[CXDiamond]

Well a tie up between BA and FR would certainly help BA in the race to the bottom not that they need any encouragement.

Tom dear, just so you know, I’m in the never group and as my retirement races towards me I can see no reason to even consider the sheer horror that must be flying with FR.

[TominScotland]

Thank you, CX – I am sure that retirement will allow you to choose exactly where, when and with whom you want to fly – sounds perfect!!

[FDOS_UK]

CXDiamond – 22/09/2015 17:52 BST

I think the problem is BA isn’t racing to the bottom, it’s racing to the bottom of the middle, which is not a great place to be in most businesses.

It’s working presently, built on the dominance at Heathrow and a positive business environment, but at some stage all the costs that can be cut will be cut and there will be no more and I doubt BA will have a low cost focus to match it’s market position – there be dragons.

[AnthonyDunn]

@ FDOS_UK – 22/09/2015 19:16 BST

Cannot agree with you entirely.

There is always the option of one more cost reduction: outsourcing the bean counting function, senior management and directocracy to somewhere cheap – alongside their call centres. Maybe Bangla Deshi accountants, management team and board of directors?

Not that I wish to be disrespectful either to Bangla Desh or Bangla Deshis.

Sorry, that was a pig I just saw flying past the window. §;-)

[FDOS_UK]

AnthonyDunn – 22/09/2015 19:37 BST

No, you don’t understand. At junior level, value is employing the cheapest labour, because their skills are interchangeable, but at senior/board level, you have to pay for the best talent around 😉

This is an immutable law of large corporations.

[AnthonyDunn]

@ FDOS_UK – 23/09/2015 08:58 BST

Silly me. So you mean that senior management teams should have the smartest guys on the block – err like this lot…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w6duQhWuVk

[FDOS_UK]

More like this bunch….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRrMu7B1L2I

For the avoidance of doubt, I am referring to large corporations in general, not either of the corporations who is are the subject of this thread.

[canucklad]

Morning all,
Firstly to answer your question FDOS, my one and only complaint to FRightenair was when my flight showed “Go to gate” whilst other FR departures above and below displayed either “Boarding” or “Final Call” . ……Sitting in the bar 30 seconds away from our designated gate, and about 20 >15 minutes before our departure time I nipped down to the gate to find out what was going on…..
Just to find the gate agent walking away, when I enquired about the flight, she barked back that we had missed it, and then stormed off…..The departure boards still showed “Go to Gate” . …
£120 each, over and above the original cost finally got us back to EDI.

Their response was shocking !!

The FR tie up with IAG is interesting, I’d suspect it probably has more to do with feeding traffic into DUB and EI’s trans-Atlantic services rather than BA’s flights . And possibly IB’s services from Madrid

[FDOS_UK]

canucklad – 23/09/2015 10:29 BST

Based on experience, so fair enough.

If you arrived at the gate before the ‘gate closes’ time on your BP, did you consider suing to recover the £120?

[canucklad]

So FDOS,
Factually, myself and a few others who missed the flight were factually in the wrong….. Your FRightmare boarding card does state that the gate closes 30 mins before departure.

The reply to my letter quoted a whole pile of T&C’s , blamed DAA for not updating the boards and had the very cold feel of a VD clinic, not that I’ve been to a VD clinic. Basically everybody’s fault except theirs……

In reality on that particular day, the following probably happened…

1) The gate agent’s face radiated a mixture of anger, bluster and fluster…… a face that looked as if she had been slapped repeatedly by the wettest, of wet fish. I’d take an educated guess at it being a halibut. So she wasn’t in a good place. to be in a customer facing job.
2) I’m assuming It’s her responsibility to let DAA knowo how boarding is progressing so they can accurately update the boards, as she is at the coalface. She clearly forgot and worse took no responsibility.
3) Finally what really worked against us, as I found out later from the CC on my flight, was that the afternoon flight wasn’t busy. It also departed from a remote stand, meaning that Halibut Helen had everybody who was at the gate 30 minutes before hand on the bus sharp, and then pretty much abandoned her post. In most likely hood passengers were on that bus before the incoming plane had even landed.

Why can I be make such assumptions,
On my evening flight, it was ½ full and although we gated it, the flight was in the air 20 minutes before departure time, 10 minutes after gate closed time, arriving in EDI 40 minutes early!!

[FDOS_UK]

canucklad – 23/09/2015 12:01 BST

That’s unfortunate, but if you arrive at the gate after the latest time on the BP, the airline can walk away, in a literal and metaphorical sense – Ryanair will walk away, as you found out, sadly.

I had a similar thing happen in ZRH, when I was in a 3rd party lounge that also hosted BA pax and the desk told me not to go to the gate until a certain time, as there was a delay.

This info turned out to be wrong and I arrived after they had closed doors and would not accept me.

So I ended up spending £160 on a one way Swiss ticket for a flight an hour later.

Moral of the story is be at the gate before the latest time and be prepared to photograph the gate board and some form of time bound evidence, if they have closed early.

I don’t blame BA for what happened and now I don’t listen to lounge hosts :-), just ensure I’m there before the latest time.

Edited to add: For anyone not aware – airport FIDS (flight information display systems) and other systems often work independently of airline systems, so never rely on them to give you an accurate picture – e.g. some airport systems are set to say ‘boarding’ at a standard pre-set time, when the aircraft may still be flying the inbound sector.

On my last trip from MAN to AUH, the airport actually made a PA stating pax for EY16 needed to go to the gate urgently, as the flight was closing. Actually, the agents were dealing with pre-boards and the airport announcement caused chaos and the airline staff were furious..

I just share this info for the potential benefit of other readers who assume joined-up thinking!

[AMcWhirter]

canucklad – Re: IAG and FR co-operation on feeder flights

I believe you are correct. As I mentioned in my news piece, FR has no wish to fly into LHR so any, what I would call “quasi” or “partial” interlining, would take place at Dublin or Shannon or, perhaps, another IAG hub such as MAD.

IAG has already mentioned the future possibility of launching narrow-bodied A321LR neo transatlantic flights from Shannon.

I would imagine EI would still operate the main feeder routes (these would have normal interline facilities) so only FR’s flights from the points not served by EI would be involved. For example, from DUB, FR flies to numerous points in the former Eastern Europe. It also flies to various smaller destinations in France.

Irish Independent carried a news story last month.

http://www.independent.ie/business/ryanair-in-talks-with-iag-on-being-a-feeder-for-longhaul-flights-31442380.html

[canucklad]

Included in the complaint letter was the picture of the board still showing……as best as memory can recollect something like this …Importantly it’s the correlation between our flight status and the local time, that didn’t register with their complaints team.

FR123 LTN @ 14.45 — Closed
FR123 DUS @ 14 50 — Final Call
FR123 EDI @ 15.00 — Go to Gate 123
FR123 PAR @ 15.05 — Boarding
FR123 GLA @ 15.10 — Final Call
ETC. ETC ….

And at the bottom of the board…..local time 14.44

Hence, why I wouldn’t bother complaining to FR anymore.. They just don’t care
And ironically, we were coming back from the 7’s, managed to get an outstanding deal ex DUB with EK….and our little stramash with FR basically wiped out our APD savings !!

EDIT to add….DAA responded firmly blaming FR

And you’re right FDOs —Stansted being a classic example !
Remember waiting for an EZ flight that hadn’t yet landed, yet showed departed on the board.

[FDOS_UK]

canucklad – 23/09/2015 15:51 BST

Ah, I can see exactly what happened 🙁

Ryanair said “your picture shows 1444 and you should have been at the gate no later than 1430 – bye’ and DAA said ‘nowt to do with us, speak to the airline.’

The classic slippery shouldering of the air travel industry, don’t you just love them.

[NTarrant]

Hi FDOS, yes Riyadh is fine, I expect it will be the same when I return on Sunday!

It struck me today flying from LHR to EDI this afternoon, how many complaints the new seating has generated. We know that from threads on the forum that it is not popular and we are of course the tip of an iceberg.

If FR changed the seating type no one would bat an eye lid and accept it as part of the deal.

[Author]

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