"Shabby" VS LGW plane interiors...

I was unfortunate enough to fly to Toronto on BA in PE in December and the sight of accumulated rubbish down the side of my window seat made me take a picture. In case you can't make it out, there are used dirty ear plugs, elastic bands, plastic cutlery, salt & pepper sachets, dirty napkins and general filth. :$

So its clearly not just a VS problem, more of an industry wide issue and in part due to cutbacks in "non-core" services.

Whilst dirt and filth like that is not acceptable in any class, I have to agree with sunsational that in UCS you have a right to expect a much higher standard of cleanliness given the substantial premium you pay.

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That is truly shocking :0

I thought on flights to the US that due to US regulations that all on-board rubbish is burned so as far as the US authorities are concerned they would prefer rubbish to be left on board rather than be brought into the country.

That been said I do bag my rubbish up and fold any newspapers and the blanket up.

I thought on flights to the US that due to US regulations that all on-board rubbish is burned so as far as the US authorities are concerned they would prefer rubbish to be left on board rather than be brought into the country.

That been said I do bag my rubbish up and fold any newspapers and the blanket up.

I hadn't heard of this rule - but could believe it, given that the USA seem to deem airport security outside of the the USA to be unsafe. Remember how international arrivals at MCO used to have to be completely re-screened through security in the airside terminal just to make the short walk to the train station before the escalator to the train station was installed?

The only restrictions I was aware of when arriving into the USA was on the import of foodstuffs (meat, fruit, seeds etc), so as to protect the US agriculture / food crops.

I think the cabins, particularly "down the back" on the LGW/MAN fleet are in the state they are is due to very tight turnarounds - particularly at LGW, when Virgin can have 5 aircraft all arriving & departing within a few hours. Pick up a slight delay on an inbound and the cleaners have no time to do a lot as the pressure is on to get the aircraft out.

Also, add to that what Hamster has said about the budget airlines in the EU. If a family of 4 pay, say £200 return in total for a 2-3hr flight for their holiday, it is more than likely that they will not buy a lot (if anything) on board food / drink wise (less rubbish already). They will also appreciate the short turnarounds help to keep fares down, so will help the crew by offering rubbish when they do runs with the rubbish bag.

Now if the same family of 4 spend closer to - or over - £2,000 on flights to Orlando (easily done in school hols)... given the length+cost of flights, they are going to expect to be fed & watered. When people expect this, they take less care of their surroundings (wrong I know, but many do).

The all time classic comment I remember is when I worked at a UK theme park. In the middle of "school trips fortnight" in July, I overheard a kid ask the teacher what to do with his litter, the informed reply was "drop it on the floor, people are paid to pick it up here". Needless to say I wanted to shove the kids litter.... well, you can guess where [on the teacher] given that there were bins everywhere.

I would never leave rubbish around my seat on a flight (even when seated at the back!), i know what a hard job the crew's do both on long-haul and on short-haul it doesn't take much to collect all your litter together and hand it to the crew as they do a bin round or even to leave your rubbish in a carrier bag on the seat after landing for an easy collection by the crew or cleaners.

I was unfortunate enough to fly to Toronto on BA in PE in December and the sight of accumulated rubbish down the side of my window seat made me take a picture. In case you can't make it out, there are used dirty ear plugs, elastic bands, plastic cutlery, salt & pepper sachets, dirty napkins and general filth. :$

So its clearly not just a VS problem, more of an industry wide issue and in part due to cutbacks in "non-core" services.

Whilst dirt and filth like that is not acceptable in any class, I have to agree with sunsational that in UCS you have a right to expect a much higher standard of cleanliness given the substantial premium you pay.

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I nearly threw up (no joke)! v(

im always very protective of the LGW fleet (one of my fav aircraft to work on) yes the IFE is rubbish compared to the LHR fleet but lets be realistic, you have to compare it to the other carriers doing the same route out of LGW, that means thompson, thomas cook etc they all operate the same routes with aircraft that show movies from a TV that pulls down from the roof! so having a choice of 12 films really isnt that bad in comparison!

Yes the cleaning doesnt always meet standards and i challenge anyone to do a better job cleaning 65 rows in only an hour sometimes less. the turn arounds are so tight at LGW. with low cost airline there is a big fuss made to hand in your rubbish this is mainly because the crew clean the plane! i always try to go through the cabin with a rubbish bag and you would be suprised by the amount of people that just look at you, even though they have rubbish in their seat pocket and all around their feet! oh and by the way upper class passengers make just as much mess as an ecconomy passenger!

I will say that that pic is definately a common sight on all aircraft but to clean the groove in the floor would take a long time on any aircraft and is normally done on a deep clean. at LGW deep cleans happen every 2 weeks, this is when the aircraft has a maintainance check. All the seat covers are replaced and the aircraft is cleaned top to bottom. unfortunately one or two flights and it looks just like it did when it went in!

the re fitt will happen but will take a long time at least 6 weeks per plane! long time to have a 747 out of service!

and when people say upper class was in a terrible state or my seat was broken, did they tell the crew? if you dont tell us we cant get it fixed! always let someone know if the seat is broken or you feel that its looking shabby, that way we can put it into the aircraft defects log and it will get fixed asap.

hope this helps explain our LGW fleet i know it doesnt meet expectations on occassion but i do think you have to think about the airlines doing that same route from LGW!

Don't mean to be rude John but I think some of your facts need straightening out.

I flew Thomson to Mexico in 2009 on a 767. I had seatback on demand TV with stop/start and all the other toys. It was far superior to the LGW IFE that VS have.

In 2007 I flew on MyTravel to mexico in an A330. Again, on demand setback tv.

I don't know where you are getting the idea that their IFE systems are on cabin mounted screens...on the 757/737 short haul fleet, yes. But on long haul, on the SAME routes as VS, they nearly all have on demand IFE now.

They may be charter, and you may have to pay for drinks etc, but the IFE and seats (leather RECARO on Thomson....very comfy) are IMO better than the VS product....for now.

Thanks for posting, JohnVSCrew...

"and when people say upper class was in a terrible state or my seat was broken, did they tell the crew? if you dont tell us we cant get it fixed! always let someone know if the seat is broken or you feel that its looking shabby, that way we can put it into the aircraft defects log and it will get fixed asap."

...that answers one point anyway, the crew have a method for defect reporting, but they need to know first! So, I shall pass on any such defects at quiet points in the flight where appropriate.

I don't think the litter issue is unique to VS, it remains an issue of quick turnarounds and limited time to clean on what are, let's face it, mainly leissure routes.

Having said that, there is absolutely no excuse for any passenger to leave litter etc strewn around. It's a point of common curtesy to pick up stuff you drop, pass litter to the CC etc - at least, the way I was "drug up"!

I wonder whether the materials used are a factor - the leather seats, must be easier to clean than the material seat covers...maybe the carpet selction is a factor - I'm sure some styles of carpet would be easier to clean than others etc.

Anyway, looks like it is almost more about the IFE and faulty seats etc than dirt etc - all compounding into perceived shabbiness by some.

Curiosity (see OP) satisfied!

Hi all.

Having just spent £3700 for UC to LAS on the 2nd March, this thread is a concern! Having never flown with Virgin let alone in this class, I have a feeling, after reading all the above, that apart from the CC, I am not going to get what I paid for. There are 3 of us going on this trip of a lifetime at a cost of over £11k. Have to say I am a little shocked at what we might find.

Commenting on these subjects is saving me a TR. VS 44 today on board English Rose the seats were clean, but the pockets and surrounding areas were filthy. There was chocolate and dried drink on the floor and up the walls. Just checked VROS schedule and surprise, surprise yesterday it was at MCO so there may be a point here.

I have children so don't have a problem with a little mess!! But it has to be Virgin's responsibilty to clean a plane properly. I take on board the comments about time but surely the issue has to be about numbers of cleaners. More cleaners would do a better job in less time but obviously this equals more money but seriously, the way prices have gone up over the last year surely a hygenic seating area is not too much to ask.

hope this helps

Thank you. I am very glad that you feel a sense of ownership over these issues and really appreciate your comments, we need to understand that the airline has pressures too.

I'd like to suggest a couple of things:

- if the IFE is rubbish VS should stop advertising and leading people to think all IFE is great
- if cleaning 65 rows in an hour is the target and it's rubbish too, maybe the target should be 45 rows
- appreciate your comments on deeper cleaning, but I have a hoover attachment that would suck up all that stuff and I don't call it deep cleaning, I call it regular
- I've been in UC in the same seat over three months before and had the same problem, and reported it, and on one occasion had an engineer onto the plane, then four weeks later in the same seat, no repair and it's not recorded in the book - hmmm, not a passenger fault, that's a process failure

I love flying VS, but I am not blind to VS's failings, nor to its huge positives, the main one of which is crew.

We really should travel with a camera - and post TRs with pictures.

We really should travel with a camera - and post TRs with pictures.

a good idea y)
when i next fly in April i will try and write an illustrated trip report BA LHR-CDG-LHR

Chris - that'd be good.

One of the original purposes of this thread, was to garner opinon as to whether the many comments regarding the LGW/MAN/MCO fleet I've seen indicate that VS planes on those routes were any worse than other fleets.

So, I acknowledge that the plane interiors are, on occasion, less than stella, but are they REALLy significantly worse than other airlines?

Given that the VS fleet is relatively young compared to some other airlines, are they less well maintained? Do other airlines refit more often?

I think some of these ponts are important, so that I and others can place such comments in context...

And yes, ok, the IFE is second rate...but hopefully that will change later this year.

And yes, ok, the IFE is second rate...but hopefully that will change later this year.

Hopefully it will be working ok when we go in a couple of weeks.