sparki,

In that case just ask for a seat around the wing when you check-in. The trouble with that is you need to check-in sooner rather than later. The agent will do their best to acommodate your needs. As you've pre-booked seating, they get pre-assigned so you may not be able to change them at check-in if they are too far back. The wing area, being close to the aircrafts centre of gravity will probably be the best place for you to ensure you feel as little movement as possible. It might be worth giving them a call to note your request. You maybe assigned seats in that area anyway.

Darren

when i booked the holiday i opted for the pre bookable seats, and as far as i know they would have already allocated the seats.. oh well my bad..think we will just have to put up with the good possibility of being at the back. I must find out what my Flight code and then i can hopefully find out what the seating arrangements are.

Sandy

sparki,

Where are you fliying from? What date? It'll be a Boeing 757-200 or the smaller Airbus A320/1-200. Regardless of aircraft type, they are configured 3-3 with 28" seat pitch.

Darren

Hi Darren
We are flying from Gatwick North Terminal 20th June at 6am.

Sandy

sparki,

You'll be flying to Reus on flight FCA4202. It's showing as departing LGW at 06:20, arriving in REU at 09:25. It's operated by a Boeing 757-200.

Darren

thanks darren for your help

sparki,

Just noticed you've edited your post and changed the date from 24th to 20th June. The friday flight is flight number FCA4510, departing at 0600, arriving 0900 operated by a Boeing 757-200.

Darren

Thank You

Hi All - I'm one of over 200 people currently - right now this minute - stranded in Kerala India due to yet another breakdown of First Choice's very few ageing 767 aeroplanes they use for long haul. We're told it's at least a 24 hour delay - and there's no real information about where the heck the plane is or how badly it's broken this time. I've watched this site recently - and the TUI one - concerning First Choice recent 'bad patch' with their planes causing delays for lots of customers. We are told we are likely to be booted out of our hotels and put 'somewhere - don't worry, you will be OK....'
I do worry - and I reckon First Choice do need to wake up and do something about their unreliable aircraft and, until they can - or their new 787 planes arrive (which are apparently delayed) they ought to look after their customers properly. Tomorrow morning - in this hotel at least - there's likely to be a small revolution of maybe 100 folk refusing to leave their rooms and get kicked out to go God knows where.

Sorry but FCA's planes are no older than any other airline, they are in fact younger than most BA, Virgin, Thomas Cook etc.

All the afore mentioned airlines have the same problem because the planes fly and its just like a car.

I am sorry you are delayed but the age of the planes really isnt the problem .

Hi, I am sorry to hear of your situation, having been delayed myself badly in the past with one nameless airline and delayed here and there a few minutes or a few hours, I realise it is frustrating and beside baggage problems is probably the most stressful part of their holiday. I do hope your situation is resolved quickly and painlessly as possible.

As a side issue, Thomson are usually very good in resort especially long haul destinations- as these reps have got a few seasons under their belt, the Thomson and First Choice teams are supporting each other in a lot of resorts now and this should help the situation.

Until planes get exceptionally old the age is very rarely a contributing factor and can work far beyond what you or I would use a car for.

Average 767 age's:-
BA's average 767 15 years
Thomas Cooks 767 14.2 years
Thomsonfly 767 10.7 years
First Choice 767 14.2 years

They are not the yougest operator nor the oldest on this list and the youngest operator of the 767 in the UK(Thomsonfly) still has some spectacular problems, so it can happen to anyone or any aircraft.

Please I know its hard, worrying about the problems of your return home, but go out, and treat this problem as an extended holiday- have one last night chilling by the beach, the problem is someone elses to sort out at the moment it is beyond your control. So enjoy the last few hours of holiday time.

ukbill,

I sympthise with your situation having been delayed by 52 hours when coming home from the Dom Rep in March 2003 due to a technical problem with the aircraft we were travelling back on. It wasn't FCA! As said previously, FCA's aircraft are no older than other operators of the type. In fact, between 13 and 15 years old. FCA's aircraft are maintained to the highest specification and technical problems do unfortunately occur from time to time. Even a minor fault can ground an aircraft. It is much better to ensure an aircraft is 100% servicable than risk anything. It's not like you can just pull over to solve a problem. The decision to delay a flight isn't taken lightly and I can assure you everything will be done to ensure your delay is with as little inconvenience as possible. FCA's delay policy is detailed here. I know it may not seem that way at times and it is stressful, but it is for those who are dealing with the problem as well.

For info, FCA's 6x 767-300/ER's were constructed:

G-OOAN: 1993
G-OOBL: 1995
G-OOBK: 1995
G-OOBM:1995
G-PJLO:1992
G-DBLA: 1992

The age of the aircraft is irrelevant given the high level of maintenance they receive. After a D-check for example, where they are stripped bare and every rivet inspected before being put back together, they are like new again. Even brand new aircraft have problems. For example Singapore Airlines brand new A380's have been grounded with a few gremlins and they've only been in service a few months. I'll see if I can find out what the problem is. It could have been something like a bird-strike as much as a tech issues.

Darren

Thanks BY-TOM and Dazbo for info - it would be great to get the truth about what has happened please - but - the fact is nearly 300 people are stuck in Kerala right now - and First Choice are telling us virtually nothing. The FC rep in this hotel has been abandoned by her office to face clients by herself, she's been in tears due to folk really annoyed with the horrific mess. It's not her fault! First Choice management need to go to some sort of communication course - they obviously know nothing about that technology now.
Rumours abound - the plane is broken in the maldives - spare parts are trying to be obtained from the UK. OR - they've given up on that one - and they are trying to send out another plane from the UK. NOBODY KNOWS! It's a mess and the fault of First Choice Airline. And - we are all being kicked out of our hotels tomorrow morning and being dumped into somewhere in Trivanduram but again- First Choice cannot tell us where yet.
Sorry - everyone ought to really think twice -and then then three times - before booking a First Choice flight holiday.

ukbill,

That was pretty much my experience as well. The rep in resort is left to deal with the passengers while the rest try and sort something out. I'd hate to be in the reps position. It was the same when we had the 52 hour delay. We'd actually flown from Dom Rep to Jamaica to pick some passengers up when the hydaulics failed inflight. We got 2 days in a 5 star hotel in Ocho Rios, it worked out great for us! Only thing I can suggest is make the most of your extended holiday. There's nothing you can do. For those passengers that are shouting, it'll get them nowhere. Either the aircraft will be repaired and sent out or if that's going to take too long, an aircraft will be leased / found to bring you home. I bet the rep knows as much as you do at the moment.

I've not managed to find anything out as yet but as soon as I hear anything, I'll let you know.

Darren

Having been in a similar position as airline staff in the UK - I sympathise with the rep AND Ukbill- but there are also some difficult issues for the company in an overnight delay situation.

Trying to come up with a couple of hundred hotel rooms at very little notice without scattering passengers and crew here there and everywhere (trying to keep them informed, provide transport etc etc when several hotels abroad are involved is a nightmare in itself) is a major issue. i've been in the situation in the UK (where it's obviously easier!) of locating sufficient rooms, but then not being able to find sufficient coaches available to get passengers to them.............. If the delay goes into a 2nd night stay, it is on occasion necessary to move passengers around (quite often hotels won't have sufficient rooms for an extension) & the problem becomes exacerbated. The fastest, most local option for an immediate solution, may not apply to the next day - and unfortunately costs have to be considered too (we all know how expensive hotels next to airports are and at the end of the day, all of this becomes a consideration for the airline/tour company)

As regards information I can see this from both points of view. I would like to know WHY my flight was delayed, but I suppose really, what matters is that is IS - and the priority is to get folk out of the airport into somewhere more comfortable as fast as possible given the constraints above. Airline ops will be working flat out to find a solution. They want an aircraft and crew stuck a couple of thousand miles away like a hole in the head!! If the stories you are hearing ARE true (quite feasible that a flight before yours has gone tech in the Maldives where spares are a NIGHTMARE to come by and as a consequence FCA are trying to find a "spare" aircraft to get round to your trip. The situation is probably highly fluid and telling passengers what you THINK is going to happen (they will fix aircraft x within 6 hrs and it will then be sent out to fetch you, can very easily turn into "it actually took 8 hrs to fix, by which time airport restrictions meant we couldn't leave Maldives until the next morning" and suddenly the whole scenario is a mess - poor rep at airport gets castigated for giving out the information she believed to be true at the time, but is now way off beam!! sometimes better the say nothing until you are sure - but it's a fine line to tread!.

Finding or having spare aircraft is another moot point. It costs thousands of pounds per hour just to have an aircraft parked up at a UK airport (presumably the same everywhere else apart from the Navada desert) - so not only is it sitting around not earning any money, but is is actually costing money while it's not flying as well. FCA in previous years HAVE had a spare unit (though it has on occasion been a 757 which doesn't help when you need to get a 767 load of passengers on it) - but currently I believe they don't . I suspect however with the merger that they probably have access to Thomson's spare if it isn't already rescuing something else . S*d's law says when you have a badly tech airplane in somewhere remote, it is when you have already loaned your "spare" to another airline in difficulty for similar reasons, or it is in maintenance or doing some other unscheduled trip......................... Bad things happen in threes with airlines too.....................

UKBill I sympathise - though possibly better that you are stuck there rather than in some grotty airport hotel in the UK if you are going to be stuck at all. hopefully Dazbo can work out what is happening - and it's more than feasible that he will have info before the airport staff there do ............................ what is certain is that NO crew will fly anything that is unserviceable (spouses and children would never forgive them!) , and that they hate tech delays as much as you do (they lose the trip, get home late from work by just a day or so (makes M25 delays look like small fry!) and in all probability have their rosters and family plans totally messed up for the rest of the month.) It costs the airline an absolute fortune both financially and in goodwill - nobody at all has any benefit from this kind of mess - but it is a fact of life and s*d's law. Breakdowns happen to anything mechanical at some point or other and charter aircraft work exceptionally hard but are maintained extremely well in the UK and FCA actually have good reliability records My commiserations UKBill- keep cool........ and get home safely soon!

Hi, flying with FCA from Glasgow to Tenerife on 4/7/08, returning on 18/7/08, haven't got the flight numbers to hand. Can you tell me what kind of plane it will be?

Thanks

greeneyedgal12,

Your flight numbers are FCA1524/5 and are operated by a Boeing 757-200.

Darren

Thanks for quick reply

ukbill,

Are you back yet? I suspect you are in the air as I type! The only thing I've managed to find out about your delay is the aircraft assigned to your original flight (G-DBLA I think) suffered a serious technical problem in Male (Maldives) as you were correctly told. FCA positioned in a replacement aircraft (G-PJLO) to operate the return flight which landed in Manchester 24 hours late. G-PJLO then operated FCA147/8 (your flight numbers?) to come and rescue you. Everyone is keeping tight lipped on this one so that's about all I've found out I'm afraid. I've not managed to find out what the problem with the aircraft is, other than it was a serious technical problem identified on the ground in Male. I hope you got home ok, please let us know.

Darren