This is a third tale from about 1985 and again it concerns British Airways, but I suspect in those days any good airline did their utmost for their passengers, as it was cheap positive publicity.
A friend, his wife and another couple had gone for a weekend in somewhere like Malaga. They had worried about actually getting there, as the French air traffic controllers were having one of their periodic bouts of industrial action.
They werent’t particularly bothered, as if they didn’t get back on Monday, Tuesday would do.
On the Monday, various tour reps arrived at the hotel and said that everybody would get home, but it would be a bit late and they would be picked up from the hotel at the expected time. But the British Airways rep told her charges to wait in the hotel and they’d be picked up three hours before the flight was to leave.
So about nine, they all trooped onto the coach for the airport, where chaos reigned, as no flights were going back to the UK, due to the French. At midnight, they were called to the departure lounge and pretty soon were on their plane.
They’d been expecting a 737, but the plane was a wide-bodied Tri-Star, which BA filled with other passengers caught up from the Sunday or at the chaos at other airports.
Once airborne, the pilot explained the Tri-Star by saying that the French weren’t allowing any planes through their airspace, so they’d used the longer-range Tri-Star and filed a flight-plan on the way out to Bermuda, with Malaga as the alternate. Then halfway across the Atlantic, they’d declared a minor emergency and as they were just north of Spain, requested they go to the alternate. He said the flight home would be a bit longer, as they were totally avoiding French air-space.
It must have used a lot more fuel, but there were lots of contented passengers.
February 6, 2012
Posted by AnonW |
Transport/Travel | Flying, France, Service, Spain |
2 Comments
In about 1979 or so, we ad an awful Christmas Eve in the UK, which meant that lots of aircraft were frozen to their stands at Heathrow and nothing could go in or out.
At the time a colleague in Metier was in Amsterdam and needed to get back for Christmas. He got to Schipol and there were massive queues as no planes were flying to the UK, because most airports were shut. But instead of giving up, as they do these days, British Airways managed to get a Tri-Star to Schipol from somewhere. But where was it to go? It then turned out that the then small East Midlands Airport was open and during the afternoon and evening, it shuttled passengers across the North Sea. The last flight arrived in England at three o’clock in the morning, as they kept the airport open late, so as not to ruin Christmas for the passengers. The airline is supposed to have commandeered all the coaches in the area to complete passengers journeys.
But everybody had a good Christmas and British Airways got a lot of publicity.
I can’t imagine it happening today! In fact today, there are reports of incoming passengers to the UK, stuck in places like Barcelona and Shannon.
February 6, 2012
Posted by AnonW |
Transport/Travel | Flying, Service |
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I was just talking to a friend, whose son had got mixed up in all the delays at Stansted. He had got no sense from an Irish so-called airline and had had to come home.
It got me thinking about how airlines used to know what service meant.
Many years ago all five of us went to St. Lucia on an all-inclusive holiday with British Airways.
I think we were due to come home on the Thursday, but due to an engine failure on the incoming flight, it became obvious that we would have an extra night on the island. We were moved that night to another hotel and were told that although we would get home on Friday or Saturday, they couldn’t be sure how long we’d be stuck.
We eventually heard that it would be the Saturday, as although there would be an incoming flight on the Friday, it would be coming in late as it was carrying the spare engine and the crew to change it, and because of the extra load, it would be refuelling in Bermuda. We did get a view as it flew in to land of one of the strangest sights in aviation; a Boeing 747 carrying an extra fifth engine under the wing root. There’s a video of one here.
So we ad two extra nights on St. Lucia and very late on Saturday, we boarded the 747 to go home. I can’t remember if it was Thursday’s, Friday’s or Saturday’s plane, but it was one of the then new Rolls-Royce powered 747-200s.
The pilot did announce though, that it would be a direct flight to Heathrow, instead of via Barbados, so he apologised if the take-off was a bit noisy, as he’d be using full everything.
I remember he was followed down the runway by a tug and they backed the plane as far towards and over the fence as they dare. It was a noisy but safe take-off and we arrived much earlier than expected non-stop into Heathrow.
The one thing that spoilt the flight, was rather a heavy landing, for which the pilot apologised and blamed the new auto-land system, which as he said needed a bit more tweaking.
February 5, 2012
Posted by AnonW |
Transport/Travel | Flying, Service |
1 Comment
Ben Ando on the BBC this morning, made the mistake in thinking that the A14 carries a lot of trucks with containers from Felixstowe to the North and back. Nowadays a high proportion of containers go by train via Peterborough and Nuneaton. In fact, I reported here, that they seemed to have decreased in number significantly.
But of course there might be more on the roads this weekend, as that idiot went too fast over the points at Bletchley.
February 5, 2012
Posted by AnonW |
Transport/Travel | Driving, Freight, Trains |
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When it was first rumoured that Chris Huhne had got his wife to take some of his speeding points, I put up a post.
I said this.
It sounds to me that this case might end up with a more serious charge.
Whatever happened to the beloved criminal quote of “It’s a fair cop, officer!”
It now seems I was right too, as Chris Huhne has resigned with all sorts of consequences according to this report on the BBC.
If he’d taken his punishment at the time, he would now still be a member of the government.
The fact that he didn’t shows how naive he must be. After all, he must have realised that once the story got out he’d be finished, so why not cap the story at the time by losing his licence.
February 4, 2012
Posted by AnonW |
Transport/Travel | Driving, Essex, Police, Politics |
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When you have just a railway engine travelling by itself, it is called a light engine!
One has caused chaos on the West Coast Main Line by getting itself derailed at Bletchley, as reported here on the BBC. But few reports have called it a light engine, most have called it a freight train, as it is owned by a company called Freightliner, although it is at present leased to Virgin Trains. So at least they can read, even if they don’t know the correct railway term.
The BBC report says this.
A spokesman for Network Rail said the Freightliner locomotive appeared to have approached a set of points at Bletchley south junction too fast.
This caused the tracks to buckle, damaged wooden sleepers and brought down some overhead cables.
There is as yet “no estimate for the completion of repairs and therefore it is not yet known whether services will continue to be affected on Sunday”, according to the National Rail Enquiries website.
As no-one seems to have been seriously hurt, but many have been seriously delayed and inconvenienced, this will turn out to be one of those stories that will run and run all the way to the Supreme Court. After all the engine wasn’t owned by Virgin Trains, but it was being run on their behalf.
So will Virgin Trains be suing themselves for all the compensation, they’ve paid out to passengers?
Incidentally, I usually go to see Ipswich at Coventry, but won’t be going today. I was going to go and get in by buying a ticket on the gate. But because of this light engine crash, I wouldn’t have been able to get to Coventry.
So should I add my case for compensation to the rest?
No! But, if I’d bought a ticket you could be rest ensured, I wouldn’t be a happy bunny, aif I’d been unable to get to Coventry!
February 4, 2012
Posted by AnonW |
Sport, Transport/Travel | Coventry, Football, Trains, Virgin Trains |
3 Comments
The area of Hackney where I live is just north of the City and there are a lot of cyclists. Normally, there isn’t a problem, but they will sneak up the inside of say a bus that has stopped at a zebra crossing for me to cross and a couple of times, I have nearly been run over. Although, I’m a recovering sixty-odd-year-old stroke victim, I can just about cope, but there is a lot of complaints in the shops and pubs from pedestrians about cyclists ignoring the rules of the road and the pavement.
All I think we need is that everybody tries to follow what the law lays down.
Perhaps, what annoys me at the moment, is that there is building work opposite, which means there are extra hazards like delivery lorries and skips, where I cross the road. This would be fine, as usually everything is properly placed to cause the minimum of obstruction. The problem though is that so many drivers and motorcyclists use the road as a short cut and weave in and out of the hazards at speeds over the 20 mph limit for the road.
I think it would help if Hackney followed Islington and went for a borough wide 20 mph speed limit.
February 3, 2012
Posted by AnonW |
Transport/Travel | Cycling, Driving, Hackney, Islington, Walking |
2 Comments
It is being reported that they are searching the Connaught Tunnel for any legacy of unexploded bombs from the Second World War, before they rebuild the tunnel for CrossRail.
Suppose they did miss a small one and it did a little bit of damage to one of CrossRail’s German-built TBMs.
It would be embarrassment all round!
February 2, 2012
Posted by AnonW |
News, Transport/Travel | Crossrail, Germany, Trains |
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They had this discussion on the BBC this morning, after a bus driver called a lady babe in Brighton and she objected.
Generally, I don’t mind, except if they call me Jim. Jim was my father, as I said before.
You should never assume any nicknames and to me, ones like sir, thanks, mate and luv are generally acceptable. I notice also in London, that a lot of drivers often wave you through after your ticket has been accepted. Which is acceptable to everybody and especially those who are hard of hearing. The machine also tells you to go with a visible message.
I had to laugh though when Quentin Somerville of the BBC, then said his report was on his Twitter account called MrSommerville.
So not everyone is informal!
February 1, 2012
Posted by AnonW |
News, Transport/Travel | Buses |
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It’s all here.
I rest my case!
Now we have even more reasons to not visit the Land of the Hi-tech Death Penalty!
January 31, 2012
Posted by AnonW |
Computing, Transport/Travel | Death Penalty, Twitter, United States |
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The Anonymous Widower 