Covid 19 Thoughts on the likely actions in the weeks to come

Let the bets begin...

Be interesting to see who gets toJFK first with the equipment both being the same!

My guess is Virgin. I’d be interested to know how many of the US flights get water salutes when they land. I certainly think at least one of the mco flights will.

Is the takeoff being broadcast live anywhere ?

Is the takeoff being broadcast live anywhere ?

Answering my own question, it looks like big jet tv covering it live

BJTV really does need to get himself some proper camera gear he really messed that up using the auto focus.

Looks like the BA flight turned north and the VS flight continued to track direct west.

Video can be found on this page

scroll to 10.21am
https://news.sky.com/story/covid-sky-news-live-blog-uk-daily-coronavirus-cases-latest-flights-to-us-resume-12443026?postid=2940897#liveblog-body

BJTV really does need to get himself some proper camera gear he really messed that up using the auto focus.

Looks like the BA flight turned north and the VS flight continued to track direct west.

Didn't watch - but tracking both VS3 and BA1 on FlightRadar. Both setoff @ 0850 hrs, VS3 showing landing @1045hrs (local time approx) vs. BA1 showing landing @ 1120 hrs (Local time approx)

A better video here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UWUG-Q5jbE

BJTV really does need to get himself some proper camera gear he really messed that up using the auto focus.

Looks like the BA flight turned north and the VS flight continued to track direct west.

Didn't watch - but tracking both VS3 and BA1 on FlightRadar. Both setoff @ 0850 hrs, VS3 showing landing @1045hrs (local time approx) vs. BA1 showing landing @ 1120 hrs (Local time approx)

Yes, mine has switched to the same message now.

I will see if anything changes as I get nearer to departure on Wednesday. My 72 hour window before travel opens tomorrow at 13:10 so I'll see if I can fill in the US Customer Attestation form then.

Got my COVID-19 drive-thru antigen lateral flow fit to fly COVID test booked for tomorrow using Express Test again. That result should be back within the hour as well unlike a PCR test which takes ~24 hrs.

Im also flying website and still don’t have the option to upload my test results!

[mitchja]

Still the same for me as well though I wouldn't worry about it. There was no option to upload results when I flew to BGI in Sept. Everything was just checked before check-in.

As long as you have your ESTA, negative test results, vaccination passes and you have submitted your attestation form you will be fine.

Just make sure you print everything and take it all with you.

https://twitter.com/spd_travels/status/ ... 35043?s=21
Excuse the last sentence

https://twitter.com/spd_travels/status/1457974979723735043?s=21
Excuse the last sentence

I'm beginning to think he has some sort of agenda. There's still no source on offer to back up this claim from the other day and, as of today, flights are still on sale well into the summer: https://twitter.com/SPD_travels/status/ ... 0372236292

As for a return to LGW, I always felt that was possible once VS fully utilised their slots at LHR once again and it got to a stage where VS had to pick which routes aren't profitable enough to be served from LHR. I can see what BA chooses to do in terms of continuing to serve more leisure-orientated routes from LHR such as MCO playing a factor in VS' thinking. I bet there's a lot of passengers who are glad of being spared the trek to LGW, particularly those who find LHR more convenient or preferable.

That said, it's probably only worth talking about if/when it's officially confirmed VS are returning to LGW.

The comments about LGW were from Shai Weiss, but of course he will want to talk of a growth agenda!

I do wonder personally, what the “O&D” Disney & Caribbean Pax think of their schlep to LHR! In many ways for large swathes of the South East Gatwick is very well connected.

I do wonder personally, what the “O&D” Disney & Caribbean Pax think of their schlep to LHR! In many ways for large swathes of the South East Gatwick is very well connected.

It's swings and roundabouts I guess. I recall when I spent a period living in Maidenhead a slight sense of frustration when driving past LHR to get to/from LGW for flights. I can't recall the exact reasons or whether it was down to cost, but I seem to recall LGW being the best option personally as I was flying to one destination (Porto) and back from another (Faro) and there were no flights from the latter at the time, but there was from LGW and on the dates I wanted. A 20 minute drive providing the M4 behaved itself would have been preferable to a 1hr drive to LGW.

On the flip side, it was my first time using LGW and it was a good excuse to try it out.

Update from VS Trade;

VSbulletin COVID-19 Ongoing Travel Disruption - 11 November 2021

It remains a dynamic time for international travel and we’re continually reviewing our flying schedules.

As we consider our longer-term flying programme, we’ve taken the decision to suspend our Manchester-Barbados flying during Summer 2022, reflecting the focus of customer demand that we’re seeing for Barbados as a winter sun destination. Our Manchester-Barbados services are currently operating four times per week and will continue to do so for the rest of the Winter 2021 schedule, helping our Manchester customers enjoy an escape to the sun as travel restrictions ease further. We remain committed to serving this Caribbean route from our home in the north and expect to resume flights in Autumn 2022 after the summer pause.

We apologise for the inconvenience caused to affected customers due to travel in summer 2022.

Before customers travel, please ensure they are checking the countries entry requirements for their destination it’s also important to check the latest government travel advice and entry requirements.

Our flexible booking policy gives customers the freedom to book with confidence, knowing they can make changes if they need to. For flights booked on or after 3 March 2021, for departures up to 30 April 2022, they can change travel dates up to 30 April 2023.

Our partner Delta Air Lines is also offering expanded flexibility and extended ticket validity through December 31, 2022. Visit Delta’s Waivers & Flexibility pages on Delta Professional for more information.

As a result of the fast-moving travel environment, we continue to make schedule changes which will affect our flying programme for the coming weeks.
We are reducing frequencies on several routes, however to ensure impacted passengers can continue with their travel plans, they will be reprotected to the most suitable alternative departure.
Where a flight is cancelled, and due to limited operations to these destinations, there will be no reprotection option available.

Bookings affected by these changes will be updated on Saturday 13 November 2021.

CancellationsEffective until & including
Caribbean MAN-BGI 28 Apr - 29 Oct 2022

We are also making some frequency updates on selected routes. We will continue to keep our website up to date with all the latest updates to schedule and travel restrictions.

During November we plan to maintain operations on the following routes, subject to late changes:

Our flying programme
USA
LHR-ATL-LHR Daily
LHR-BOS-LHR 4 per week
LHR-JFK-LHR 3 x Daily
LHR-LAS-LHR 4 per week
LHR-LAX-LHR 2 x Daily
LHR-MIA-LHR Daily
LHR-MCO-LHR Daily
LHR-SFO-LHR 4 per week
MAN-JFK-MAN 6 per week
MAN-MCO-MAN Daily

Caribbean
LHR-ANU-LHR 4 per week
LHR-BGI-LHR 1-14 Nov, 9 per week/15-30 Nov, 12 per week
LHR-GND-LHR (via BGI). 2 per week
LHR-MBJ-LHR 8-21 Nov, 3 per week/22-30 nov, 4 per week
LHR-NAS-LHR (via MBJ) 2 per week from 20 Nov
LHR-SVD-LHR (via BGI) 2 per week
MAN-BGI-MAN 4 per week

South Africa
LHR-JNB-LHR Daily

India
LHR-BOM-LHR Daily
LHR-DEL-LHR Daily

Pakistan
LHR-LHE-LHR 4 per week
LHR-ISB-LHR 3 per week
MAN-ISB-MAN 4 per week

Hong Kong
LHR-HKG 2 per week
HKG-LHR Daily

Nigeria
LHR-LOS-LHR Daily

Israel
LHR-TLV-LHR Daily

Our partners are also back in the skies, and here's a reminder of where they are flying long-haul from the UK in November.

Our partner Delta Air Lines flying programme
LHR-ATL-LHR Daily
LHR-JFK-LHR 10 per week
LHR-DTW-LHR 4 per week
LHR-BOS-LHR 3 per week

I'm beginning to think he has some sort of agenda. There's still no source on offer to back up this claim from the other day and, as of today, flights are still on sale well into the summer: https://twitter.com/SPD_travels/status/ ... 0372236292

No agenda, just received advanced info that tried to help some people and very frustrated at the way Manchester is being treated/reduced.

I'm beginning to think he has some sort of agenda. There's still no source on offer to back up this claim from the other day and, as of today, flights are still on sale well into the summer: https://twitter.com/SPD_travels/status/ ... 0372236292

No agenda, just received advanced info that tried to help some people and very frustrated at the way Manchester is being treated/reduced.

I get the frustration, but as one of the passengers affected I would have liked to have been notified first instead of reading it on Twitter without a link to back it up. Not an unreasonable request surely?

I'm beginning to think he has some sort of agenda. There's still no source on offer to back up this claim from the other day and, as of today, flights are still on sale well into the summer: https://twitter.com/SPD_travels/status/ ... 0372236292

No agenda, just received advanced info that tried to help some people and very frustrated at the way Manchester is being treated/reduced.

I get the frustration, but as one of the passengers affected I would have liked to have been notified first instead of reading it on Twitter without a link to back it up. Not an unreasonable request surely?

Completely agree. Not unreasonable at all. Always best to hear it from Virgin first rather than another source when their information may not be correct.

I get the frustration, but as one of the passengers affected I would have liked to have been notified first instead of reading it on Twitter without a link to back it up. Not an unreasonable request surely?

Not really. I couldn’t provide a source as the link was private. When you look at what I post on Twitter, all information is correct at time of posting, I can’t always provide a link so if you choose to read it, you take it at face value and that’s your prerogative on how you assimilate that information.

But the main point is, if your frustrated with the way Virgin have handled something, take that frustration out on them, and not me. It’s not my fault Virgin were slow to inform, it’s not my fault Virgin were selling tickets on flights they had no intention of operating. All I did was tell you what was happening. And I don’t see why I should be publicly lambasted for that.

The fact there has been no apology for accusing me of having an agenda, almost accusing me of false information but still somehow insinuating I’m in the wrong is what’s unreasonable to be honest. But hey ho.

I get the frustration, but as one of the passengers affected I would have liked to have been notified first instead of reading it on Twitter without a link to back it up. Not an unreasonable request surely?

Not really. I couldn’t provide a source as the link was private. When you look at what I post on Twitter, all information is correct at time of posting, I can’t always provide a link so if you choose to read it, you take it at face value and that’s your prerogative on how you assimilate that information.

But the main point is, if your frustrated with the way Virgin have handled something, take that frustration out on them, and not me. It’s not my fault Virgin were slow to inform, it’s not my fault Virgin were selling tickets on flights they had no intention of operating. All I did was tell you what was happening. And I don’t see why I should be publicly lambasted for that.

The fact there has been no apology for accusing me of having an agenda, almost accusing me of false information but still somehow insinuating I’m in the wrong is what’s unreasonable to be honest. But hey ho.

Do you not think it would have been a better idea to wait to tweet it until virgin had confirmed the information themselves because some or all of that information could have changed before they made that announcement?

I get the frustration, but as one of the passengers affected I would have liked to have been notified first instead of reading it on Twitter without a link to back it up. Not an unreasonable request surely?

Not really. I couldn’t provide a source as the link was private. When you look at what I post on Twitter, all information is correct at time of posting, I can’t always provide a link so if you choose to read it, you take it at face value and that’s your prerogative on how you assimilate that information.

But the main point is, if your frustrated with the way Virgin have handled something, take that frustration out on them, and not me. It’s not my fault Virgin were slow to inform, it’s not my fault Virgin were selling tickets on flights they had no intention of operating. All I did was tell you what was happening. And I don’t see why I should be publicly lambasted for that.

The fact there has been no apology for accusing me of having an agenda, almost accusing me of false information but still somehow insinuating I’m in the wrong is what’s unreasonable to be honest. But hey ho.

Not sure if you saw my post in this thread, but I posted to say I took back what I initially said about the tweet: -

viewtopic.php?p=962729#p962729

To address your other points, yes I am unhappy with both the decision to suspend the route and the way they were still selling tickets during the course of last week. The fact they were still selling tickets, no public updates from VS (or, in my case, Virgin Holidays) until last Thursday and the lack of source at your end is why I initially doubted you and I agree they deserve all the criticism levelled at them for it. I also appreciate how you can't publicly reveal your sources at that point and you probably had to make a judgement call as to whether you should run with the tweet or not.

In my defence, and you have probably gathered this by now, it's not nice seeing speculation elsewhere when passengers haven't been informed first and I hope you can see now how this looks from a passenger's perspective.

In summary, I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for suggesting you had an agenda. I can see that you don't. I also apologise if you think I was accusing you of misinformation. I hope you appreciate it was borne out of frustration at not being officially notified at that point as this trip isn't a run-of-the-mill holiday for us. I'm actually grateful for you taking the time to explain, so I hope you accept my apology.

At a postscript, after talking to Virgin Holidays over the weekend, we are now flying out of MAN as planned as it's a few days before the route is scrapped, with the return via LHR and a connecting flight back to MAN with BA. Without cancelling and re-booking with TUI or Aer Lingus, it's as good as it's going to get. Now if only Little Red hadn't been scrapped...

Do you not think it would have been a better idea to wait to tweet it until virgin had confirmed the information themselves because some or all of that information could have changed before they made that announcement?

With all due respect I’ve seen several of your own posts ‘jump the gun’ with regards movements and information, to the point that I can’t remember what it was regarding now as it was a few months back, but one of your posts met quite a bit of resistance for being incorrect, so I really don’t think your in a position to lecture about ‘timing of information’. Sorry if the way I word that sounds harsh but just saying it as I see it.

In my defence, and you have probably gathered this by now, it's not nice seeing speculation elsewhere when passengers haven't been informed first and I hope you can see now how this looks from a passenger's perspective.

Thank you for the apology. I of course don’t want to cause anyone any stress and fully appreciate that speculation is stressful, especially if it turns out to be incorrect.

Like I’ve said before, I aim to keep all speculation off the Twitter, and post info that I know has a solid source (even if I can't publicise that source). With regards to the Barbados news, I knew the news was coming and I was quite angry that tickets were still being sold on a route I knew they had no intention of operating. While I don’t think I’m anything special, I know my tweets are read by VS and it’s bigwigs, so I was hoping my ‘leak’ would spur them on to let people know the route was being cut, rather than prolong it for those that might need to make alternative plans in advance.

I hope that explains my position on the tweets. Regards.

Weaver, I didn’t realise you were SPD! I feel honoured to have you on our little forum as I am a big fan of your Twitter account.

I think it’s absolutely right you tweeted info you had that was from a credible source!

That being said, I fundamentally disagree that VS have not firmly got Manchester in their sights and will
continue to develop it - as soon as they can return to a proper period of growth!

Weaver, I didn’t realise you were SPD! I feel honoured to have you on our little forum as I am a big fan of your Twitter account.

I think it’s absolutely right you tweeted info you had that was from a credible source!

That being said, I fundamentally disagree that VS have not firmly got Manchester in their sights and will
continue to develop it - as soon as they can return to a proper period of growth!

Thank you.

This is the only forum I’m currently on, I find the bigger ones far too ‘toxic’ and there really are agendas on those that I don’t wish to partake in. I joined this forum as I’ve been a big fan of Virgin and it’s product, and usually use them when flying out of Manchester (have 2 flights with them to MCO next year for example).

As far as my thoughts on Virgin. I appreciate there are constraints to their fleet at the moment but I still maintain that 2021 into 2022 has been handled poorly. I have heard certain things that also form part of my opinion but given I don’t usually deal in speculation, I’ll just deal with what we do know.

Firstly, they cancelled off Montego Bay citing ‘entry restrictions’. I find it rather strange that those ‘entry restrictions’ didn’t seem to hinder their London flights? But even if it was so, why not replace those 3 MBJ flights with something else? They clearly planned the aircraft and crew numbers for an MBJ flight, so why didn’t they add flights to MCO, capitalising on the wave caused by 2 years of no Disney holidays? Why not give BOM or DEL another crack?

Secondly was cancelling LAX. If it was due to aircraft shortages as they say, then why not get Delta to run either MAN-JFK or MAN-ATL, or both, even if just temporary for S22? That frees up 2 aircraft right there, and that could have kept LAX (and ultimately BGI) running at Manchester? I’m lead to believe DL has a decent bit of spare capacity for S22 currently.

Thirdly was then the way they cancelled off BGI. Why not canx it at the same time as LAX (given I knew at the same time that LAX was being binned off, BGI was too)? Get all the bad news out of the way in one go and then concentrate on building brand confidence again? I know several people now that want to book VS m, but are genuinely being put off as they don’t know if their booking will be binned off too?

Fourthly, and this links into point 2 regarding my thoughts on commitment, was the words that Gatwick may be brought back into play. To say they are short of aircraft in one sentence, but then essentially l having too many aircraft in the next sentence speaks volumes. Yes, I know London yield is better, yes there are slots to protect and all the usual other excuses, but frankly, if they were really committed to Manchester as they say they are, there were options to make Manchester work, there were things they could have done to keep flights operating. But they didn’t, they cut them. And that speaks far louder than any hollow promises of ‘committed to our home in the north’.

I like Virgin, and I don’t want to feel this negativity towards them, and want them to succeed, but at the same time, I can’t help feel they are full of phoney promises towards MAN right now. Some people may disagree, and that’s fine, but I really really don’t think they are as committed as they would have us believe.