Thanks for that, Mark.

Whilst on the subject, I thought it would be worthwhile asking. My flight from JFK to LAX leaves 75 minutes after I arrive from LHR.

I actualy see your connection as 65 minutes not 75 minutes. Thats going to be pretty tight to disembark, clear immigration, customs, security, and get to the gate in time, seeing as the gate closes 15-20 minutes before departure anyway.

You can easily be delayed 65 minutes just taxiing on the ground at LHR. Thankfully JFK-LAX is AA’s most regular Transcon schedule, so not like you’ll be stranded for any long period of time if you do misconnect.

How do passengers stand if their onward connection departs not too long after their first flight arrives? Presumably, if it is possible to book a flight, regardless of the stopover time, the airline will still take good care of you?

Correct. Airline schedules incorporate “minimum connection times” into their timetables.

With BA at Heathrow between T4 and T1 for example, it is 90 minutes. I’m trying to fly between Cape Town and Manchester in a few months. The last flight to MAN leaves 75 minutes after the CPT arrival, so BA won’t sell me a ticket with that connection time.

If the MAN flight left 15 minutes later, then that would be a “legal” connection. BA would have to carry the can in getting me to Manchester if the inbound Cape Town flight was late and I missed my ticketed flight to MAN.

This of course only applies if you book the flight as CPT-MAN. If I booked the flights separatley, as CPT-LHR and LHR-MAN, then if the inbound flight from CPT was late, the onus would be on me to get another flight to MAN, not BA.

It varies form airline to airline and if you dont use the first part of your ticket Iberia DO NOT cancel the rest of it.

It may be different with connecting flights but from past expierence I had a DUB-BCN-ALC ticket which I didnt use put the return part of the ticket was ok.

That does indeed vary, but with connecting flights its industry standard to cancel the rest, and as lucas says after speaking to IB, this is indeed their policy too.

lucas, you are therefore in a really good position with regards to later options. You can either go on that horribly timed later departure, but like I thought there are also options that will get you there connecting through JFK, MIA, GRU, or LIM on earlier flights leaving MAD.

If you do get stuck in MAD until the 1.25am flight, make sure IB give you food vouchers, and if I were you and I’d ask them to let you into their lounge too (assuming you are not already in Business and do not hold oneworld Sapphire/Emerald status)

You’re a harder man than me even venturing outside in this weather, let alone standing around taking photos of aircraft for extended periods of time!!!

Has anyone flown on that Scot Airways D328 for bmi yet? I’m on it at the weekend, should be an interesting ride. 😎

can you tell me how many they have based there? I did hear it was only 2

Depends what your definition of based is?

There are 2/3/4 or so there in temporary storage due to lack of crews, but they certainly have more than 2 others flying out of there routinely.

Congrats on the job from me too!

Great stuff! I’m rather annoyed that I missed this spot on my last visit to Washington. However I nearly always have the option of building in a free layover to DCA on my way home from Florida, so might try and find this for a day when I’m next passing through that way in a few months time!

Lots of things in that report that obviously don’t make sense (Why did they continue as far as JFK if they thought there was a problem. If he was an employee the manifest would have said so etc etc)

AA137/136 is my regular this year, glad I don’t have to be in the US over the summer. A cranky 777 load of holidymaking Brits and hystrionic Americans on the ground at JFK would not be fun.

They’re bad enough in the air for 11 hours as it is! 😀