Finally WiFi with British Airways
Discussion
BrabusMog said:
I like to use it when I have checked when the flight map says we are 30 mins from landing and I text my missus to let her know. Our house is 40-45 mins from the airport and this means she knows when to leave a bit more reliably than the arrivals page and it saves both of us from having to wait around at the airport. Very handy for catching up on emails etc as well.
Also true, and strangely my house is also about 40-45 mins from Heathrow. I usually text when just landed, as it tends to take about 40 mins to get through and out. I'd rather wait than have to pay the parking. That's the biggest farce. I might also go up to departures too... 
Dr Jekyll said:
I'm sure I made a phone call from a BA shorthaul flight nearly 20 years ago. What happened to that facility?
Satellite telephony to aircraft has been around for over 25 years and was one of the first things I worked on in the industry. It's still in use today though largely for safety purposes in the cockpit rather than to passengers so that if the need arises the pilot can make a (emergency) phone call when out of reach of ground based VHF radio (e.g. in the middle of the Atlantic). Modern aircraft tend to carry two systems, one for safety which provides basic telephony and low rate data messaging for flight / aircraft status information, the second usually a much higher bandwidth system for inflight WiFi, live TV, cellular phone calls to the cabin etc.This is the original system still in use for safety: https://www.inmarsat.com/service/aviation-safety/
Big Raff said:
I flew back on an A380 from LA on Monday, there was no mention of WiFi? Only on selected flights for now?
It'll arrive pre-installed on new aircraft, but existing ones need to be taken out of service to have the appropriate equipment installed. That can't be done all at once so it'll be scheduled to coincide with routine maintenance so as to limit aircraft downtime, to a pre-existing schedule, as much as possible.
pushthebutton said:
In what way?
Whose stats are you using to draw the comparison and with which airlines? Are we talking globally or within the UK?
Strikes at a drop of a hat, IT systems causing chaos, operating out of a hub thats at 101% capacity too.Whose stats are you using to draw the comparison and with which airlines? Are we talking globally or within the UK?
Never heard of that with the G3 or even East Asian carriers.
jamoor said:
Strikes at a drop of a hat, IT systems causing chaos, operating out of a hub thats at 101% capacity too.
Never heard of that with the G3 or even East Asian carriers.
I’ve only ever had one real issue with them which was when Heathrow effectively shut because of less than inch of snow and they sent my luggage to Sweden to spend Xmas there instead of just sending it 70 miles down the road to south Hampshire as promised. Other than it it’s just the misery of their economy class which isn’t great.Never heard of that with the G3 or even East Asian carriers.
DXB is carnage on a busy/windy/foggy day just like Heathrow. I’ve found Emirates to be woeful when it comes to punctuality, I would certainly never chance a short connection with them.
I think the strike issues have been resolved now haven’t they? My sister was mixed fleet cabin crew for a while and they were treated pretty poorly especially compared to their older colleagues so I don’t blame them for taking action
jamoor said:
Strikes at a drop of a hat, IT systems causing chaos, operating out of a hub thats at 101% capacity too.
Never heard of that with the G3 or even East Asian carriers.
I was hoping for more quantifiable stats to be honest.Never heard of that with the G3 or even East Asian carriers.
Many UK and overseas airlines have either approached or undergone significant industrial relations conflicts in recent years, BA isn't alone in that one. The BA strikes had little operational significance to passengers, but created a bigger headache for management. In the U.K, EasyJet, Ryanair and Thomas Cook have all encountered periods of industrial rest over the last couple of years. Outside of the U.K, Air France and Lufthansa have had their own issues recently as have most airlines where industrial relations laws are not specifically prohibitive, even draconian.
All airlines have faced issues with their I.T systems as their operations continue to increase their reliance on them. Here's Deltas one from early 2017:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-30...
I don't think we'll ever find out, but there's a possibility that BA's recent high profile one was triggered by a contractor and a plug. I'm sure I can remember Emirates or one of the ME3 airlines having a loadsheet system failure recently which grounded all flights, but I'm struggling to find a link for that one.
Heathrow isn't actually at 101% capacity. It runs at 98% of (allowed) capacity after yearly cancellations are taken into account and that 98% is based on allowable movements agreed by the U.K Government after Terminal 5 was given the go ahead (IIRC) i.e. an artificial capacity limit:
Heathrow Airport said:
98% capacity – Flight movements at Heathrow are capped at 480,000/year
https://www.heathrowexpansion.com/the-expansion-plan/facts-and-figures/It's impossible to compete with the G3 or any other nation that has an onside Government on many aviation issues:
http://www.openandfairskies.com/subsidies/
I think that airport capacity and individual airline industrial relations fall under the remit of an onside Government and so it isn't really a like-for-like comparison. A Unionised workforce is illegal and airport capacity can be increased by whichever means possible without pesky stakeholders and/or local residents interfering.
Finally, demonstrable punctuation stats show BA to be doing pretty well when all variables are normalised e.g operating in to and out of the World's busiest airports. Using departure rather than arrival times as a measure of punctuality seems to be the more reliable measure and less open to schedule manipulation.
Defensive? Me?...Yup
pushthebutton said:
jamoor said:
Strikes at a drop of a hat, IT systems causing chaos, operating out of a hub thats at 101% capacity too.
Never heard of that with the G3 or even East Asian carriers.
I was hoping for more quantifiable stats to be honest.Never heard of that with the G3 or even East Asian carriers.
Many UK and overseas airlines have either approached or undergone significant industrial relations conflicts in recent years, BA isn't alone in that one. The BA strikes had little operational significance to passengers, but created a bigger headache for management. In the U.K, EasyJet, Ryanair and Thomas Cook have all encountered periods of industrial rest over the last couple of years. Outside of the U.K, Air France and Lufthansa have had their own issues recently as have most airlines where industrial relations laws are not specifically prohibitive, even draconian.
All airlines have faced issues with their I.T systems as their operations continue to increase their reliance on them. Here's Deltas one from early 2017:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-30...
I don't think we'll ever find out, but there's a possibility that BA's recent high profile one was triggered by a contractor and a plug. I'm sure I can remember Emirates or one of the ME3 airlines having a loadsheet system failure recently which grounded all flights, but I'm struggling to find a link for that one.
Heathrow isn't actually at 101% capacity. It runs at 98% of (allowed) capacity after yearly cancellations are taken into account and that 98% is based on allowable movements agreed by the U.K Government after Terminal 5 was given the go ahead (IIRC) i.e. an artificial capacity limit:
Heathrow Airport said:
98% capacity – Flight movements at Heathrow are capped at 480,000/year
https://www.heathrowexpansion.com/the-expansion-plan/facts-and-figures/It's impossible to compete with the G3 or any other nation that has an onside Government on many aviation issues:
http://www.openandfairskies.com/subsidies/
I think that airport capacity and individual airline industrial relations fall under the remit of an onside Government and so it isn't really a like-for-like comparison. A Unionised workforce is illegal and airport capacity can be increased by whichever means possible without pesky stakeholders and/or local residents interfering.
Finally, demonstrable punctuation stats show BA to be doing pretty well when all variables are normalised e.g operating in to and out of the World's busiest airports. Using departure rather than arrival times as a measure of punctuality seems to be the more reliable measure and less open to schedule manipulation.
Defensive? Me?...Yup
The open skies alliance from the USA is mostly hogwash the second I saw this they lost all credbilibty,
https://youtu.be/Rn35xebnG7M?t=11m48s
They claim that the G3 cannot have the amount of traffic due to small populations. They are essentially spreading misinformation to try to further their own agenda.
Essentially BA etc can never compete as other airlines operate under very different laws and thus are able to provide surperior service at a much better price point. No point in wasting time with BA that have all cards stacked against them. We have seen threats from BA staff of striking at xmas, easter and other crucial times.
jamoor said:
Oh sorry, heathrow at 98% capacity, that makes it ok then.
The open skies alliance from the USA is mostly hogwash the second I saw this they lost all credbilibty,
https://youtu.be/Rn35xebnG7M?t=11m48s
They claim that the G3 cannot have the amount of traffic due to small populations. They are essentially spreading misinformation to try to further their own agenda.
Essentially BA etc can never compete as other airlines operate under very different laws and thus are able to provide surperior service at a much better price point. No point in wasting time with BA that have all cards stacked against them. We have seen threats from BA staff of striking at xmas, easter and other crucial times.
Google Emirates pilot fatigue. You say superior service but you’re not looking at all the levels of the service being provided. Besides BA (IAG) are turning a very healthy profit without surreptitious state support.The open skies alliance from the USA is mostly hogwash the second I saw this they lost all credbilibty,
https://youtu.be/Rn35xebnG7M?t=11m48s
They claim that the G3 cannot have the amount of traffic due to small populations. They are essentially spreading misinformation to try to further their own agenda.
Essentially BA etc can never compete as other airlines operate under very different laws and thus are able to provide surperior service at a much better price point. No point in wasting time with BA that have all cards stacked against them. We have seen threats from BA staff of striking at xmas, easter and other crucial times.
djc206 said:
Google Emirates pilot fatigue. You say superior service but you’re not looking at all the levels of the service being provided. Besides BA (IAG) are turning a very healthy profit without surreptitious state support.
I think pilot fatigue is a mute point as their hours are strictly controlled.Re the state support, I always wonder if a state that is pro aviation and willing to make business conditions favourable for all businesses to equally succeed state support?
Providing an airport(s) - is that state support?
Building roads - is that state support? What does this so called state support end.
Unfortunately our governments are totally oblivious to all of this.
jamoor said:
I think pilot fatigue is a mute point as their hours are strictly controlled.
Re the state support, I always wonder if a state that is pro aviation and willing to make business conditions favourable for all businesses to equally succeed state support?
Providing an airport(s) - is that state support?
Building roads - is that state support? What does this so called state support end.
Unfortunately our governments are totally oblivious to all of this.
Well you’re wrong. I think you mean moot and clearly not strictly enough. Some airlines do the bare minimum and others actually protect themselves, their staff and their passengers from something which has claimed lives before.Re the state support, I always wonder if a state that is pro aviation and willing to make business conditions favourable for all businesses to equally succeed state support?
Providing an airport(s) - is that state support?
Building roads - is that state support? What does this so called state support end.
Unfortunately our governments are totally oblivious to all of this.
State subsidies meaning the airlines/states concerned are in breach of international open skies agreements.
jamoor said:
I think pilot fatigue is a mute point as their hours are strictly controlled.
'Mute' covered.Strictly controlled by whom?
Emirates Airline current Chairman/CEO is this guy:
Whereas, this guy makes sure that crew hours are strictly controlled as head of the GCAA:
Sufficient thread derailment for me to back out now.
djc206 said:
Well you’re wrong. I think you mean moot and clearly not strictly enough. Some airlines do the bare minimum and others actually protect themselves, their staff and their passengers from something which has claimed lives before.
State subsidies meaning the airlines/states concerned are in breach of international open skies agreements.
Well none of that has ever been proven to date, in fact the US government has never actually found anything wrong. It's just alot of hot air from the American carriers and has been for some time now.State subsidies meaning the airlines/states concerned are in breach of international open skies agreements.
jamoor said:
Well none of that has ever been proven to date, in fact the US government has never actually found anything wrong. It's just a lot of hot air from the American carriers and has been for some time now.
And the European ones of course:http://e4fc.eu/subsidies/
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