V-Flyer

Will Virgin do something special? Do they normally do anything on a route closure?

Background information - Booked Upper using G.

Very unlikely.

The crew might mark it informally but I doubt there’ll be anything official. Weirdly, airlines tend to shout about new route launches from the rooftops but keep very quiet about closures.

I don't really think there's anything to "celebrate" about a final flight unless it's from an airport that's closing or the final ever flight for an aircraft type in the fleet. My instinct is that there may be a few words by the cabin crew/captain at the start/end of the flight and that's it.

gumshoe wrote:Weirdly, airlines tend to shout about new route launches from the rooftops but keep very quiet about closures.

I suppose a route loss can be constructed in a positive or negative way. Without turning this into a debate about the merits (or otherwise) of VS' route decisions over the last few years, VS were up against multiple flights per day from EK to Dubai along with BA's service, so it could be argued that their withdrawal is partly attributable to the fierce competition on the route. There were also no incentives for regional UK passengers to connect via LHR either as EK offer direct flights from various airports (e.g. MAN gets up to 3 A380's per day).

Finally, I'd also argue there have been other routes dropped from the map that have been more regrettable losses than Dubai will be as far as VS are concerned. For example, it's a shame that they haven't attempted to return to Canada after withdrawing from Toronto after 9/11 and nor have they looked again at Vancouver, though that's partly being addressed with the AF/KLM codesharing arrangement that was recently announced.

Had a great flight, the cabin crew were quiet emotional on take off during the announcements, several announcements made, thanking the Dubai team.

The Dubai caterers had organised a surprise cake, which they shared with everyone in Upper. The cake was delicious.

Only slight mishap was announcement made that 40 headsets for economy passengers hadn’t been loaded and no way of sourcing them as last flight. Cabin crew asked the passengers to use headsets if possible.

Do staff at out stations typically have multiple jobs because it’s hard to imagine they can make enough especially when there’s only one flight a day?

jakedonson wrote:Do staff at out stations typically have multiple jobs because it’s hard to imagine they can make enough especially when there’s only one flight a day?

Yes they are more likely to be contract staff so may work for more than one airline on the same day. After they have finished with VS they change uniform and start work for someone else.

They would typically work check-in for a couple of hours, close that at approx 60 mins before the flight then move airside to handle gate dispatch then do the same for another airline.

I believe all VS ground staff at outstations (apart from station managers) are outsourced these days. They often work for a ground handling agent like Swissport.

gumshoe wrote:I believe all VS ground staff at outstations (apart from station managers) are outsourced these days. They often work for a ground handling agent like Swissport.

Correct. I think the only place VS run the ground operation themselves is at LHR (unsure about LGW). All the others are out-sourced & Swissport is the normal suspect. MAN ground operations are Swissport, as are MCO. Just look at the staff's airport ID badges - whilst they may well be wearing VS uniform, the ID badge is the giveaway as it states the employer.