Monarch to go bust?

[drew]

Is now in the air

but also..

"I work for a major call centre operator. We have been placed on standby for the closure of a major airlines all last week in association with the caa. To man emergency lines for repatriation etc.. this news was meant to hit Thursday last week. Just received a call to be in work at 7 this morning. They have been very careful not to say which airline it is though."

Of course they wouldn't say which airline it is, they must be aware they employ staff that can't be trusted with that information!!!!

 

[GOM]

Monarch flights departing OK from Leeds Bradford airport today

 

[ManOfSussex]

Bring back Dan-Air the worlds greatest ever airline!

Dan-Air was the first airline I ever flew on as a kid from Gatwick to Tenerife! My late mother asked, on my behalf, one of the cabin crew if I could see inside the cockpit and he checked with them and then I went into the cock-pit and had 5 minutes or so chatting to the captain and co-pilot, who were both 'tally-ho' ex-RAF types right as the plane was flying over Lisbon at night as they were having their dinner. They pointed out how everything worked and asked me where I was going on holiday and what football team I supported, they were brilliant. Then the steward knocked and just opened the cock-pit door and took me back to my seat.

Dan-Air were the greatest and I always loved the fact they sponsored the Combined Counties League years ago. If an airline is sponsoring a football league, then they're always going to pretty cool.

 

[melias shoes]

http://news.sky.com/story/monarch-airline-denies-being-in-financial-trouble-10593790

 

[Harry H]

So there you have it.

 

[Official Old Man]

Flew with Monarch to Tenerife on the 2nd January a few years ago with my family. Had the entire plane to ourselves. I questioned why they bothered but it seems that it was full of Christmas/New Year holidaymakers coming back.

 

[Icy Gull]

Any chance we'll find out who originated this very destabilising rumour??

Another airline perchance?

 

[Bozza]

Any chance we'll find out who originated this very destabilising rumour??

Another airline perchance?

It's a funny one. What is fact is that a few jets have been seemingly chartered from the US and positioned in Europe, and have filed flight plans that exactly mimic those scheduled by Monarch. None mimic any of those of other airlines.

Neither the CAA nor the airlines who own those aircraft, such as United, will comment on what they were for. It may well be a 2+2=5 situation, but it does seem to indicate there was some concern whether Monarch would be able to fulfil their obligations, so the CAA and/or UK government had taken steps to ensure people could get home.

The BBC coverage this morning includes this: "Monarch Airlines has been in talks with the Civil Aviation Authority overnight. We do not know exactly why that is the case, but there is considerable discussion on aviation blogs that planes operated by other airlines have been lined up to bring back passengers from holiday destinations this week."

There's a United 747 sitting in Mallorca currently and another one still seemingly en route to Tenerife: https://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL2295

It seems Monarch's owner have been trying to sell them for some time (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business...er-said-to-be-considering-exit-after-just-17/), but not found a buyer and by all accounts their ATOL bond is up for renewal which will involve tying up a fair slice of cash.

So, it could have been concern about a tour operator or maybe a cruise line, but the fact is flights were only filed which match Monarchs.

 

[daveinprague]

Was on a flight of theirs in the 80s and had a steak and kidney pie for the meal that I still think is one of the best ive ever eaten. They had spares, and asked if anybody wanted another, and there was almost a scramble for them.

 

[CPFC G]

Dan-Air was the first airline I ever flew on as a kid from Gatwick to Tenerife! My late mother asked, on my behalf, one of the cabin crew if I could see inside the cockpit and he checked with them and then I went into the cock-pit and had 5 minutes or so chatting to the captain and co-pilot, who were both 'tally-ho' ex-RAF types right as the plane was flying over Lisbon at night as they were having their dinner. They pointed out how everything worked and asked me where I was going on holiday and what football team I supported, they were brilliant. Then the steward knocked and just opened the cock-pit door and took me back to my seat.

Dan-Air were the greatest and I always loved the fact they sponsored the Combined Counties League years ago. If an airline is sponsoring a football league, then they're always going to pretty cool.

I spent 4 years at Dan Dare when I left school, Worked in Horley and a little bit air side. Really enjoyed it.

Working in the IT side of things we were pretty much the last staff to leave once it went bust, The last 3 or 4 months was one big party as there were leaving drinks 2 or 3 times each week. Sad it went bust but great times were had whilst working for them.

 

[Steve in Japan]

There's a United 747 sitting in Mallorca currently and another one still seemingly en route to Tenerife: https://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL2295

US invasion of Spain? I've read my Tom Clancy......

 

[atomised]

Any chance we'll find out who originated this very destabilising rumour??

Another airline perchance?

Cant really imagine another airline wishing to destabilise so much as to be willing to put aircraft in position and file flight plans matching those of Monarch. It would be a very expensive way to destabilise a rival

 

[parks]

Shameful if true seeing as how I got my first emailed Monarch cheap flights offer in yonks posted to my inbox only yesterday.

Even more shameful if not true.....

 

[Official Old Man]

What happeed to the plane at Palma de Mallorca that was meant to fly back on the Monarch route?

 

[Bozza]

What happeed to the plane at Palma de Mallorca that was meant to fly back on the Monarch route?

Still there with Monarch-ish flight plans filed for later this week: https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n116ua

 

[Official Old Man]

Answering my own question.
There is a United Airlines flight due out of Palma at the same time as a Lufthansa flight at 1:10 (shows as delayed) both going to Frankfurt.

 

[Bozza]

Answering my own question.
There is a United Airlines flight due out of Palma at the same time as a Lufthansa flight at 1:10 (shows as delayed) both going to Frankfurt.

Nope - that will be a codeshare flight on a Lufthansa aircraft. See my reply to your post above.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

Back in the 90's when I worked for the CAA I used to attend the aeronautical society meetings. I remember one such meeting vividly where the presenter was discussing aircraft maintenance and repairs.

The story he told: A scheduled Monarch flight had "gone tech" en route to Madrid with a warning light relating to front gear [undercarriage]. On arrival, the Iberia engineers were instructed to triage for airworthiness for the return leg to Gatwick. The diagnosis was a seized axle on the front wheel. They did not have the part in Madrid so contacted Monarch maintenance headquarters at Stanstead to report. They had the part in stock so sent it on the next flight along with an engineer who had just come off an 8-hour shift. He ripped the page out of the maintenance manual for the specific aircraft model and took off for Madrid with the new axle and some tools for luggage.

On arrival, he found the aircraft already jacked-up and stripped, with the failed axle already removed. If offered up the new part and quickly noticed it was the wrong part. Faced with an extended delay [all airlines need their aircraft in the air to make money] and rising passenger complaints he was instructed [by who remains a closely guarded secret] to file the old axle down, smooth it up with some emery-cloth, pack it with grease, refit it and get the aircraft home.

On touch down at Gatwick, the nose wheel seized, the axle snapped and the aircraft came to a "rest" on the front part of the fuselage.

I had to ask the question "Did the engineer have the confidence in his workmanship to fly home on the same aircraft?" Yes, yes he did.
Apparently he doesn't work for Monarch now .....

 

[Official Old Man]

Nope - that will be a codeshare flight on a Lufthansa aircraft. See my reply to your post above.

With you. Only ever used Flight Radar to track a flight in to pick someone up. Didn't realise so much could be done. Got a boring day ahead so may start playing.

 

[Icy Gull]

I am somewhat confused to hear the United Airlines, an American airline is lining up to fly British passengers back to UK airports. Surely the CAA would have used a British based company.

Also what has happened to these planes lined up on the same flight timings and destinations where the Monarch flight has now departed? Have United mirrored these flights?

All sounds very very iffy to me