Moving forward....when the dust clears.

Hiya all.
Before I ask this question my sympathies go out to all those who are stuck abroad and all those who have had to delay or cancel there vacations because of this recent eruption in Iceland.

I am due to fly to MCO on the 4/5/2010 and obviously I am very concerned about my own trip.

My question to you experts is, assuming some time next week flights get back to some kind of normality, what is the air lines policy? IE. Do the poor people who have had there trips canceled get priority or do existing bookings stand and the poor people who have had there flights cancelled just have to get seats on flights that have seats available. I am talking here about outgoing flights as I believe there might be different policies for people who are suck abroad.
Again I am not being selfish in being concerned about my own family holiday as I do feel for all those people affected and there is stil a high risk I could be one of those unlucky ones also. Any help would be appreciated.
Regards,
Steve.

[Darren Wheeler]

I can see that there will be a massive move to repatriate passengers first before any new outbound legs are allowed.

All the airlines will have to work together on this and this may mean, for example, Virgin pilots flying BA aircraft (or vis versa), extra flights being laid on, military airfields being used to boost capacity, not to mention re-routing across the globe.

Thanks for the reply, looking at the weather forecasts for next week it looks as if there will be no flights out of the uk until at least next friday.
http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/s ... lume-o.asp

How am i going to survive without my American breaskfast,lol.

Regards,

S.Parslow.

[mitchja]

If you have a confirmed ticket for a flight, you will get on that flight if it's operating. Ticketed pax get priority over stranded pax in these situations.

All airlines work in this way as otherwise, the back log will take even longer to clear.

It does beg the question why pax whose outbound flights have been cancelled are being re-scheduled on anticipated first available flights if as soon as the flight space is clear they will need these planes to bring stranded passengers home?

something that is causing us a problem with rebooking is the 3200-6400 difference in the balance dependent on dates, which we are being expected to pay ,

[HighFlyer]

Unfortunately I think we have to just wait and watch. I have a flight a week Monday and have no idea whether I will be able to catch it. I would have thought that we would be close to 'normal operations' by then and that I should be fine but there are a heck of a lot of stranded passengers out there. I have colleagues in the US who will not get home till mid next week so I am expecting most flights to be very busy for a week or two.

Thanks guys for your replies, my concerns only worsen the deeper I look into the situation. Although there might be a reprieve in the direction of winds sometime towards the end of next week giving a window to fly in, it is only what they say it is, a reprieve.
Until that volcano stops spewing its ash to such high levels this problem is with us for the long term.

Regards and gutted,


Steve.

This is just my opinion and I hope I'm wrong but all the evidence on offer at this time suggests otherwise.

Right now the only certain thing is the volcano is still chucking ash into the atmosphere and we're all sat here waiting for the wind to change direction so the ash cloud moves out of our airspace.

The weather forecast for the next 5 days isn't changing so I can't see anything changing with the closure of our airspace. When the wind direction does change then the priority has to be to get people home and the longer there are no planes flying the longer that will take to do as more and more people will be stranded abroad. Anybody flying from the UK in the next week or 2 should start thinking about contingency plans.

Then of course the wind like the volcano can and will do what it wants so we could have ongoing airspace closures as and when the ash cloud returns.

And all the while the volcano could still be pumping more ash into the atmosphere. My personal opinion is that this will go on for weeks or even months in one way or another while that volcano is still active and we'll see many airlines and businesses dependent on them going to the wall or needing help from governments.

This has the potential to turn into a much worse crisis than the banking one simply because we mere mortals have no control over that volcano and until it stops we will continue to be in the same situation we are now.

In our case I think it's almost certain that our flight to MIA on Thursday will be cancelled and based on my views above I'm now hoping it will be as I don't want to find myself stranded in the States for what could be an open ended duration.

Sorry to be all doom and gloom but if you're sat at home waiting for NATS to tell you that UK airspace will be open in the next few days and your flight will be leaving on time you really need to take a reality check.

The only glimmer of hope is the test flights being carried out by a few airlines to see what damage is being done to engines, it'll be interesting to see the results of these. Then again after all the scare stories about this so far would you get on a plane that was going to fly through something that could stall and damage the engines just before you are going to spend several hours over the North Atlantic?

As I said, just my opinion.

Miopyk 8D

[Darren Wheeler]

Lufthansa and KLM both report no problems following their test flights. Trouble is, any damage is culmitave.

Why can't aircraft fly lower level below the ash and then climb when they get over the Atlantic?

Why can't aircraft fly lower level below the ash and then climb when they get over the Atlantic?

Its all down to the fuel efficiency of the engines - the higher they fly the more fuel efficient the engines are.

Flying lower means they use up more fuel, more fuel means more weight etc.

Lower also means the journey takes longer.

If it meant a slower journey, but I could get to where I wanted then I would live with that, as would the millions of stranded people.

And if it meant a premium on the flight because they use more fuel, then I personally would be happy to pay that (within reason), and I'm sure many others would if it meant they could actually go on holiday/business.

I'm scheduled to fly out to MIA on 27th April and even though flights may be back on track by then I am concerned with the possibility of being stuck there if the winds change or the volcano throws up more ash... tricky!!

Ant.

We too are due out of LGW to Barbados on 4th May, we don't know what to do either. I can't see any point of phoning VH as they have enough to deal with right now.

My husband having to change his annual leave is going to be a nightmare and who wants to go to the Caribbean during hurricane season :0

Equally like someone else said I don't know if I want to get there are get stuck there not being able to get back.

Nightmare for many many people.

miopyk I think you made a very good point, even if it was abit gloomy! I am worrying slightly as to my holiday at the start of June, I don't get away often and would be completely gutted, however even if these tests do show that the passenger planes they've sent up are coming back okay I'd still be iffy about flying. I've seen the air crash investigation about the BA flight and being a nervous flyer anyway it would just make flying over the pond alot worse!
The knock on effects are getting worse the longer this goes on, completely dreading going back to work to deal with it all!

[mitchja]

I am concerned with the possibility of being stuck there if the winds change or the volcano throws up more ash... tricky!!

Ant.

That's my predicament as well. I'd much rather not travel at all than get stuck in the US for an extended period.

"It's better to be stuck down here, wishing you were up there, than to be stuck up there wishing you were down here".

Steve...........As much as I love the States I also am not the best flyer.

My husband having to change his annual leave is going to be a nightmare and who wants to go to the Caribbean during hurricane season :0

We've been doing it for 5 years and had no problems...dry-wet-dry-rum-wet-rum (repeat).... ii)

[Darren Wheeler]

There's a new NATS update on their website.

Is it me or does that read like a precursor to a relaxation? First mention of CAA, manufacturers etc.

To be honest, I think they will have to give priority to repatriate stranded people, rather than let people start fresh trips.

Or maybe I'm just hoping as I am looking increasingly likely to be stranded in SFO (flying back Thursday). It will cause me no end of problems - I'm due back for a wedding on Saturday and need to be back to finish off with my previous job ...

Crispin

Is it me or does that read like a precursor to a relaxation? First mention of CAA, manufacturers etc.

I would not want to be the person who has to make such a decision. You're faced with either more disruption to passengers around the globe or if you decide planes can start taking off and landing again you're faced with the constant worry that something may happen to an aircraft ?|

The longer this goes on, the more I wonder what substantial changes will happen to air travel habits in the future, once we are back to normal.

It musn't be a good time to own or have shares in an airline or indeed maybe even a travel company.

Might be a good thing for the tourist industry in the UK, but probably not for the economy as a whole.

David

Having spent the best part of the end of last week and the weekend trying to sort out the travel plans of our artists the overwhelming message I get from airlines is that once your flight has been cancelled you join the end of the queue. If you're booked on a flight that goes, once things get back to normal then you will have priority. Of course nobody knows when this might be.

[Pete]

To be honest, I think they will have to give priority to repatriate stranded people, rather than let people start fresh trips.

Or maybe I'm just hoping as I am looking increasingly likely to be stranded in SFO (flying back Thursday). It will cause me no end of problems - I'm due back for a wedding on Saturday and need to be back to finish off with my previous job ...

Crispin

Think it might be wishful thinking. As has been discussed, unseating people from confirmed bookings only ripples the problem along the line, so rather than one person that suffers disruption, now you have two - and because the airline elected to offload the second person, they'd also have to stump up the EU compensation too. Ain't gonna happen.

As far as I can tell, the following things are currently in place;

• Virgin are in some reported cases covering the cost of hotels and food (within specified limits), but you will need to claim this back on return to the UK. As this is not confirmed on the VS website, you should definitely check with the local Virgin office whether this applies to you and the limits of the allowances.
• If the outbound leg of a return trip is cancelled, Virgin won't yet re-book you as they are prioritising available seats for those stranded waiting for a return trip.
• Virgin are not currently accepting new bookings
• I believe Virgin staff travel is potentially off the cards for the time being, to ensure seats are available for the public. (As staff travel is generally standby anyway, this is not surprising).
• Both Virgin and BA have recruited as many volunteers from their operations with reservations experience to get onto the phones, but (understandably) they are receiving unprecedented volumes of calls, so 1-2 hour waits on hold are quite likely.
• If you didn't book with Virgin Atlantic directly (and non-direct includes Virgin Holidays), you must speak to your own tour operator or travel agent.