Re: LGW closed due to snow it seems.

In terms of snow clearing equipment at Heathrow I found this from 2018:

https://skift.com/2018/03/01/heathrows-50-million-bad-weather-investment-pays-off/

Maybe they just haven't got the experienced staff to operate it.

Re: Fly Atlantic - latest UK startup

davidjohnson6 wrote:

A brave and courageous business plan.... UK speak for "risky and foolish"

Re: Nothing new from Boeing and Airbus in the next years?

N766UA wrote:

Don’t get me wrong, the 220 is an amazing airplane and they seem to be mopping the floor with Boeing, but they definitely aren’t in any position to be resting on laurels yet. Their US production line is a disaster.

Re: How to defend against slow unmanned strike vehicles?

Whatever system is developed should be able to take out all (low flying) drones , not just optical drones. My emphasis. Why not ask for divine intervention whilst you're at it? :sarcastic: 90-95% accuracy is the very best any weapon is going to achieve, and I doubt that many can manage even that.

Re: SpaceX - Tests, Launches, Developments - 2022

BTW: This is a updates and developments thread. I'd suggest that if forum members want to continue all of the discussion and trading of opinion a SpaceX Discussion thread should be started. It's difficult to find actual updates and developments with all of these long winded opinion and discussion p...

Re: How to defend against slow unmanned strike vehicles?

The extensive use in Ukraine of drones and kamikaze drones for strikes has shown the problems they present to air defences. What effective countermeasures can be developed? What systems need to be developed to combat these low cost but nevertheless very threatening systems? Perhaps a good starting ...

Re: US Airline Q3 earnings thread

Fascinating to look at the airline financials. :-) Looking at AA, DL and UA, it looks like airlines are still paying hefty distribution costs: DL: $546m on pax sales of $11,464m = 0.047% AA: $495m on pax sales of $12,396m = 0.039% UA: $482m on pax sales of $11,653m = 0.041% Could you explain what t...

Re: KSA to launch ‘RIA’, a new national carrier.

IMHO this sounds like a great way for KSA to splurge their oil profits. I'm sure lots of people will pocket oodles of money from this idea but it'll probably end up being a damp squib.

Re: France wants to regulate private jet flights EU wide

Politicians who want a ban on private jets don’t care at all about the consequences on the economy. They only want to « save the planet »…. What's the likelihood France's proposal would even be agreed. How much of this is just grandstanding knowing it's either unlikely to get anywhere or would be g...

Re: Europe's 3 big LCCs financial results

Below are links to what I think are the latest results for each airline. Unlike the US they are not all of the same quarter, indeed one is an annual report so I'm not sure that they can truly be compared. Ryanair Results: https://investor.ryanair.com/results-centre/q1-results-fy23/ Easyjet Results: ...

Re: Heathrow Airport to limit departing passengers numbers until September 11th.

It also depends on what governments offered during COVID. If you have no income, you can't really pay staff... Furlough of 80% salary up to a limit of £2,000 a month paid by the government was available to all businesses. Whilst some people who had changed jobs shortly before lockdown started slipp...

Re: Hong Kong Airport to host Mainland China border control

Sounds remarkably like "One country, one system real soon now" (!C!SRSN).

Re: Nut Allergy Policies: has anything changed?

Thirdly, you can protect yourself from the virus by wearing a mask. Not foolproof, but a mask does nothing against a peanut allergy. I believe an Epi pen provides a fair amount of protection against allergies. Not foolproof, nothing is, but it's a reasonable workaround. If people are really that wo...

Re: Boeing 787 Production/Delivery Thread - 2022

IMO it's quite possible that the FAA only used to check certain items in detail and gave a pass if some minor items weren't included and if FAA are now checking that every single item is included then Boeing will be told their submission is incomplete. It's quite possible that this may bite other ma...

Re: EasyJet to take out seats so it can fly with fewer crew.

It seems the two major airlines that made mass redundancies (easyJet and BA) and tried all other ways to reduce their crew, are now the two airlines suffering the most. The other airlines that didn't go down this route, do not seem to be having this problem. IIRC in addition to shedding staff both ...

Re: DL to start paying F/As during boarding

Presumably this is far more advantageous for short haul FAs who'll have more frequent boarding periods per day? In practice how many extra hours pay is likely to give a SH FA? 3 or just 2? I assume this intended to improve retention & recruitment of FAs?

Re: British Airways News and Discussion Thread - 2022

davidjohnson6 wrote:

So perhaps IAG should start making the value of bonuses for senior management more generous but conditional on the stock price averaged over the next 3 years ?

Re: Russian Invasion of Ukraine - Military Aviation News and Discussion Thread

I feel it is time for US Airpower to join in, it will be difficult to just supply material aid in sufficient amounts. Much of what Ukraine needs as to equipment takes training. If you want the US to go to war, because that's what US Airpower joining in means, then you need to persuade Washington &a...

Re: Germany Tornado Replacement News and Discussion Thread

But will the Luftwaffe be able to have sufficient spares or will there be a continuation of the current situation where many aircraft are waiting for spares to be authorised?

Re: Vueling to open a new base at London-Gatwick

Good to see another competitor at LGW, though hopefully this doesn't mean BA drastically reduces their LGW operation in the long term, even if (let's face it) that's probably going to happen. The phrase "encourager les autres" does spring to mind for any BA staff at Gatwick. Vueling estab...

Re: New defence pact AUUKUS

The biggest problem is that the Australian government believes no nuclear expertise is needed to operate a nuclear sub because "it is just a sealed unit". Hmm... This is starting to sound like win-win for China since there'll be no need to worry about Aussie subs anytime soon whilst Austr...

Re: New IAG carrier at LGW

BaronHamstead wrote:

BA now actively recruiting management positions for new short haul subsidiary at Gatwick. Aim is to launch within 6 months, so Summer 2022.

Re: New defence pact AUUKUS

hence the dismay at how a bunch of charlatans forced a skittish and shallow UK PM via his party members, into that damned referendum, easily the most dishonest campaign I have ever seen. If that's the delusion that you want to believe then fine. I'm just surprised remainers haven't found a way to b...

Re: Impact of England's Energy Crisis on UK Aviation

New York Times Of the estimated shortfall of 100,000 truck drivers, about 20,000 are non-British drivers who left the country during the pandemi c and have not returned in part because of more stringent, post-Brexit visa requirements to work in the country, which took effect this year. . I believe ...

Re: Lockheed reveals new LMXT refueling tanker

744SPX wrote:

Could the row with France over the subs play into this in terms of improving the A330's chances?

Re: Airbus and Boeing 2021 orders

Whilst this spat is certainly interesting, should it really be happening in this thread which, I believe, is supposed to be about the orders actually received rather than speculation about what orders might be received in the future?

Re: US Considering Activating the CRAF program for Afghanistan

wjcandee wrote:

As a long-time CRAF nerd