Archive Eastern Airways from Leeds Bradford Airport

[pug]

pug
i asked if/when eastern outgrow h/side would they move? i have no idea of the size of the apron or the hanger size for maintenance,i have never flown from there.
sm

Their operations are large enough to stay at Humberside, and because Richard Lake is local and has other functions on site, allied with the fact he probably gets some very good savings for being there, I don’t see any logic at all in changing this.

HUY might be small but there is more than enough space to accommodate growth should it ever happen.

 

[Stagman]

pug
i asked if/when eastern outgrow h/side would they move? i have no idea of the size of the apron or the hanger size for maintenance,i have never flown from there.
sm

Google maps satellite view is your friend. There is even Thunderbird 3 there.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.5...try=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTAyOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw==


With the expansion of fleets. These would be based at other airports where they have crew bases. Only returning back to Humberside for maintenance and exams.

 

[lbaspotter]

The new Eastern Airways LBA based aircraft should appear on Sunday evening (tea time) KLM1023/4 rotation arriving inbound from Amsterdam at 16:55.
Sunday mornings KL1019/1020 rotation is currently scheduled to be w-legged operated using the Teesside based aircraft E190, G-CMWI

 

[lbaspotter]

I wonder Eastern Airways might turn up today.

 

[752]

Night stop cancelled..

 

[LBA4EVER]

Place your bets now on eastern, i give em 6 months! Come on easy, x2 daily A319 to AMS.

 

[LBAYORKIE]

Place your bets now on eastern, i give em 6 months! Come on easy, x2 daily A319 to AMS.

I think theres room for another carrier on AMS but KLM offer connections- thats the big selling point.

 

[White Heather]

Incredible really. Day 1 of a new operation (yesterday) and already in chaos due to tech aircraft. Exactly what was feared would happen and once again, Eastern dont disappoint. Or rather, they do!

 

[Finger66]

They certainly don't make things EZE for themselves that's for sure. As WH says, don't think anyone is surprised by this. The only thing I would say is tonight's NS was down to be KLMCH so is that their own inability to fulfil, or were they filling in due to an Eastern mess (that almost sounds like a fruit and meringue dessert)

 

[lbaspotter]

Eastern never fail to let us down. What an absolute Sh-tshow. The sooner KL.M get rid of this tin pot outfit the better.

And daft thing about it, we all knew this would happen!

 

[White Heather]

According to FR24, for the next few days at least, the flights we do have by Eastern are operated by E170 aircraft, not E190. The late afternoon flights are operated by KLM E190.

 

[lbaspotter]

According to FR24, for the next few days at least, the flights we do have by Eastern are operated by E170 aircraft, not E190. The late afternoon flights are operated by KLM E190.

Good luck with that plan then.

As far as I understand it 1 of Eastern’s Embraer 170’s G-CLMI is operating for KLM out of Humberside whilst the 2nd Embraer 170, G-CMPI has been stuck tech at Gatwick since operating a charter yesterday.

 

[Finger66]

Quelle Surprise

 

[SierraHotel]

How about we establish a "Guess the Airline this week" sweep stake? The winner wins a return flight with Eastern or whoever shows up to AMS.

 

[pug]

Ok so once again since it appears to have landed on deaf ears. KLM have asked Eastern to cover this, Eastern have not approached KLM offering to do this. They have, amongst the chaos (and apparently its chaos even by usual standards!), kept KLM fully abreast of their challenges of getting a network set up suitably to cover the flight schedule, this includes crewing which I understand they are finding particularly tricky.

It of course doesn’t help that they’re sending the 170 off on charters and going tech, but we don’t know what their SLA looks like. KLM don’t have enough crew to satisfy the schedules they want to run and there aren’t a load of options to outsource to. I know that Eastern are undergoing a significant recruitment drive currently which includes more crew for LBA, I would hope they source at least one more of the ex KLM 190’s to ensure they have suitable contingency in the event such as an aircraft going tech.

I find that panning them on day one is unhelpful and not constructive at all. Like it or not KLM have made this decision and whether you agree with it or not it’s happened. It would be better to give it 6 months and see how it looks then, because the alternative would be KLM significantly reducing frequency or even being forced to cancel the route altogether. I’m sure we can all agree that nobody wants that..

I personally would like to see Eastern survive, but I would also like to see a more competent management structure and the only way I could see that happening at this time is with KLM buying controlling shares in the business and reopening KLM UK, this is something I think they miss post-Brexit. Do I think this is likely? Not really, but nothing stranger than aviation at times.

 

[Finger66]

Whoever or whatever is causing the problems it damages reputation severely. KLM to start with and LBA at a time when they want to be showcasing shiny new facilities. A more robust contingency plan is needed me feels. Not sure why KL mainline couldn't pick some of this up - after all we were due to see them on one of our flights not that long ago. Said it before, but an ideal time for BA to jump back on LHR. With better reliability they would cream some of those connecting pax.
On top of that, I do think Easy will be watching with eagle eyes! Only problem then is does it impact too severely on what KL/T3 could then support if a certain proportion of P2P traffic is lost

 

[lbaspotter]

Let’s just hope Eastern don’t damage KLM’s reputation at LBA that badly, so that it’s not damaged beyond repair.

That it is the worst outcome if this partnership keeps going in this direction, and as said it will be somebody else’s gain.

 

[Finger66]

Yes it could B A real problem for KL/T3 if this continues as well as it being oh so easy for someone else to pick up the AMS P2P traffic. If the KL service was lost altogether then it would be KLM City Cropper!

 

[Jerry]

With better reliability they would cream some of those connecting pax.

BA would have to operate a 3 daily service to replicate the connectivity that KLM brings to LeedsBradford. How likely is that considering the last time they operated 1 daily if I remember correctly? Loss of KLM would be a massive blow to LeedsBradford and BA could never replace that. Be careful what you wish for especially as it's likely a big chunk of KLMs LBA passengers would shift to Manchester not necessarily a BA service.

 

[White Heather]

BA would have to operate a 3 daily service to replicate the connectivity that KLM brings to LeedsBradford. How likely is that considering the last time they operated 1 daily if I remember correctly? Loss of KLM would be a massive blow to LeedsBradford and BA could never replace that. Be careful what you wish for especially as it's likely a big chunk of KLMs LBA passengers would shift to Manchester not necessarily a BA service.

Nobody is wishing that but the fact is that KLM have selected Eastern to operate our flights. An airline with a poor reputation which is well earned over time. Not all airports have been selected in this way. Some retain KLM mainline, and some, such as Exeter, new to the KLM network, now have a Cityhpper only service on an E190. It could be argued that KLM have favoured Exeter therefore, over LBA,.a route that's long established and well proven.

As for the current debacle, Eastern and KLM have known for months that this was happening and have had months.to prepare and ensure the fleet was capable, so to run into problems on day 1 in exactly the way many have predicted, is really concerning, no matter what excuses are made.

However, on a more positive note, it seems FR24 were wrong (again) about Eastern using E170s, and KLM Cityhopper doing the late afternoon flight, as G-CMWI, an Eastern E190, has just departed AMS heading for Leeds at 1610.