramp finish at 11pm each evening with Servisair taking over, should there be a Ryanair aircraft in LBA comes to a standstill with Jet2/FlyBe having to wait for steps/busses etc.

Jet2 as a whole is extremely efficient on the ground as everything is in house and we all work as one team and get the job done well. The problem arises when more than 2 flights come down at the same time and there simply isn't enough Servisair staff to handle everything. As for the comments regarding baggage - it is infuriating, on many occasions we are waiting for up to 45 minutes for baggage to come off the aircraft, which puts a bad image on Jet2 when it is servisair staff who are slow to unload the aircraft. Yes it is a fair job to unload 200+ bags off a 757 with only a few staff but this problem is getting slowly worse.

The guys at Interserve who deal with the wheelchairs work their back sides off, they don't get the praise they deserve, yet again the problem lies with Servisair. Jet2 tell Interserve how many passengers requiring assistance there are on incoming flights, either the captain radios ahead or ground staff pass on details. Servisair don't seem to grasp this so on many occasions they are not aware of any passengers needing assistance on the KLM/bmi/Thomas Cook etc and if they are dealing with Jet2 passengers it can take a while before they are free to deal with the passengers they are unaware of. There are always 3 Interserve staff on duty but if they guys don’t know what passengers they are requiring to meet then it is common for them to appear unorganised. Jet2 and Interserve get annoyed with this situation as it is impacting both our operations.

There are many other things that Servisair do that seriously annoy passengers and more often then not Jet2 staff which results in a knock on delay for Jet2 flights. Some of the servisair staff are hostile towards Jet2 ground staff. Not many people will be aware of the set up regarding gates and stands at LBA, basically for stands 9,10 & 11 which are all walk on stands Gates 2, 3 & 4 respectively are used. For Airbridge 8 (Stand 8) Gate 7 is used (This is the only separate lounge at LBA) and for Airbridge 7 Gate 10 is used. On many occasions Servisair board Ryanair using two gates (Usually Gate 6 & gate 7) to board an aircraft on Stand 11. This results in aircraft on Stand 8 not having a gate to board the aircraft from, delaying aircraft, as well as Servisair occupying the whole walkway to stand 11, meaning to inbounds on Stand 9/10 cannot be disembarked. This will probably sounds like a load of gibberish to most but this severely restricts an already limited terminal and has caused confrontation between Servisair and Jet2 Duty managers.

A lot of the Servisair staff are really nice but their way of operating at LBA causes a unnecessary problems and reflects LBA badly from a passengers point of view. It is very frustrating as Jet2 staff know all too well that when a Ryanair comes in everything comes to a stand still. The Airport Duty Manager has got involved on several occasions and hopefully Servisair will sort out their act!!

 

[yorkshire]

Why cant the airport managment have a word with servisair and tell them to pull there socks up or else!

has jet2 complained to the airport bosses?, i think they should on what i have been reading in the previous posts.

 

[White Heather]

This is really a concern and as things stand you can only imagine what would happen if Ryanair based at LBA and were in and out all the time.

As I mentioned to WYIA, I would be happy to raise these concerns on an 'anonymous' basis at the Consultative Committee if requested to do so. Airport Management may be aware and may be trying to resolve it with Servisair, but equally, may not be aware. Alternatively I could copy and paste paragraphs and attach to an e mail to the Operations Director. If anyone wishes me to do this, just let me know.

Clearly this all needs sorting out and although Servisair have been at LBA since I was on my baby bike, Jet2 are now the dominant force at LBA, so it seems rediculous that everything revolves around Servisair and Ryanair. Obviously, Mr O'Leary's influence and demands at work here!

 

[lbaspotter]

Hi All

Can we please get this thread back on to subject of PIA There is a thread on this forum called Leeds Bradford - Passengers & Frequent Flyers which covers these types of discussions. If you like you can carry on this discussion please post there from now on. topic207-10.html

 

[lbaspotter]

Anyway to get this thread back on track has anyone else noticed that on the PIA website at the moment it is only possible to book inbound (ISB-LBA PK775) flights. The outbound sector (LBA-ISB PK776) flights are not bookable for some reason.

My guess is that these flights are only bookable in there UK agents shops. Or maybe PIA are messing around with there website online schedule and are looking at putting a B772 into LBA sooner rather than later??

I have also noticed that PIA are now offering return flights from Leeds/Bradford and Manchester to Islamabad for as little as £250 at the moment. These are bookable up until the November 11th on there homepage at http://www.piac.com.pk/

 

[backtrack]

I hope it is the latter and they are wanting to bring in the 777 sooner!

One thing with the B777 though is at the end of runway 32 we have whats called a "turning D", basically for those who do not know is a large semicircle area where aircraft can turnaround before they line up for runway 32. At the runway 14 end, we have a loop.

Does anyone know if the turning D at end of 32 will be manageable for the 777 to line up, bearing in mind there will be a lot of pressure on that front turning wheel when they turn 180 degrees after backtracking?

 

[lbaspotter]

Hi

Yes from my understanding the turning D at the end of 14 as they line up for a 32 departure is big enough for A B772 at LBA. As i understand it is currently the same size as the one in use at Islamabad Airport.

 

[wawkrk]

Did 747's not use the 32 threshold turning D ? They must have done.

 

[backtrack]

I guess they shall be ok then, was just thinking about the length of the 772, as i remember once an Airbus A330 struggling to turn at the same D.

 

[Aviador]

The Boeing 747, 767-200, 767-300, Airbus A300, A330 etc... have all used the turning D so I don't see why there should suddenly be a problem when it comes to the 777 unless the CAA have moved the goal posts?

 

[backtrack]

In that case do you think PIA will need to do a "test run" to test landing, maneouverability on apron/taxiways, fitting into stands, and takeoff before it becomes fully commercially operated?

Then again knowing PIA, they will just turn up one day with one fully laden!

 

[White Heather]

Back in the 1908's the apron was smaller, there were less taxiways and in general there was less room but the Wardair 747 and DC10, plus British Airtours, RAF, Worldways and Air Transat Tristars, all operated into LBA without any problems, so I can't see why there would be a problem with the 777. Surely it is not so much bigger than the 767-300's that come in already?

 

[backtrack]

I would guess not no, however i am unsure of how many pax the PIA's B772s can carry?

 

[Aviador]

Which of course depends on the airlines seat configuration which varies from airline to airline.

 

[backtrack]

Which of course depends on the airlines seat configuration which varies from airline to airline.

Affirmative, hence does anybody know?

 

[White Heather]

Sorry I don't know and there is nothing on the PIA web site to state the seat numbers on each aircraft type.

What I DID notice on the web site was that PIA still show 'BRADFORD' on their route map, and no mention of Leeds. Speaking as a Leeds lass, this really annoys me. Not only is Leeds the much bigger City (with Bradford actually being part of the Leeds City Region), it also has many thousands of Pakistani peoples, yet PIA only bother to mention Bradford on their map. Conversely though, on their ads at LBA they advertise 'Islamabad from Leeds'!!

Is it so difficult to get a marketing strategy that uses the proper Airport name and sticks to it.

 

[harehills]

If you think thats annoying you should see the islamabad airport website they've got it written as bredford they have'nt even bothered to spell it properly