Aer Lingus Boeing 757

SeamusS

Hey guys,

Was thinking of travelling this April to Boston using the new Shannon > Boston service using the Aer Lingus Boeing 757. Anyone travel using this new aircraft and how has it been? I travelled with Aer Lingus before, going to NYC, service was great and all but we were on the A330 aircraft.

Advice/Opinions on the above would be much appreciated.

highlydebased

It has had a new cabin fitted so it would probably be a pretty pleasant trip!

delthedriver

Just back from Boston yesterday. Travelled out on the 757, to say the least is was the worst Trans Atlantic experience I encountered in 20 years as a regular flyer to the States.




Essentially the 757 is too narrow for such a long journey. It only has one aisle, with 3 seats on either side, bit like boarding a Ryanair plane


The service is being operated by an outside contractor on behalf of Aer Lingus.


Conditions were cramped , claustrophobic The cabin staff only 4 of them , worked extremely hard to take care of their passengers. Not sure they actually got a meal break at all.


Some looked quite stressed, it was hard for them to negotiate the only aisle while passengers needed to visit the 3 bathrooms which were at the centre of the plane.


Passengers were unable to leave their seats except to visit the bathroom. On previous journeys , passengers could stretch their legs as there was room to move about with two aisles


It certainly did not have the feel of the usual Aer Lingus quality.
I have gone cross Atlantic with Delta, Us Airways, but more often with Aer Lingus.


The 757's are ex Scandinavian or Finn Air, run by contractors for Aer Lingus . Some of the staff were also contracted to Aer Lingus. The whole experience lacked the the Aer Lingus quality feel. These planes were previously in service within Europe and are bot suitable for Transatlantic journeys


The return trip was extremely pleasant. My wife had ben feeling unwell so we decided a few days before returning to upgrade to Business Class, as she could not face the return journey on the 757.


We were extremely well looked after by Senior Steward Lesley Murphy, who is an absolute lady and portrayed the panache and style of Aer Lingus we have known over the years.
Ms. Murphy is a great Ambassador for Ireland and Aer Lingus!


I would be very slow to recommend crossing the Atlantic on a Boeing 757!

Flynner1313

Its narrow like a tube of toothpaste which for long haul can feel a bit claustrophobic ...... that aside Aer Lingus are normally good transatlantic BUT of its contracted out and not their crew then I would look at other options .....

LXFlyer

The cabin crew are all Aer Lingus staff - it is only the flight crew that are contracted out. However even some of them are on secondment from Aer Lingus.

But what that has to do with a customer experience is beyond me.

Bear in mind that using B757 aircraft is making the transatlantic operation from Shannon a viable 12 month operation for Aer Lingus.

Aer Limgus are far from alone in using the B757 on transatlantic routes - most US airlines use them.

delthedriver

lxflyer wrote: »

The cabin crew are all Aer Lingus staff - it is only the flight crew that are contracted out. However even some of them are on secondment from Aer Lingus.

But what that has to do with a customer experience is beyond me.

Bear in mind that using B757 aircraft is making the transatlantic operation from Shannon a viable 12 month operation for Aer Lingus.

Aer Limgus are far from alone in using the B757 on transatlantic routes - most US airlines use them.

The cabin crew are not all Aer Lingus Staff. The majority are Aer Lingus Ireland staff who are on temporary contracts to serve the ASL operation.


Making a viable operation from Shannon is great, however I can't see it lasting with the 757 offering. Customers can choose other offerings.






Which of the US airlines are using 757's in order that I may avoid them also please?

highlydebased

delthedriver wrote: »

Which of the US airlines are using 757's in order that I may avoid them also please?

From Shannon? All of them.

LXFlyer

delthedriver wrote: »

The cabin crew are not all Aer Lingus Staff. The majority are Aer Lingus Ireland staff who are on temporary contracts to serve the ASL operation.


Making a viable operation from Shannon is great, however I can't see it lasting with the 757 offering. Customers can choose other offerings.

Which of the US airlines are using 757's in order that I may avoid them also please?

Virtually every US airline serving Dublin and Shannon uses B757 aircraft.


So I find it a little difficult to accept that it is "unsuitable".


Sure, it's not an A330, but the market is not big enough for wide body operation. Times have changed and the airlines need to move with them.


If using the B757 means re-establishing all year round Shannon-USA flights and continues to mean that local people still have their jobs, then I am fully supportive of it.

orionm_73

The cabin crew are not all Aer Lingus Staff. The majority are Aer Lingus Ireland staff who are on temporary contracts to serve the ASL operation

The staff are all Aer Lingus staff. They aren't contracted to serve the ASL operation, they also crew the a319 flights from Shannon. And no the majority aren't Aer Lingus Ireland staff, the majority are the crew that had always been based in SNN, before the 757 arrived.

Flynner1313

Fair enough so - I agree its good to support the route and keep an all year round service from Shannon.

A wide body aircraft does make a huge difference on a long haul flight. They stopped making the 757 aircraft over ten year ago so airlines will have to put something else on the route as the years go by ....... probably something similar though if the market can't support anything bigger.

The crew been Aer Lingus or ex Aer Lingus makes a difference. They are usually very good.

A lot of the US crews get to pick long haul based on seniority/length of service with the airline. A fair chunk of them don't have the service ethos any more that they had when they started this type of work. Some of them do but United/US/AA etc have their share of battle axes that have been at this a long time and do it for the benefits rather than any desire to serve the public.

mayfly757

delthedriver wrote: »

Just back from Boston yesterday. Travelled out on the 757, to say the least is was the worst Trans Atlantic experience I encountered in 20 years as a regular flyer to the States.




Essentially the 757 is too narrow for such a long journey. It only has one aisle, with 3 seats on either side, bit like boarding a Ryanair plane


The service is being operated by an outside contractor on behalf of Aer Lingus.


Conditions were cramped , claustrophobic The cabin staff only 4 of them , worked extremely hard to take care of their passengers. Not sure they actually got a meal break at all.


Some looked quite stressed, it was hard for them to negotiate the only aisle while passengers needed to visit the 3 bathrooms which were at the centre of the plane.


Passengers were unable to leave their seats except to visit the bathroom. On previous journeys , passengers could stretch their legs as there was room to move about with two aisles


It certainly did not have the feel of the usual Aer Lingus quality.
I have gone cross Atlantic with Delta, Us Airways, but more often with Aer Lingus.


The 757's are ex Scandinavian or Finn Air, run by contractors for Aer Lingus . Some of the staff were also contracted to Aer Lingus. The whole experience lacked the the Aer Lingus quality feel. These planes were previously in service within Europe and are bot suitable for Transatlantic journeys


The return trip was extremely pleasant. My wife had ben feeling unwell so we decided a few days before returning to upgrade to Business Class, as she could not face the return journey on the 757.


We were extremely well looked after by Senior Steward Lesley Murphy, who is an absolute lady and portrayed the panache and style of Aer Lingus we have known over the years.
Ms. Murphy is a great Ambassador for Ireland and Aer Lingus!


I would be very slow to recommend crossing the Atlantic on a Boeing 757!

Obviously you are not to familiar with extensive travel
The flights are operated by the wonderfull aerlingus cabin crew and a mixture of aerlingus and ASL pilots

The 757 is ideal for low volume pax loads for the likes of Snn during the winter months also bearing in mind that the Atlantic is not really long haul

delthedriver

mayfly757 wrote: »

Obviously you are not to familiar with extensive travel
The flights are operated by the wonderfull aerlingus cabin crew and a mixture of aerlingus and ASL pilots

The 757 is ideal for low volume pax loads for the likes of Snn during the winter months also bearing in mind that the Atlantic is not really long haul

Thank you for your post and opinion.


To clarify , yes I have travelled extensively around the world, I suspect considerably more than you

mayfly757

delthedriver wrote: »

Thank you for your post and opinion.


To clarify , yes I have travelled extensively around the world, I suspect considerably more than you

Good for you !

AngryLips

delthedriver wrote: »

Thank you for your post and opinion.


To clarify , yes I have travelled extensively around the world, I suspect considerably more than you

I don't mean this in a snide way but you obviously haven't travelled transatlantic that much if you didn't know that this aircraft type is common amongst many airlines serving Ireland-USA

think dublin to new york would only be a medium flight, it does only take about 5 hours if recall correctly
When you consider flying to Gran Canaria takes 5 and a bit hours and 737's are used on those,

Anyway have been on the 757 very cramped aircraft to fly anywhere in whether its a med or long flight,think they were built for economy rather than passenger luxury.

galwayjohn89

Is there an official definition of long haul medium haul etc? I'd have said New York was medium hall too, think it's scheduled for 7 west bound. Even Orlando would be medium haul in my books, probably on the border of long haul though. I've never seen the problem with the b757 travel them to America a lot and never really noticed that much difference to the A330 if anything I prefer the 757 quicker boarding and deplaning!

ok wikipedia told me (not always most reliable) that

short haul >3 hours
med haul 3-6 hours
long haul >6 hours

and ultra long haul >12 hours

mickman

shannon to new york is 757's all the way.

Its only a 6 hour flight so watch 2 movies , eat something and you are there. simple

Toxee

No point attacking other posters for preferring the A330. I too dislike the narrow B757...feels like a sardine tin. Luckily Dublin airport is local to me so I only fly widebody aircraft when going trans-atlantic. I've never been to Shannon...a mickey mouse airport out in the sticks but the sound of things.

mickman

Toxee wrote: »

No point attacking other posters for preferring the A330. I too dislike the narrow B757...feels like a sardine tin. Luckily Dublin airport is local to me so I only fly widebody aircraft when going trans-atlantic. I've never been to Shannon...a mickey mouse airport out in the sticks but the sound of things.

Maybe but it's so handy to drive one hour to an uncrowded airport to go to USA. Used go via London but never again , it's sickening on way home to be flying over Ireland

Cosmo Kramer

I don't think it's the 757 that's the problem here, as pointed out by others much of the Ireland to USA offerings are now by 757 with various airlines. I think the problem is Aer Lingus. As an airline their product has gone down hill massively in recent years. The difference now of course is that they are making a profit, which they must do to survive, but any notions that they stand out in any positive way from other airlines can now be discounted.

My recent experience of Aer Lingus (on an A330 as it happens) consisted of long delays, god awful 'food' and cabin crew who are clearly more interested in pension strikes and chatting about their plans while in the US than serving their passengers on board. The whole journey had a real feel of 'what's the absolute minimum we can do to get by here' from the crew, reminiscent of crap builders during the boom. They seem to get away with it because people are often slow to want to criticise the 'national airline' but they're a private company now, and relative to the offerings of BA, KLM and others covering similar routings, a low standard one.

Yamanoto

Cosmo Kramer wrote: »

The whole journey had a real feel of 'what's the absolute minimum we can do to get by here' from the crew, reminiscent of crap builders during the boom. They seem to get away with it because people are often slow to want to criticise the 'national airline' but they're a private company now, and relative to the offerings of BA, KLM and others covering similar routings, a low standard one.

I'd tend to agree with this I'm afraid.

I'm a big fan of EI's short-haul product and their ground staff are generally a pleasure to deal with, but I've been underwhelmed by aspects of their transatlantic service on the last few occasions I've flown with them.

Over the past year, I've been back and forth with all UA, DL, AA, BA & AF and just felt in comparison with the others, EI's crew appeared disengaged and lacking in personality - something I'd always have considered a real strong-point of the airline.

vicwatson

Sorry but can you tell me if this aircraft is as I think 3 seats aisle 3 seats ? Thanks

VG31

vicwatson wrote: »

Sorry but can you tell me if this aircraft is as I think 3 seats aisle 3 seats ? Thanks

Yes, it is.

vicwatson

Damnnn