Turfed off flight

[csearle]

I'm stuck here in Zurich because at 2330 tonight Easyjet turfed us off the flight to Luton because of a hydraulic leak.

I heard all sorts of negative comments about Easyjet this evening from fellow passengers, quite a few were fairly aggressive, but personally the experience has been interesting.

It is bloody inconvenient that I won't be at home tonight because I have a job to do for a customer tomorrow but, I would rather be here in this hotel (wherever I am), paid for by Easyjet, than in the sky in a 737 with a defective aileron or elevator.

We are all scheduled to be on a flight tomorrow at 1600.

Well done to the shockingly young Easyjet pilots for putting safety firmly first in the face of much abuse.

[Dod101]

At this time you are not likely to get many supporters from the UK, but good for you. Have a good sleep, courtesy of Easyjet.

Dod

[BBLSP1]

There is an old aviation saying: It's better to be down here wishing you were up there than up there wishing you were down here.

As you note, it is always surprising how irate some people can get over what in general is the incredible achievement of easy global travel provided by the aviation industry.

[AsleepInYorkshire]

I'm stuck here in Zurich because at 2330 tonight Easyjet turfed us off the flight to Luton because of a hydraulic leak.

I heard all sorts of negative comments about Easyjet this evening from fellow passengers, quite a few were fairly aggressive, but personally the experience has been interesting.

It is bloody inconvenient that I won't be at home tonight because I have a job to do for a customer tomorrow but, I would rather be here in this hotel (wherever I am), paid for by Easyjet, than in the sky in a 737 with a defective aileron or elevator.

We are all scheduled to be on a flight tomorrow at 1600.

Well done to the shockingly young Easyjet pilots for putting safety firmly first in the face of much abuse.

I'm pleased Easyjet have kicked you all off

It is of course better to arrive late in this world than early in the next

I hope breakfast is awful/great (delete as suits you mood) and you had a fantastic/poor (dasym) nights sleep

Take it easy

AiY

[BrummieDave]

Well done to the shockingly young Easyjet pilots for putting safety firmly first in the face of much abuse.

My mate's son started flying as a co-pilot with Easyjet at age 20. The trouble was he looked about 14.

Some passengers found it quite unnerving!

[seagles]

Just think of the compensation..... We were "turfed off" a tui flight in February as pilot noticed fuel leak on his safety check. 4 hours later we got on a spare flown in from luton. Did not hear any grumbles from anyone, just glad he found it before we took off.

[csearle]

The replacement flight has been delayed from 1600 until 1930 because they haven't finished fixing the leak. We are all enjoying this extended Swiss buffet breakfast. If you are going to be stranded anywhere then this is the place for it to be.

C.

[csearle]

Just improved my step-count by walking my breakfast off with a trip around a Zurich suburb. All very sleepy here. Discovered the Kanton's revenue offices, they're not short of a job or two I'd say.

Lovely double decker trains swishing passed. I note that they operate two different gauges of track hereabouts.

[PinkDalek]

The replacement flight has been delayed from 1600 until 1930 because they haven't finished fixing the leak.

The Lemon Fool being more up to date than easyjet:

Live Updates

Updated 12 hours ago by easyJet Operations Control

Your new flight details:

Your flight will now be departing on 3rd August, at 16:00 local time, with flight number 9948

https://www.easyjet.com/en/flight-track ... 2019-08-02

[csearle]

:Your flight will now be departing on 3rd August, at 16:00 local time, with flight number 9948[/i]

https://www.easyjet.com/en/flight-track ... 2019-08-02

It would be nice to think so but my live updates on the Easyjet app are only a few minutes old. Estimated departure 1930.

[jfgw]

I'm stuck here in Zurich because at 2330 tonight Easyjet turfed us off the flight to Luton because of a hydraulic leak.

It does seem strangely apt for an airline called "Easyjet" to experience a hydraulic leak.

Julian F. G. W.

[seagles]

Last time I was in Zurich the 2 owners of Planet Holliwood just been gunned down. I spent a good few months there trying to sort out and recover a very bad "deal". Had some great meals there and walked a lot.

[csearle]

As they are patching the leak up I'd just like to say in advance that if EZY9948 loses control tonight and plummets out of the sky then it's been a pleasure interacting with you all. Don't give the moderators a hard time and be nice to each other on the Polite Discussions board.

[Spet0789]

Another aviation saying... better a few hours late in this world than a few decades early in the next.

Aviation has a lot to be proud of. The way multiple governments, international bodies, private companies and individuals have combined to create a fantastic culture of safety, transparency and continuous improvement is an example for every other industry I can think of.

[Lootman]

At this point I've probably flown a million miles consisting of at least 500 flight segments. That's statistically significant and it shows me how reassuringly safe and efficient commercial flying is in that the number of incidents like you experienced is quite small. As best I recall they were:

1) A "near miss" incident where we turned starboard and down very sharply, following by me seeing another plane flash past what seemed like a few hundred feet away. (Approach to Gatwick).

2) Two overnight enforced layovers in hotels due to snow (Newark, JFK).

3) Various same day delays of between 2 and 12 hours due to maintenance issues, weather or ATC mandates

4) Two diversions. One because of low fuel due to headwinds (Bangor, Maine). The other due to fog (in Dubai, of all places, diverted to Abu Dhabi).

5) One case of turbulence where the cabin crew aborted meal service and strapped in; a few passengers threw up but that was about it.

6) Three aborted landings in fog before the pilot gave up and went on to the next scheduled stop (somewhere in Oregon). Two "go-arounds" on final approach - both due to traffic on the runway (San Francisco and San Antonio).

Maybe I've just been lucky. I do only fly mainline airlines, if that makes a difference, which are more likely to have spare "back up" planes. For instance BA have a 777 parked at JFK "just in case".

[UncleEbenezer]

I'm stuck here in Zurich because at 2330 tonight Easyjet turfed us off the flight to Luton because of a hydraulic leak.

If instead of a hotel you'd got on the train, you could've been back in Blighty this morning. Depart Zurich 01:08, arrive St Pancras 11:30.

Though I daresay you got a better night's sleep at the hotel.

[csearle]

If instead of a hotel you'd got on the train, you could've been back in Blighty this morning.

Hadn't thought of that. I'd've had to make my way back to Luton to pick up my motorbike (always assuming it hasn't been nicked).

[csearle]

Happily they sent a functioning aircraft to pick us up and (successfully) return us to Blighty.

[redsturgeon]

Happily they sent a functioning aircraft to pick us up and (successfully) return us to Blighty.

Great you have been well sorted. For me the issue with any unforeseen delay is the efficiency or otherwise of how it is dealt with by the airline. The big issue I find is usually the lack of clear communication of what is happening.

Any time I have been delayed they has never been good comms with the passengers. Something along the lines of the following would be good:

"We are very sorry but your flight is delayed for reason X. It will probably be delayed for Y hours and we are doing everything we can to fix it asap. If you are delayed by more than Z hours then the following will happen (meals, hotels, compensation). We will keep you updated if anything changes."

In my experience this has not happened. I'm glad it seems to have happened in your case.

John

[csearle]

In my experience this has not happened. I'm glad it seems to have happened in your case.

Thanks, yes I felt that I was fairly well informed, although one German lady did feel they should have communicated better. But when I pressed her she said she would have wanted to know that they'd decided to send another aircraft rather then fix the broken one. All that meant for me was that I could carry on mentioning the bit of insulation tape I'm sure I'd seen flapping off a pipe near an engine.

Actually we had the Easyjet app with its "Live Updates" tab. That was like a running commentary on what was happening with the flight, the buses, the hotel and the food. For those without a smartphone it was a bit less reliable i.e. staff, signs, but mostly talking to those of us with the live updates available.

C.