Speedbird 1

Lustrum

Does anyone know what BA flight is using this callsign these days? I know Concorde used to use it, but I was up flying today and Speedbird 1 was departing from Shannon with NATS clearance.

It was suggested that it's a BA A319 that has 40 business class seats only that crosses the Atlantic, can anyone shed any light on this either?

Cheers guys

cuterob

That's the one, except it is an A318.

Mister Jingles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedbird

Scroll down to the Concorde section.

Arthur Daley

Didn't realise something as small as an A318 could go transatlantic.

vulcan57

Yep it's the A318 flight from London City to New York JFK. It stops over at Shannon on the way over because the runway at LCY is too short for it to take off with full tanks and has to fuel up at SNN. Also they can go through US customs clearance at SNN. The return flight from JFK is direct to LCY.

high ho

vulcan57 wrote: »

Yep it's the A318 flight from London City to New York JFK. It stops over at Shannon on the way over because the runway at LCY is too
short for it to take off with full tanks and has to fuel up at SNN. Also they can go
through US customs clearance at SNN.
The return flight from JFK is direct to LCY.

Also the crew over night (for 2 nights I think) at Shannon because they are based at heathrow and they get a cab to city and this is considered as a sector and sector 2 is city to Shannon and they would be out of hours before arrival in JFK..

It's a great job..

basill

Only half truths there I am afraid. It is their leading product. Hence Willy doesn't want to risk any of his crew running out of hours due to tech delays, weather etc. Therefore crews overnight in SNN which gives BA crew control room to crisis manage should the need arise so that the show can go on and the punters who paid a hefty premium for the service are not inconvenienced.

It has nothing to do with being nice to "lazy" pilots enabling them to partake in the delights of nancy blakes or suchlike. Those days are long gone in the industry I am afraid no matter what you wish to believe.

Delancey

high ho wrote: »

Also the crew over night (for 2 nights I think) at Shannon because they are based at heathrow and they get a cab to city and this is considered as a sector and sector 2 is city to Shannon and they would be out of hours before arrival in JFK..

It's a great job..

Is that a CAA rule or a BALPA interpretation of the rules ?

FlutterinBantam

basill wrote: »

Only half truths there I am afraid. It is their leading product. Hence Willy doesn't want to risk any of his crew running out of hours due to tech delays, weather etc. Therefore crews overnight in SNN which gives BA crew control room to crisis manage should the need arise so that the show can go on and the punters who paid a hefty premium for the service are not inconvenienced.

It has nothing to do with being nice to "lazy" pilots enabling them to partake in the delights of nancy blakes or suchlike. Those days are long gone in the industry I am afraid no matter what you wish to believe.

Spot on Bas, that's how the dice rolls these days.

Tea 1000

It is a great service. I think the hefty premium isn't all that hefty, considering I think it's at least the same price if not cheaper than business from LHR to JFK on a 777 or 747.

Lustrum

Thanks for all the info guys, I had read the wiki article alright but obviously skipped over the part about Speedbird 1 being reintroduced.

For anyone interested, here's what it looks like

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/09/29/332892/pictures-ba-completes-first-transatlantic-a318-flight.html

Bessarion

high ho wrote: »

Also the crew over night (for 2 nights I think) at Shannon because they are based at heathrow and they get a cab to city and this is considered as a sector and sector 2 is city to Shannon and they would be out of hours before arrival in JFK...

Basil is correct that BA are ensuring they have sufficient crew downroute to deal with any disruptions that can occur.
Some airlines (closer to home!) try to operate with the bare minimum staffing levels, this leads to cancellations and/or hire in's in the event of relatively disruption as their crew are rostered close to the legal limits. Longhaul flying is a lot more susceptible to this than shorthaul.


And to counter your point. EU-Ops FTLs stipulate that any duty travel (ie. 'positioning', including the cab to LCY) is classed as full duty time. So from check-in at LHR (their normal base) road transfer to LCY then a flight to SNN is maybe a 3 hour duty, before they even commence their 7 hour T/A crossing. 2-3 hours delay in LCY/SNN can easily make them reach/exceed legal limits (nevermind any contracted limts)

moss.ie

Lustrum wrote: »

Thanks for all the info guys, I had read the wiki article alright but obviously skipped over the part about Speedbird 1 being reintroduced.

Speedbird 1 is the midday flight from LCY/SNN/NYC

Speedbird 2 is the early evening flight from LCY/SNN/NYC

both aircraft are A-318-112 G-EUNA ( cn-4007) and G-EUNB ( cn-4039)

G-euna "Speedbird 2" seen here about to land on rway 06 in shannon

nag

Beautiful shot Moss.

vulcan57

Cracking shot Moss. This is a picture of the same aircraft G-EUNA taking off from LCY rway 09 last July.

mayotom

Arthur Daley wrote: »

Didn't realise something as small as an A318 could go transatlantic.

thats not a problem, consider that the 737-800 flies non stop from Seattle to Dublin for Ryanair delivery flights, the A318 has a range of 3600 miles

mayotom

mayotom wrote: »

thats not a problem, consider that the 737-800 flies non stop from Seattle to Dublin for Ryanair delivery flights, the A318 has a range of 3600 miles

DO they install tanks for the RYR ferry flights?