md95065

No - that was their old business plan when Lord King was running the show.

Mummy in the foothills

So long as I don't qualify
Hey we could get rid of all sorts of Pain the arses with this volcano.
Who would you nominate?
I'll have to think on it a while.

TimNiceBut

Nice one .

sarahlou145

Im currently in the UK, supposed to be flying home to SFO tomorrow with Virgin, and then off to Vegas this weekend - guess thats not happening either!!
What is annoying me is that they are talking about making all these plans to help Britons stranded abroad, but what about the Britons stranded here who want to go home!!
I havent attempted to call Virgin yet as its pointless until the airspace is opened, but i came over to SFO in November and my return flight was last week, so tomorrow is the first part of a new return flight (return booked for Nov) so to them it looks like im going on vacation as i havent commenced my flight, even though on the booking i have a US address!!
Luckily im staying with family, and the only cost to me will be extending the car rental, but i was due to bring my best friend back with me for two weeks, so i have boat trips, show tickets, alcatraz tickets and Vegas all booked for this and next week, so am i expected to cancel and be out of pocket!!
I think they need a special expats mission to come get us all, maybe we should write to Obama

TimNiceBut

I was originally supposed to be on that flight (Virgin to SFO tomorrow) and unless you need to be able to plan properly, you might be better off sitting out the potential non-return. At least that way they won't charge you for rebooking your flight. I got charged on Saturday for moving the flight back by a week because "sir, it hasn't been cancelled yet" .

sarahlou145

I think the husband would go mad if i wasnt home soon, he is still at home dog sitting, and has been working from home since last Monday, so he wants to get back to the office!! Plus i know this sounds strange, but ive been with friends and family all week, and I want to go back home, im missing the nice friendly people and the nice customer service! ive suddenly become aware of how bad customer service here is and how miserable people are!!
Im just going to have to sit it out and hope they can get me on a flight once everything is back up and running!

Thydney

What sort of prick thinks this is Gordon Browns fault? FFS he's not perfect but even he doesn't control the earth.

Michael

I suspect that is going to be a problem unless you get on your flight tomprrow. With flights canceled for at least 4 days, they will not likely bump anyone already booked on those flights so they will have to try to get at least 4 days worth of people thta missed a flight booked in the empty seats unless the airlines have other planes they can put into service.

If they bump you tomorrow, I'd try to make a reservation on a future flight as soon as possible otherwise you may be on the waiting list with 1000s of other passengers.

TimNiceBut

Nobody thinks it's GB's fault, but we've got major travel chaos on our hands and the government is going "sorry guv, we're too busy campaigning for re-election so we can't even comment on anything" is a bit off, really. To a large extent it's a perception issue - a simple statement of "we're keeping an eye on the issue and have people working on trying to get things moving and coming up with alternatives" would have done wonders. Instead what we got was the suspicion that they were too busy pulling the wool over voters' eyes.

Plus all the hot air they could generate in Westminster might dislodge the cloud .

TimNiceBut

You've pretty much summed up my thinking as to why I (unhappily) handed over my credit card again to get my flight postponed before the flight was cancelled. At least that way I have a(nother) "definitive" date for flying out to the US.

sarahlou145

Im going to wait until my flight is cancelled, then phone up and make sure im on the 'away from home' priority list. Im hoping lots of people going away on holiday and business may cancel their flights leaving space for me to be bumped to a new flight - hopefully

TimNiceBut

I didn't realise that people 'away from home' had a separate priority list - not that this would help me in this case, but it's good to know.

MrEmjoy

Don't trust that all is well with these test flights.


BRUSSELS: A senior Western diplomat says several Nato F-16 fighters suffered engine damage after flying through the volcanic ash cloud covering large parts of Europe.

The official declined to provide more details on the military flights, except to say that glasslike deposits were found inside the planes' engines after they patroled over European airspace.

Last week, two Finnish Air Force F-18 fighter-bombers suffered similar damage while flying through the ash plume that has paralysed air traffic over much of Europe. Both landed safely, but their jet engines will require expensive overhauls.

Volcanic ash tends to stick to a jet engine's interior parts, such as the turbines, where it melts to form a glassy coating. This restricts air flow and heats up the engine, leading to engine failure. - AP

MrEmjoy

I'm sure the major airlines will have your best interests at heart though so feel free to jump on board because they say its OK!

Loosing $200 million a day will of course not bias them at all...

lifehouse51

And the silica in the volcanic ash that get stuck in the engine will just magically disappear!! Yep, aviation engineering has got so advanced that made it possible!

What worries me more is if they do let the planes fly over the volcanic ash now, that the initial flights won't seem affected, and they will keep on flying those planes. Then few weeks or months later, you get all these European airline planes crashing everywhere due to engine failure...not a good thought... No BA, KLM, Lufthansa, Air France for me for a while.