[Anonymous]

[SimonS1]

Apparently delayed 22.5 hours with 3 successive aircraft going tech and passengers eventually boarding 4 times??

Lots of tweets by Nils Lofgren and his wife to their 22,500 followers about how badly people were treated by BA.

Suggestion that BA staff in PHX tried to get out of compensation claims by telling passengers on the return flight that EU directive only applied to flights departing EU airports.

[Bucksnet]

http://www.thebasource.com/british-airways-b747-400-g-bnlj-operates-delayed-ba289/

https://twitter.com/azsweetheart013

More bad PR for BA.

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

Misread that – thought it was a Phoenix – London flight. Bit unfortunate to have 3 planes go Tech on the trot if that was the case!

[VintageKrug]

I had a tech delay this week.

Superbly handled on board by the cabin crew, who kept us well lubricated during the wait for technical assessment, with the IFE running to keep us entertained.

Clear and concise communication from the captain throughout, usually every 15 minutes.

Bags returned to us, with waiting buses outside the terminal to whisk us to a nearby hotel (very comfortable, with supper available, though I went straight to bed).

Email waiting for me in the morning for the rescheduled flight, called BA and was able to be re-accommodated on an earlier departure, upgraded to F.

Spent my £200 BA Amex disruption compensation on some “essential” shopping in the terminal.

Superb crew again, and new First, made for a very pleasant journey indeed. http://www.ba.com/welldone sent.

All in all, a very well handled situation. I’m not unrealistic about the fact the aircraft will have technical concerns from time to time; ensuring the aircraft I’m in is 100% safe is something with which I trust BA implicitly.

I would much rather the aircraft didn’t go, than pressure was put to fly aircraft with which the captain is not 100% comfortable.

Safety is paramount, and I don’t understand people suggesting it’s bad for airlines to err on the side of caution.

[Bucksnet]

Where was your flight from/to VK?

[Guest_Poster]

VintageKrug – 06/06/2013 09:15 GMT

I would strongly support your statement that safety must come first, but would then balance that by saying that repeated tech failures are not good for an airline’s reputation or finances.

Without knowing the stats/trends for BA tech problems over the last 12 months, one cannot draw any conclusion about whether the Phoenix debacle was a string of unfortunate events precipitated by random failures on an ageing fleet (by which I mean the 747-400) or something with a discernable pattern.

Older aircraft do have a tendency to throw up surprises, no matter how good the maintenance.

[GrahamC]

“Older aircraft do have a tendency to throw up surprises, no matter how good the maintenance.”

A brand new fleet of A380s or 787s would have thrown up the odd surprise here or there.

[Marco64]

Again another failure of management at BA. This is a clear case of not investing in new aircraft as BA’s 747 aircraft has an average age of 20 years. The 747-400 is archaic and surpassed by the likes of the superb A380. Compared to the new world of airlines such as Emirates, Etihad, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific & Qatar all have an average age of less than 6 years.

[VintageKrug]

What a ridiculous post.

BA’s management made a major, fully funded, aircraft order in 2007, with the reasonable expectation of an in service date starting 2011.

In the interim, they ordered 777-300ERs (now six in the fleet, mostly leased).

It also invested heavily in its shorthaul airbus fleet.

There is now a totally new fleet of Embrarers at London City (as well as the innovative STOL A318).

By delaying ordering the A380, BA has avoided the travails of the early-adopters and managed to secure an increased MTOW version of the A380 which will be more profitable for BA’s business model.

The deliveries, which are significantly behind what was promised, are now also nicely timed in line with an improving economic cycle; had they been delivered in the throes of the cabin crew strike and impending global recession it would have been a struggle to finance the purchases and service the leases.

[EU_Flyer]

I can imagine a BA aircraft suffering an explosive decompression with the Captain getting sucked out and VK would still find a silver lining somewhere.

From my experience aircraft going tech is a reality of travel. How airlines deal with it is what defines how you remember the experience.

I have never had any problems with BA in this regard. I remember being delayed once in Sydney flying Olympic to Athens. Plane went tech. 5 hours later, still no word from the ground staff. Then it was off to hotels, after which they changed their minds and we boarded leaving 7+ hours late and probably minus an engine. Lucky their old 747-200s had 4.

New doesn’t always mean reliable. Think A380 and B787.

[AnthonyDunn]

@ Marco64 – 06/06/2013 13:24 GMT

Hmm, you very clearly have a bee in your bonnet as this is now the third such posting claiming “another failure of management at BA…” in less than 24 hours.

At least you have stopped claiming that BA does not take safety seriously after the Torygraph posted a news item

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/9793121/Worlds-safest-airlines-revealed.html

reporting that the Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre, based in Germany, analysed all serious incidents suffered by airlines since 1983 in its study, giving BA 10th place worldwide. That was definitive and interestingly, BA came out well ahead of most other major European carriers such as LX, LH, AF, KL, SK etc and all the US carriers. Well done to Finnair for their 1st place and to TAP for their 7th position.

Is it BA management’s fault that there have been production delays with both the A380 and the B787? I think not.

As has also become evident from the BA A319 engine cowling incident, safety is not just about having new planes, it’s also the manner in which they are operated. I rather imagine, as an outsider, that there is likely to be some very serious analysis of systems and procedures within BA’s line maintenance organisation after that debacle which, thankfully, only cost dosh and PR damage rather than actual lives.

Any chance of a sense of proportion?

[Marco64]

AnthonyDunn – 06/06/2013 14:37 GMT

10th place is no real place. BA has been steadily dropping out of all rankings over the years. Emirates were and have been taking deliveries very frequently and did not experience any problems. BA maintenance is has been questionable for many years; all you have to do is have a look at the state of the cabin interiors to show how much BA really cares about the state of their planes.

BA are playing with people’s lives and one day there will be a serious fatality which they will not be able to handle.

[GrahamC]

Marco 64: “BA are playing with people’s lives and one day there will be a serious fatality which they will not be able to handle.”

As oppose to a non-serious fatality that they are able to handle???

I don’t see much evidence of people questioning BA maintenance as your post suggests.

[Henkel.Trocken]

As above, more bad news about BA who really need to get their house in order on a few fronts.

Delighted that Krug has such a good experience of failure but then of course he would have done. I suspect the destination of his flight was Sim City.

[Author]

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