VS043 sitting on the tarmac still at LGW

[Darren Wheeler]

One question though, will my additional gambling losses incurred in this 24 hour delay be covered ?

Possibly, but if you win, you'll have to share that too.

well according to flight radar the flight just took off using G-VROM so I'm assuming VROS is still faulty or rescheduled somewhere else.

[Neil]

ROS looks to be operated the BGI flight today.

well according to flight radar the flight just took off using G-VROM so I'm assuming VROS is still faulty or rescheduled somewhere else.

On the Virgin mobile App, VGAL took off at 11.25 and is over the middle of Ireland, VROM took off at 10.05 and is shown as over the Isle of Wight...

Well good news is we get to fly home on the refitted Barbarella so wasn't all bad. Quite lucky to get it both ways I guess.

Well chaps I'm sitting at McCarren looking at a plane with my name on it so things are looking good, airport very busy as you can imagine (well the bars anyway).

On a separate note Its my first time in the clubhouse here in and I'm surprised the onLy hot food they do is mushroom soup, just thinking about something I read on another three here !

I was also on the delayed flight back from Vegas. Was great to get Barbarella- the IFE was amazing. The flight had quite a few empty seats so there was room to spread out. Only me and my wife in our row of 3 so we had an extra seat to make use of.

Overall, VS looked after us well in the circumstances and the main thing is we are now back tired and jet lagged, but safe.

Well chaps I'm sitting at McCarren looking at a plane with my name on it so things are looking good, airport very busy as you can imagine (well the bars anyway).

On a separate note Its my first time in the clubhouse here in and I'm surprised the onLy hot food they do is mushroom soup, just thinking about something I read on another three here !

There is no VS Clubhouse as Las Vegas, that's a shared Lounge.

I was on that flight. It was horrible. We sat for 4 1/2 hours on a hot day, without air conditioning as they had to switch it off. The plane was hot, stuffy and eventually smelly.
I was on honeymoon. I didnt appreciate losing the first day of my honeymoon and did not appreciate the virgin rep telling me that my night in the hilton was 'comparable' to my night in a suite in the luxor...
I won't be flying with these again in a hurry!

[Neil]

I was on that flight. It was horrible. We sat for 4 1/2 hours on a hot day, without air conditioning as they had to switch it off. The plane was hot, stuffy and eventually smelly.
I was on honeymoon. I didnt appreciate losing the first day of my honeymoon and did not appreciate the virgin rep telling me that my night in the hilton was 'comparable' to my night in a suite in the luxor...
I won't be flying with these again in a hurry!

Frustrating I am sure, but I would rather fly on a safe plane and sometimes these things happen, safety has to be the number 1 priority.

I am astounded the Hilton has any occupancy. I'm a regular VS traveller and Gatwick is my London airport of choice when doing the almost fortnightly hop from Scotland. Hotels there are becoming unbelievably expensive. No rooms in the Hilton last Wed and I've noticed them being over £200 some nights. Wonder what VS pay? Surely they don't hold back an allocation just in case these events occur?.

I was on that flight. It was horrible. We sat for 4 1/2 hours on a hot day, without air conditioning as they had to switch it off. The plane was hot, stuffy and eventually smelly.
I was on honeymoon. I didnt appreciate losing the first day of my honeymoon and did not appreciate the virgin rep telling me that my night in the hilton was 'comparable' to my night in a suite in the luxor...
I won't be flying with these again in a hurry!

I was stuck on the ground for almost three hours last month on route to MIA. There was a faulty cargo door latch that prevented us from taking off as we had to get a spare part from Gatwick.

Yep, it sucked. However after 7 minutes (maximum time you should allow yourself to be annoyed at things for), you realise there isn't much you can do about it as you aren't an aircraft engineer so you might as well read a book or catch some sleep.

There are 6 million parts on a Boeing 747, something is bound to go wrong at some point and I think we would all agree it is better that a problem be detected and fixed whilst your on the ground to enable safe travels.

Have a lovely time in Vegas on your honeymoon!

I was on that flight. It was horrible. We sat for 4 1/2 hours on a hot day, without air conditioning as they had to switch it off. The plane was hot, stuffy and eventually smelly.
I was on honeymoon. I didnt appreciate losing the first day of my honeymoon and did not appreciate the virgin rep telling me that my night in the hilton was 'comparable' to my night in a suite in the luxor...
I won't be flying with these again in a hurry!

I am with you. If they had treated me like that, they would not be on my short list in future either. It all comes down to money, it would have been too expensive to offload you all, much better to keep you all in a hot and smelly box.


Cheers

Gerry

I am astounded the Hilton has any occupancy. I'm a regular VS traveller and Gatwick is my London airport of choice when doing the almost fortnightly hop from Scotland. Hotels there are becoming unbelievably expensive. No rooms in the Hilton last Wed and I've noticed them being over £200 some nights. Wonder what VS pay? Surely they don't hold back an allocation just in case these events occur?.

I believe that they do indeed hold back an allocation for airline cancellations. Having a family member work at the Gatwick Hilton and also the Sofitel, it seems to be a common practice.

It all comes down to money, it would have been too expensive to offload you all, much better to keep you all in a hot and smelly box.

I'm sure money is a factor - they are a business after all.

But it also makes sense to keep everyone on the plane. Then, if the problem's suddenly fixed - which could be at any time with a moment's notice - everyone's ready to leave with no further delay.

If you deplane and allow everyone to scatter around the departure lounge, when the problem's fixed you've got to find everyone and get them back on board which could take an hour. There's always some who miss/ignore the announcements and hold things up.

I think most airlines will only deplane when it becomes clear the aircraft isn't going anywhere any time soon. But as long as there's a chance it can be fixed, it makes sense to keep you on board - however frustrating that must be.

Just out of interest, do some of the people complaining of delays also avoid train companies when the train is late?

Whilst returning to ALC from LGW having just got of the VS66 the Monarch A330 developed a hydraulic fault whilst taxing to runway. We were returned to south terminal deplaned given food tokens and then re-boarded via a call out and departure board notice taking off some 3 1/2 hours late. So it can be done all all passengers seemed to accept this case if action rather than being trapped on the plane

Just out of interest, do some of the people complaining of delays also avoid train companies when the train is late?

Of course!