Opinions of FlyBE?

A bending fuselage! Wow! I sure do want to see that! Can’t wait 😀

RE: EAL King

I think that may well be the case. After some significant upheaval from Jersey European to British European to flybe., I think a couple of years fleet stability and simplicity is what the airline needs. That was the conclusion I came to. They made a small profit last year – Jersey European never even managed that!

Originally posted by bmi-star
Dusseldwarf, i did LGW-JER in a day last July aswell. Not bad for £35. Really enjoyed JER and flying with Flybe

Jersey was lovely. We went in November and although it was quiet, we had a great day and it was really sunny and quite warm too that day. I think we paid £28 each all in. Another place that went on my “must be re-visited one day” list.

jethro said that flybe wont replace the fleet or add boeing or airbus for a few years yet!

Dusseldwarf, i did LGW-JER in a day last July aswell. Not bad for £35. Really enjoyed JER and flying with Flybe

Originally posted by markkipling
Perhaps they are having problems with the Q400s as well then!!! Talking to the airline, they said they have problems with the 146 specifically. I couldn’t seem to eek out of them what they were going to do as far as replacing them goes. All they would tell me was that ‘options were being evaluated’.

The signs for them aren’t good, esp. consideering the experience of Debonair who also operated the 146. That was one of the reasons I decoded to study them actually.

I once visited Eurowings HQ in Dortmund on business whilst working at Gill Airways and they had nothing but bad things to say about the 146’s as far as technical reliability goes.

I hope flybe. replace the 146’s with the A318 or a decent sized Embraer. Would be good to see them operate yet another aircraft type that no-one flies from the UK at the mo.

Perhaps they are having problems with the Q400s as well then!!! Talking to the airline, they said they have problems with the 146 specifically. I couldn’t seem to eek out of them what they were going to do as far as replacing them goes. All they would tell me was that ‘options were being evaluated’.

The signs for them aren’t good, esp. consideering the experience of Debonair who also operated the 146. That was one of the reasons I decoded to study them actually.

the bae146 is ok on gatwick-jersey i have always flown on that a/c to and from jersey from gatwick but i went from southampton to jersey 2 weeks ago and i found the dash8q400 a good a/c it is long and v.quiet dont get seats 8-19 as you cant see anything as of the engine the leather seats are good and found it to be v.compfortable and the service is good but depends if you get a smiling crew or a grumpy crew

Oh yes, with the 146s you have to worry about the noisy flaps, in the Q400 you have to make sure you don’t sit at the back, or don’t sit at the front and look back, the fuselage flexes on final approach even in minor crosswinds and it looks rather worrying!

I sure will do a trip report, might even try a get some photos too! 😀

It’s the passengers on the flybe. BAe146’s you should feel sorry for!! I was dying to fly on the 146 for years and eventually last year I did – it was a flybe. 146 from LGW to JER and back in a day. The aircraft itself was as great as I had hoped, but the 3-3 seating flybe. thought would be acceptable, certainly were far from it. I have only flown with flybe. on four sectors, two as British European from LCY/ABZ/LCY and these two to/from JER.

On the first booking to ABZ, I had specifically booked these flights as they were operated using the BAe146. Alas, about a month before the flight to ABZ, I received an email advising me of a schedule change. The flight from LCY left more or less at the same time however, the flight now lasted an extra 25 minutes!! The reason? They changed the aircraft from a BAe146 to a friggin’ Dash 8, 100 series!!! As it was now so close to the date of travel, I couldn’t book an alternative at a price I was willing to pay. As I hadn’t flown on the Dash8 either, I stuck with it. No kidding, the flight was scheduled to last 1hr 55 mins and by buggery it took that long too! I was well bored! Possibly the longest domestic flight in this country in the last 20 years!? British European were far from the top on my list of fabbo airlines!

As an aside, the return flight from ABZ/LCY started to roll along the runway at ABZ and then very quickly came to a halt. Now, I’m not a nervous flyer, however, this put the wind up me a bit. The captain did explain that there was a light or two showing up on his panel and that they had to perform some engine tests before trying again. We took off without incident the second time and 1 hour and 55 mins later, I was in London again!!

Now, comparing the two aircraft, I’d prefer the flybe. Dash8 to the flybe. 146 for comfort. I would however love to fly on the 146 with an airline that knows how wide a seat should be and I wouldn’t mind giving flybe. a THIRD chance and flying on their Dash8 Q-400. Third time lucky?? I hope so!:D

Enjoy the Dash8 Q-400 and remember your trip report. I’m interested in finding out if they fly as good as they look.

Duesseldwarf

markkipling, I thought it was the Q400s giving them the problems, always going tech? Or is that sorted now?

Currently writing a dissertation on their operations, so know them fairly well. Good little airline, Q400s are nice aircraft. Feel a little sorry for them, lumbered with the 146s. They give a lot of trouble.

Nothing special, just an airline. Fly you from point to point and thats about it. Don’t do much so its difficult to criticise them, especially on such short sectors.