Virgin Fies to Fort Lauderdale_ Oh yes it does!

Have just got back from Miami where we went down to the Keys for a few days. Anyone out there on the outbound flight VS005 from HR last Tuesday, 27th June that landed at Fort Lauderdale & sat on the tarmac for over 5 hrs? Total flight time over 15hrs, new crew flown up from Miami & also a tow bar because Ft Laud don't have one for the A340! I could go on but, I don't want to bore anyone.

That sucks!!

What reason did they give for this - was it the "storms over Miami" thing again - this happend to us waiting on an inbound 005 which was diverted to the Bahamas on that occasion and ended up being 3 hours late[xx(]

Oh pooey, you must all have been hot and bothered ... and tired ... what was the reason?

Oh and I for one think VS should fly to FLa ... soooo much better than MIA.

[Scrooge]

Why the heck did they leave you sitting on the plane for over 5 hrs?

Fll is a 30-45 min drive from Miami,why not just of load there at the international terminal and bus you down?

As it is I would like to see VS fly to Fll rather than Mia just because Fll is so much nicer.

[ChuckC]

My guess on why the pax were left on board is either that there were no facilities available for customs/immigration or because no maintenance agreement exists between VS and FLL authorities -- or both?

Chuck-

I would love to see VS, using FLL, I would be home in 10 mins rather than 35 when I fly in to MIA.

I was on this flight. Here's my recollection of what happened.

The flight was due into Miami about an hour early of the normal 4:20pm arrival. As we were getting close, we started to circle and the pilot informed the passengers that severe storms were over MIA and that we would have to circle for at least 20 minutes. Roughly 20-25 minutes later the pilot updated us that the storms had not let up and we continued to circle. Fifteen minutes later the pilot came on again and said we were being diverted and would be landing at FLL. We then circled for another 5 to 10 minutes before landing from the east at FLL. We touched down at FLL at 4:21pm.

We then had to wait approximately 15 minutes behind 2 other planes waiting for a gate assignment so that we could refuel. We got to the gate approximately 20 to 25 minutes after landing. At least twenty minutes after arriving at the gate the pilot informs us that the jetway was not large enough to fit over the door of our A340-600 and that they would need to find a stairway. We were informed that one of the aircraft doors must be open while refueling for safety reasons. About half an hour later (about 5:30pm by now) the steps show up and a fueling truck does as well. By now the pilot has informed us that the ÒauthoritiesÓ will not let us get off the plane. At roughly 6pm, the pilot let us know that the crew would be going illegal in another short bit and that the crew scheduled to fly Flight 6 later that night would be bussed up from MIA and would have to fly the 10-15 minute flight to MIA after we had refueled. Also, the pilot informed us that FLL did not have a Towbar large enough to push us back from the gate when we were done refueling, so they would have to bring one up from MIA. By this point, the full economy cabin was no longer groaning at each new announcement, but rather laughing at how outrageous our plight had become. We are informed a good 30 minutes later that they now have an estimate that the new crew and tow bar are on their way and will arrive in approximately one hour. Refueling is ending about this time.

Approximately 75 minutes later the new crew arrives. The flight attendants have to find place to store their bags, paperwork has to be filled out and it takes about 45 more minutes before we finally push back from the gate a little before 9pm. After about 15 minutes of taxiing, we take off to the east and continue over the Atlantic for a good 3 minutes (making me wonder for a split second if we were headed back to LHR). We turned south and roughly 12 minutes later we touched down at MIA. After another 10 minutes of taxiing to the gate we all finally deplaned at roughly 9:45pm.

HereÕs some random bits regarding our ÒstayÓ in FLL: Customs/immigration or Òthe authoritiesÓ as the pilot referred to them, would not let us get off the plane. Every 45 minutes or so, the captain would explain a request that had been made by passengers and why it couldnÕt be fulfilled (some of you wish to get off here as you may live closer to FLL, sorry, but the authorities wonÕt allow it; some of you inquired about food, sorry but we are out of food; some of you inquired about putting the vport back on, sorry but we canÕt do it; some of you inquired about opening the bar and/or serving alcohol, sorry but that is illegal and we canÕt do it; some of you have inquired about catering food, sorry but logistically we will not be able to do it). The flight attendants were serving water and juice fairly regularly. Also got a bag of pretzels about 6:30pm. About 8:30pm the bathroom just in front of row 52 on the right side ran out of toilet paper and they had to get some more from another bathroom.

When we first landed at FLL many of the passengers used to policies on other airlines (such as AA) that allow you to use your cell phone after clearing the runway attempted to use their phones and the flight attendants kept asking them to stop. Some passengers became a bit unruly, but most eventually complied.

It was a long 5+ hours.

[mitchja]

Welcome to V-Flyer canes98

Wow what a shoking experience - sounds like VS basically had their hands tied by the US authorities.

Have VS offered you any form of compensation BTW [:?]

Regards

Why on earth couldn't they boot up V-Port and why did they not allow cell phones to be used (when not re-fuelling)?

Regards

John

Wow, they really did have their hands tied.

I'm not surprised they didn't have things such as the correct towbars and ground handling equipment - the 340-600 is probably a very rare visitor to FLL (could this have been the first one?).

I am surprised that they wouldn't switch the IFE back on, they've done that on other airlines when we've had ground delays.

Did they allow mobile phones to be used once the plane had parked up though?

Cheers,
Mike

Once the seat belt sign went off after we pulled up to the gate everyone started using cell phones, before any announcement authorizing (or do I have to spell it authorising on this forum) such use. I did witness a couple of flight attendants trying to get a few passengers in the bulkhead row (52?) to turn their phones off, but 40 other people were using them and after 5 minutes, they acquiesced to the cell phone use. It was only the first 30 minutes or so after landing that cell phone use was not allowed.

No compensation has been offered. I am a Flying Club member, but I have 0 miles as this was my first journey on VS and I bought a really low (unadvertised) fare that was briefly offered for a few days in February ($488RT MIA-LHR in summer) that did not qualify for miles. Most of the situation was beyond Virgin's control. I'm curious though if they would offer any compensation if I wrote a letter.

About 45 minutes after landing I did witness an airport employee walking on the tarmac and taking photos of the plane with her camera phone. I'm not sure if she was taking them because of the airline or the plane type, neither of which had probably been at FLL before.

Just wait till an A380 makes an emergency landing due to something like a medical problem. Most airports will not be able to cope with that many people.

I know LGW is being prepared for the A380 as a spare airport in case LHR is unavailable, but any airport en route could end up being used as well.

Hi, I'm back, have had problems with our computer - sorry about that. All that has been written is true! We used our cell phones to inform friends that we wouldn't be able to drive to Key Largo to meet them. We were in PE & our daughter & her friend were in economy. We were told that PSAs would meet us in baggage reclaim to assist us, we didn't see one. It took us an hour to get thru immigration , no hurrying the system for us but, it wouldn't have mattered because our bags still hadn't come thru.I can't believe that FTL do not have a suitable tow bar or, that the plane doesn't have one on board. I know that they weigh an enormous amount but, if you took a kilo off of everyones baggage allowance would this not help?
I found that the crew were great under the circumstanes.
I saw the air marshalls on board, well, I only saw one but, I guess that they wouldn't travel alone. I also saw 2 sheriffs cars with their lights flashing by the plane.
A lady was taken ill & was laid out on the floor between PE &UC. She was on oxygen for what seemed like ages.
As an aside, we used the check-in on line system - fantastic!
If you use this system for the return flight, the form on screen says words to the effect 'permamnent resident number, you can enter your passport no & expiry date.
Also, I asked the baggage drop assistant at HR about the iris identification system now advertised on the website. She knew nothing about it. However, as you clear security, the room is over to the right. It only takes 5mins to do. On your return flight as you reach arrivals, the screen & cameras are over to the sharp left apparently. I missed them & asked when I went thru the conventional system. I was told that it probably wouldn't have worked anyway. I'll let you try it & see what happens.
Great to hear what you are all thinking. I hope my computer doesn't go down again. I have a whizz due to give it the once over next Wednesday.

Roxy-Popsy here again. I forgot to say that on a previous ocassion we landed in the Bahamas because we were running out of fuel before we got to Miami. This was due to the fact that we were flying at 28,000ft instead of 33,000-35,000ft due to crowded skies so the pilot told us.
On another ocassion when going to Orlando, it was closed as we approached due to storms. We lande at Tampa & you can imagine the rest of the story is not dissimilar the the one above. Why me. I suggest that you find out when I'll next be on a flight & avoid it!

You haven't had much luck have you - Im sorry you have had to go through this on more than one occasion[:#]

And yes - is your next flight in the itinerary below[:I]

Seriously though - I hope you have a much better journey next time you fly!![y]

This sounds like a business that doesn't know how to behave with flexibility or consideration in unexpected circumstances. It interests me that staff have their plans and can only do X hours but airlines are allowed to keep their pax captive for Y hours ... where is the customer service in that? Sure, unusual events happen, but hey let's put the paying customer first and do absolutely everything to make them comfortable before anything else, sorry guys, that's how customer service works and in any business if the staff suffer before the customer that's life and sorry (I've done it and it sucks but that's why we do it).

So Virgin, switch on VPort, clean the loos (with the on board staff in emergency), allow cell phones, turn on the air con, empty the galley to keep people fed and watered, refresh all supplies in emergency, do everything that is not illegal or out of bounds of the rules.

Is this a rant ... oops

[preiffer]

Although I agree with the "on the ground" comments around flexibility, etc. I would just add one age-old saying:

"better to be down here wishing you were up there, than up there wishing you were down here"

Be thankful that an alternate airport was used, rather than risking the landing in a severe thunderstorm, I say [y]

Originally posted by slinky09
So Virgin, switch on VPort, clean the loos (with the on board staff in emergency), allow cell phones, turn on the air con, empty the galley to keep people fed and watered, refresh all supplies in emergency, do everything that is not illegal or out of bounds of the rules.

I've just sussed why they wouldn't switch the IFE on. They would have collected all the headsets. They still thought they were heading MIA when the cabin items were collected. I'm sure if they knew they were diverting, would sit some weather out for an hour or two, and then take off again, they would have left the headsets.

Sure, they could give them back out, though I'm sure someone would complain about getting someone else's greasy, ear-wax infested, headset given back to them, so they probably can't win.

During a lengthy (5hr) ground delay on UA (a mix of a technical problem, and then weather), which eventually resulted in the crew timing out and cancellation of the flight, the IFE was switched on, refreshments were served, and then eventually the light (usually 2nd) meal was served in First and Business (and re-catered), while a catering truck pulled up and catered the Y galley with extra drinks, snacks (crisps, cereal bars, chocolate bars) and ice creams.

It seemed from that experience that UA have good processes in place for lengthy ground delays. VS could learn a lot from some of the larger carriers.

Cheers,
Mike

Originally posted by preiffer
Although I agree with the "on the ground" comments around flexibility, etc. I would just add one age-old saying:

"better to be down here wishing you were up there, than up there wishing you were down here"

Be thankful that an alternate airport was used, rather than risking the landing in a severe thunderstorm, I say [y]

Paul, you are always so understanding

[preiffer]

Originally posted by slinky09
Paul, you are always so understanding

Well, as someone who's flown a plane in some pretty dodgy weather - a 5 hour delay stuck on tarmac sounds like heaven compared to what some of my muscles went through on that occasion... [:w]

[mcmbenjamin]

Originally posted by preiffer
Well, as someone who's flown a plane in some pretty dodgy weather - a 5 hour delay stuck on tarmac sounds like heaven compared to what some of my muscles went through on that occasion... [:w]

Ditto. Just have a friend die a crash just last Monday, possibly do to weather.

[preiffer]

Oh crap - didn't realise Ben (I saw it on AOPA, but didn't think of a link). Not good, sorry to hear. [:(]

Originally posted by mcmbenjamin
[br
Ditto. Just have a friend die a crash just last Monday, possibly do to weather.

Sorry for your loss Ben.

Ben Sorry for your Loss!

Just wanted to add I have been on a VS flight to LGW and wewere diverted to MAN refuelled and back to LGW. We were due to land 06:55 and I think we got backto LGW around 12.00. On this occassion only the the flight deck crew were changed. Cabin crew saw it through to the bitter end. It was a long 'ole time. The crew allowed cell phone use, also toilet use and brought round snacks and drinks. Well what was left.
I can only praise the crew and the company for making the best out of a bad job.
Wemust always understand that airports, local regulations and ground crew can make flight crew's jobs that much more difficult.

[Bazz]

Sorry to learn of your friends death Ben.

Thanks to Roxy-Popsy and Canes98 for the information and sorry to learn of the exhausting delay. Glad to hear the crew behaved correctly and also that most pax were also understanding.