Why so early

adam88

So I see that that aircraft in question in snn arrived 90 minutes early. Now I know the principle behind tailwinds/headwinds but does 90 early mins not seem a lot. I heard they had problems getting steps, ground crew services etc to the aircraft cause it was so early. Is this a common occurrence

L1011

Extremely strong tailwinds - it's common all winter

folbotcar

All schedules have a bit of padding built in to allow for delays and weather. So a good tailwind and everything else falling into place can cause an early arrival.

As for the problems getting ground equipment to the aircraft. I was on a ship from France once which arrived early, so early none of the port staff or customs were there. Luckily being a ship we just went for breakfast. Ships are better that way.

roundymac

My wife came home on the 110 in sept. Landed 70mins ahead of time, no problem with steps etc. We were on our way back to Cork 30 min before it was due to touch down.

coylemj

Got into DUB from JFK an hour early a few years ago thanks to a good tailwind. We were standing at the carousel for 45 minutes before it started up and the first bag popped out. Needless to say mine was close to last so I hit the rush hour traffic on the way home.

keith16

coylemj wrote: »

Got into DUB from JFK an hour early a few years ago thanks to a good tailwind. We were standing at the carousel for 45 minutes before it started up and the first bag popped out. Needless to say mine was close to last so I hit the rush hour traffic on the way home.

How annoying is that? The amount you pay in airport taxes / charges and the services aren't there when you need them.

L1011

keith16 wrote: »

How annoying is that? The amount you pay in airport taxes / charges and the services aren't there when you need them.

They were there when scheduled. The airport can't sit fully staffed and empty on the off chance it's windy that night

coylemj

L1011 wrote: »

They were there when scheduled. The airport can't sit fully staffed and empty on the off chance it's windy that night

We were told while on the tarmac in JFK that we'd have a strong tailwind - 'welcome to the rocky road to Dublin' were the exact words the co-pilot used in the pre-flight announcement! Scared the crap out of me as I do not like mid-flight turbulence. What we had was a steady rumble all the way but no sudden jolts so it was a good flight.

I think the problem is that as the first incoming flight of the day, they would have had to call in the baggage handlers an hour early and pay them overtime so I can see the economic reasoning behind leaving us to wait for them to arrive at their normal start time, even if it took the good out of getting in early.

keith16

L1011 wrote: »

They were there when scheduled. The airport can't sit fully staffed and empty on the off chance it's windy that night

Doesn't need to be fully staffed to receive one early flight. It's hardly on the off chance either.

Besides, even during normal operational hours, it can still be a nightmare landing into Dublin. No stand / stairs happens regularly, and luggage is usually a longer wait than it needs to be.

L1011

keith16 wrote: »

Doesn't need to be fully staffed to receive one early flight. It's hardly on the off chance either.

Besides, even during normal operational hours, it can still be a nightmare landing into Dublin. No stand / stairs happens regularly, and luggage is usually a longer wait than it needs to be.

It won't be one flight - it'll be all of the eastbounds. If you want charges to be higher to cover extra staffing and on call, so be it

basill

Put pen to paper direct to the CEO. It will have a lot more impact than posting on an anonymous web forum. Support services are cut back to the bare bones and it's a constant source of frustration for us.

highlydebased

EI staff in Shannon don't start til 5am, so when it arrives at 4.40 a delay getting ground crew ready is possible

Irish Steve

It may have all changed since I was there, the early crews on the ramp could well be busy with cargo flights, and if the eastbounds do drop early, the crews for that may still be taking cargo off the flights that arrived earlier.

The other problem is that even though the airline may know 8 hours earlier that the flight is going to arrive early, that doesn't always mean that the early crews are going to be (a) contactable and (b) willing to come in an hour earlier, and starting an hour earlier may cause all manner of problems with dealing with flights later in the morning, as it throws things like break times out of kilter.

When I was there, the union were very tight on insisting on break times and the like, where a flight was on a long turnround, it used to cause all manner of problems, as people went off to take breaks just before the flight was due to leave, which meant having to find replacements to ensure an on time departure, which wasn't always easy.

knockon

Anyone know the record from JFK to SNN or DUB? Memory tells me 4.56 and by an EI 747-100?

circular flexing

Once when flying from YVR-LHR, the flight took off almost an hour late but still made it to the LHR 10 minutes early.

b757

knockon wrote: »

Anyone know the record from JFK to SNN or DUB? Memory tells me 4.56 and by an EI 747-100?

4 Hours and 34 Minutes on the 10th Nov.

10-Nov-2014 A333 John F Kennedy Intl (KJFK) Dublin Int'l (EIDW / DUB) 18:39 EST 04:13 GMT (+1) 4:34

lambayire

I remember way back when being on an EI 747 and landing into Dublin.
It was just after the Shannon stopover had been abolished.

The pilot announced that it was the fastest crossing he had ever experienced.
It was just over 4 and a half hours. 4.32 is that number that I have in my head.

veetwin

b757 wrote: »

4 Hours and 34 Minutes on the 10th Nov.

10-Nov-2014 A333 John F Kennedy Intl (KJFK) Dublin Int'l (EIDW / DUB) 18:39 EST 04:13 GMT (+1) 4:34

I wonder how much time is added to the west bound sectors or can this be minimised by choosing a route that flys under/over/around the strongest headwinds?

man98

I suppose they try their best to avoid it, but could be around 30 - 40 minutes late is my guess on westbound journeys.