Aer Lingus Fleet/ Routes Discussion Pt 2 (ALL possible routes included)

Shamrockj

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120123867#Comment_120123867

I noticed that too and in October it operates at the time it operated before. I checked and the mid Faro doesn’t operate in October on Monday and Friday so I’m guessing this is where the aircraft is coming from. Hopefully they are testing the waters at bringing it back long term.

Murph85

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120087955#Comment_120087955

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120087955#Comment_120087955

If the lxr can reach denver, its a no brainer...

goingnowhere

LR can in theory reach DEN today, XLR would have no issue. Until you have to depart off 10R in DUB as you won't be departing off 10L...

Can you reliably do DUB DEN against the headwinds?

Can you get a commercial load of passengers and freight (not much room on the LR to start with) with full tanks?

ZFW + FUEL + LOAD <= MTOW and if its 10R on a warm day in still wind you won't be MTOW

Tenger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120123786#Comment_120123786

Article below is from Sept 2018;

http://www.travelextra.ie/next-stop-nevada-vegas-being-considered-along-with-dallas-by-aer-lingus/

"Speaking at the launch of new routes to Minneapolis/St Paul and the launch of an EY report calling for Dublin to become a major global hub, he said: “Las Vegas is very high on the list of under-served destinations between Ireland and the US, as is Dallas, as is Denver, as is Cleveland, as is Pittsburgh, as is Detroit, as is Halifax.”"

Tenger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120130208#Comment_120130208

EI have already had issues with offloading pax and bags on the DUB-IAD route using the LR.

On paper the XLR can operate DUB-SLC (approx 9 hours 15 flight time) DUB-DEN would be a little shorter. But operating to the range limits may not be actually feasible.

Murph85

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120088292#Comment_120088292

The island has what? Close to seven million. Only about 1.3 million passengers were transfers through Dublin last year, out of a 28.1 million total figure. That's puzzling, how low the numbers actually are, given aer lingus european network and us network. If they had any ambition or proper management, they could be doing far better...

Sexual Chocolate

Wasn't it mentioned a while ago here by someone that EI are looking to swap some XLRs for the 330neos ? Or was I dreaming ?

cson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120132333#Comment_120132333

Somehow its flown over your head that transfer pax is exactly what I've argued is the pathway to growth for EI.

PeasantHater

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120131974#Comment_120131974

From the indo 02/02/2017:

Aer Lingus is planning to launch a new direct service between Dublin and the City of Sin, Las Vegas, next winter.

The airline is initially planning it as a seasonal service, but chief executive Stephen Kavanagh said it could be extended depending on how it performs.

The new route to the party town will operate two to three times a week.

While it will be welcomed by Irish holidaymakers, Aer Lingus is hoping its appeal will reach a wider audience. The airline plans on using Dublin Airport's position as a transatlantic hub to lure passengers to the service from the UK and Europe.

Your article and quote is more recent yes, however, this route had been planned to launch.

PeasantHater

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120131999#Comment_120131999

Will be interesting to see the numbers for the different weight variants when the EASA publish the TCDS for the A321-200NYs (XLRS)

Murph85

https://simpleflying.com/airbus-a321xlr-13-hour-test-flight/

airbus flew a 13 hour test flight of the xlr recently...

Murph85

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120132682#Comment_120132682

Vintage aer lingus. The route like Denver and others, will probably be launched in 2047...

flanzer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120132682#Comment_120132682

I think you could put those years down to the McGregor effect, when hoards of knuckleheads did fight weekends there. I think the sheen has gone from a potential route to there at this stage, in line with the sheen off McGregor's own reputation

PeasantHater

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120132903#Comment_120132903

I understand he sentiment but would have to disagree, in 2019 the numbers were at 73k, I don't believe that human skidmark was fighting much that year.

HTCOne

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120132734#Comment_120132734

Only relevant in terms of testing mechanical reliability, there’s no way it will achieve anything near that with a commercial load.

flanzer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120133009#Comment_120133009

What I should have said was that from 2015, his fights were mostly in Vegas, up to 2020. While no fights happened in 2019, I think he became a one man sales pitch for Las Vegas as a destination, in the years up to 2019. I should have clarified, that the numbers going to Vegas, weren't just for his fights

Qprmeath

Them 321 XLR’s are a nightmare to load. 3 plus years in Dublin and still seems to be different plan every day. A whole fleet of them be some craic.

Astral Nav

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120134294#Comment_120134294

EI don't have any XLRs yet, no one does. The LRs are trim sensitive due to the flexi tanks in the aft. The XLRs will not have these.

cson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120132737#Comment_120132737

Hmmm who would know better, EI's own route and network planning professionals who do this daily as a career, or some random anonymous lad on Boards.ie? I wonder...

Murph85

I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't even know what the figures were! You think the airline is above questioning ? Its offering is poor, very little ambition.

Tenger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120132538#Comment_120132538

I believe that to be a current/ongoing rumour rather than based on concrete statements or evidence.

cson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120135195#Comment_120135195

They posted operating profits of 139M for the 3rd quarter of 2022 as well as being the star child, from a profitability perspective, of IAG pre COVID.

I think they know what they're doing for the most part.

As I've said in this thread, where I have questioned a number of approaches, there's still huge scope for them to act as a premium Icelandair/PLAY and leverage the geographic location, CPB outposts, as a release valve for LHR ops and uniquely the interline agreements with AA, UA and B6 - all to drive transfer traffic. As you've drawn attention to yourself (ironically enough), transfer pax numbers are not as high as they could be.

California Dreamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120133057#Comment_120133057

I seem to remember that he bemoaned when ET stopped the DUB-LAX flights because of their great timings and called on EI to bring back the flights or start them back up. Its a vague memory but in his early days he was flying business with ET to LAX

Noxegon

The ET LAX times were great – the outbound got you there in time to do (more or less) a full day in California, and the return was late enough to have a nice dinner before heading to the airport.

EI's return isn't too bad, but the outbound is mid-afternoon.

kevinandrew

New advert;

https://youtu.be/WpZealrSwTg

Quite a sweet take on things with a nice play on the traditional Aer Lingus welcome but not sure the tagline works in other contexts.

Very telling it focuses almost entirely on the crew being special rather than the product itself.

Hotblack Desiato

Their ads have always focused on the crew though, haven't they?

kevinandrew

The last two main brand campaigns didn’t, at least not entirely.

The ‘Enjoy Your Flight’ campaign around 2007 listed assigned seating, fast pass check in, centrally located airports and reliability as the core selling points.

The more recent ‘Smart Flies’ advert in 2015 conveyed the message that Aer Lingus was the smart choice for a nation of well travelled people with sweeping shots of T2, various types of ‘guests’ and cabin shots along with smiling staff and mobile boarding passes.

This one reminds me of the 90s ‘this is not just an airline’ series of adverts where staff were portrayed as being able to sense their passengers’ needs in different situations.

Jack1985

There is an about-change in relations also between Cabin Crew and Management specifically. Re-structuring of the InFlight Services Department has taken place, more crew engagement, pay increases over 10% (proposed), restoration of previous working conditions and roughly over 100 Cabin Crew just promoted.

CEO seems to make a point of engaging with them on flights, something not seen since Mueller (+ Doyle to an extent) and has referred to a fundamental value in the company being the On-Board experience. Its a huge contrast to the destruction of the relationship and product by Kavanagh and Rutter (some of the issues engineered by them still continue to this day).

cson

I'm a strong believer that Lynne and her team should be on the product at least semi regularly, both J & Y, ideally unannounced/incognito. Let me be clear that there's no suggestion that they're to 'catch' front line staff out (I'm on record here as saying they're the glue holding everything together), but moreso to focus the mind on targeted improvements.

EI have huge growth opportunities if they can refine certain elements of the product and be thoughtful about connections and the ease of those.

They really, really need to lean into the loyalty program a lot more, there's vast untapped potential there. That means giving it the resources to be functional and easy to use, you shouldn't have to be contacting them to have mileage accrual track.

Kcormahs

I am sorry @Jack1985 I usually agree in full with your comments and I know you are a well respected user on this forum but I completely disagree with that comment.

1) Lynne has allegedly been spotted flying many times BA from Dublin to London in order to avoid staff and their complaints/pointing out ongoing issues such as the horrendous Qatar aircraft (EIL/EIK), product shortages etc

2) the “10%” pay rise you refer to hasn’t even been voted or accepted and it was a WRC recommendation. Aer Lingus themselves had offered 3% which staff found an insult when only last year inflation hit over 7%

3) Not sure what you mean as per restructure of inflight department. Catering since it faced outsourcing (just before covid), it has been facing shortages every week including flights going without even basics such as plastic glasses , stirrers or cups sometimes. An example that even made it to the media: https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/aer-lingus-passenger-slams-quarter-25226785.amp

4) most conditions taken during covid havent been restored as you claim. An example is the cabin crew section, where the a321LR is still operated by 4 crew opposed to 5, or the a330 down one senior crew member since pre-covid. Ground staff certain allowances (check in wise) have been permanently lost too.

staff’s morale has never been so low specially when they feel management won’t listen to them for the simple basics (again as an example, the 2 qatar aircraft , where staff are abused by passengers over how dysfunctional the flight entertainment is.)

the threats and “virtual” war that management provoked during covid, targeting particular vintages and roles (for example, cabin service managers, old legacy contracts both ground staff and aircrew) and others, hasn’t been forgotten by many.