Florida Coastal Airlines EYW—FLL aka Bubba starts an airline.
Apr 25, 2005, 6:15 pm
#1
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Florida Coastal Airlines EYW—FLL aka Bubba starts an airline.
Florida Coastal Airlines EYW—FLL aka Bubba starts an airline.
Well this didn’t start out the way I had intended. Originally planned to fly on CO both ways from FLL to EYW, in order to make my connections to the NW flights MSP-FLL and not having to change terminals. However, for some strange reason, ok maybe not so strange a reason the CO flight out of EYW was sold out, and the only flight out that allowed the connection in FLL was on Florida Coastal Airlines (PA) AKA Bubba Air, or Air Bubba.
Booking—Actually booking was the easiest part of the whole process. Orbitz couldn’t book the flight, but my friendly travel agent was. (They still have uses
). Anyway, after booking I called the 800 number to verify that it was booked. As they only fly 9 seat Cessna 402C's, I wanted to make sure that the reservation was there and that they weren’t oversold. Turned out I had bought the last seat. Well the guy who answered the phone was obviously running the reservation system out of his home, as I heard screaming kids in the background. Oh well, cost savings I thought
Check-in – Oh where do I begin with this one. Walk up to the FCA counter. It is located between the DL and AA counters, and is no bigger than a closet. The agent who is wearing a FloraBama shirt, no airline identifying material (I don’t know if I would go that far to call him an agent so we will call him Bubba) pleasantly says can I help you. Explain that I have a reservation on the flight to FLL at 12:55. He then pulls out a handwritten passenger lists and looks for your name. Finding the name on the list he then asks for your weight. If it looks off to him they will weigh you. Then they proceed to weigh your entire luggage (coats, books, food, bags etc). If your total is over 40lbs you get hit with an overweight fee, of $1 per pound. (and we thought the 50lb limits were bad). Supposedly this also applies if your total weight pax plus bags exceeds 240 lb. (fortunately this didn’t apply to me). Then he tells me that we are waiting for two more pax to checkin, and as soon as they showed up we would board and be on our way. (schedules mean nothing to them). He then said the stop in Marathon would be omitted as their were no pax there. He made a point to mention that they do not use the TSA checkpoint and would be leaving out of the gate by the bathrooms. (first warning) We said we would head to the bar and wait. He said that he would come get us prior to boarding. (should have stayed there and drank a lot more)
Boarding – Well sitting in the bar/restaurant we ordered food and drink and waited, and waited, and waited. Well Bubba never came over to announce boarding or let us know that boarding had initiated. We noticed that “boarding” had started when the bags rolled by us on the cart. Anyway up I go and off to the “boarding” area. The boarding area consisted of a Ford E350 Econoline Van sitting in the loading area of the airport with the Airline Logo on the side of the Van. Proceed to get in the Van and head over to the aircraft. (I was beginning to wonder if PA was a vanline and not an airline) The van stopped at the gate on the road. Bubba got out and opened the gate, drove through and then closed the gate. After that we drove to the plane sitting in the General Aviation portion of the airport.
There was no security check at all. Take that TSA. The pilot is waiting at the plane and determined who got to sit where on the plane. No boarding passes. Strictly a seating by mass concept. i.e. your weight relative to the other passengers determines where you sit. Well by this time they realize the plane weighs too much and someone’s bags aren’t going to make it. They ask for volunteers to VDB their bags. No takers. So one woman’s bag is VDB’d. She is on her way to a cruise and is now frantically trying to get a couple days worth of clothes out of the bag so she has something to wear on the cruise. (They tell her the bag will be sent to her cruise ships first port of call. I have no idea what ever happened to this one, but not counting on that).
We are now well past our scheduled 12:55 departure time. Then the pilot picks one of the passengers to be the “copilot”. I was fortunately, or unfortunately not chosen for this position of honor. However, I was assigned a lovely window seat near the back of the plane. Ok back of a Cessna 402C is not really that far back. By this time the other 8 of us are really starting to get PO’d at the operation. So the pilot loads us up on the plane and heads off to FLL, or so we thought.
Flight – Taxi to the end of the runway, full throttle takeoff in the little plane. Rotate and are on our way. Get some nice scenic views of Key West and the keys as we head out towards the east. By this time the flight seems fairly normal. About a half an hour into the flight we turn around and start back to EYW. Why? The pilot hadn’t gotten clearance to land in FLL prior to leaving EYW, and didn’t have enough fuel to circle FLL waiting for the paperwork to get through. Ok how do you take off from one airport without clearance to land at the destination airport.
What do you expect they will just let you land? Also haven’t they heard of reserve fuel? I am now getting worried.
Well we land a Key West and they deboard all of us from the plane as they start to refuel the plane. We are herded off to the lounge. Ok this is the GA lounge, but at least it is out of the sun. Started talking with the “copilot” who happened to be a real pilot. He tells us that he looked at the FMC and said the pilot never even put in KFLL in to the system, and the transponder code never left 1200. This idiot was flying a commercial flight VFR with no route following or filed flight plan.
Our thought is that we were making such a racket that he decided it was better to get the flight airborne then actually do the flight correctly.
Anyway, after refueling we reboard the plane for the second attempt out to FLL. This time the experience is totally different. Take off is fast, with an immediate bank to the right and straight towards FLL. No scenic tour this time. Up to about 9000 feet and level flight. Then the bumps begin. Now those of you used to small planes no that bumps are common and you will get a bit of a roller coaster ride. But to the passengers on this flight, it was not what they expected. The lady next to me lost her lunch. The lady over one seat spent the flight with her head between her legs. Others were looking a little green around the gills. An hour later we land in FLL and taxi over to T4, two hours late.
At T4 they proceed to unload the plane and send us on our way. Needless to say many passengers were upset at the way the flight went. I at least said to the pilot thanks for getting us to FLL. Others had less than publishable words for him.
Overall impression of the airline. They were hardly professional. It seemed more like a couple of yokels got together and decided to start an airline, and forgot about all of the other things that are needed to run an airline. Hence why I will call them Bubba Air from now on. I think that in the future if all I can find is this airline to go from FLL to EYW I will drive.
Well this didn’t start out the way I had intended. Originally planned to fly on CO both ways from FLL to EYW, in order to make my connections to the NW flights MSP-FLL and not having to change terminals. However, for some strange reason, ok maybe not so strange a reason the CO flight out of EYW was sold out, and the only flight out that allowed the connection in FLL was on Florida Coastal Airlines (PA) AKA Bubba Air, or Air Bubba.
Booking—Actually booking was the easiest part of the whole process. Orbitz couldn’t book the flight, but my friendly travel agent was. (They still have uses
). Anyway, after booking I called the 800 number to verify that it was booked. As they only fly 9 seat Cessna 402C's, I wanted to make sure that the reservation was there and that they weren’t oversold. Turned out I had bought the last seat. Well the guy who answered the phone was obviously running the reservation system out of his home, as I heard screaming kids in the background. Oh well, cost savings I thoughtCheck-in – Oh where do I begin with this one. Walk up to the FCA counter. It is located between the DL and AA counters, and is no bigger than a closet. The agent who is wearing a FloraBama shirt, no airline identifying material (I don’t know if I would go that far to call him an agent so we will call him Bubba) pleasantly says can I help you. Explain that I have a reservation on the flight to FLL at 12:55. He then pulls out a handwritten passenger lists and looks for your name. Finding the name on the list he then asks for your weight. If it looks off to him they will weigh you. Then they proceed to weigh your entire luggage (coats, books, food, bags etc). If your total is over 40lbs you get hit with an overweight fee, of $1 per pound. (and we thought the 50lb limits were bad). Supposedly this also applies if your total weight pax plus bags exceeds 240 lb. (fortunately this didn’t apply to me). Then he tells me that we are waiting for two more pax to checkin, and as soon as they showed up we would board and be on our way. (schedules mean nothing to them). He then said the stop in Marathon would be omitted as their were no pax there. He made a point to mention that they do not use the TSA checkpoint and would be leaving out of the gate by the bathrooms. (first warning) We said we would head to the bar and wait. He said that he would come get us prior to boarding. (should have stayed there and drank a lot more)
Boarding – Well sitting in the bar/restaurant we ordered food and drink and waited, and waited, and waited. Well Bubba never came over to announce boarding or let us know that boarding had initiated. We noticed that “boarding” had started when the bags rolled by us on the cart. Anyway up I go and off to the “boarding” area. The boarding area consisted of a Ford E350 Econoline Van sitting in the loading area of the airport with the Airline Logo on the side of the Van. Proceed to get in the Van and head over to the aircraft. (I was beginning to wonder if PA was a vanline and not an airline) The van stopped at the gate on the road. Bubba got out and opened the gate, drove through and then closed the gate. After that we drove to the plane sitting in the General Aviation portion of the airport.
There was no security check at all. Take that TSA. The pilot is waiting at the plane and determined who got to sit where on the plane. No boarding passes. Strictly a seating by mass concept. i.e. your weight relative to the other passengers determines where you sit. Well by this time they realize the plane weighs too much and someone’s bags aren’t going to make it. They ask for volunteers to VDB their bags. No takers. So one woman’s bag is VDB’d. She is on her way to a cruise and is now frantically trying to get a couple days worth of clothes out of the bag so she has something to wear on the cruise. (They tell her the bag will be sent to her cruise ships first port of call. I have no idea what ever happened to this one, but not counting on that).
We are now well past our scheduled 12:55 departure time. Then the pilot picks one of the passengers to be the “copilot”. I was fortunately, or unfortunately not chosen for this position of honor. However, I was assigned a lovely window seat near the back of the plane. Ok back of a Cessna 402C is not really that far back. By this time the other 8 of us are really starting to get PO’d at the operation. So the pilot loads us up on the plane and heads off to FLL, or so we thought.
Flight – Taxi to the end of the runway, full throttle takeoff in the little plane. Rotate and are on our way. Get some nice scenic views of Key West and the keys as we head out towards the east. By this time the flight seems fairly normal. About a half an hour into the flight we turn around and start back to EYW. Why? The pilot hadn’t gotten clearance to land in FLL prior to leaving EYW, and didn’t have enough fuel to circle FLL waiting for the paperwork to get through. Ok how do you take off from one airport without clearance to land at the destination airport.
What do you expect they will just let you land? Also haven’t they heard of reserve fuel? I am now getting worried. Well we land a Key West and they deboard all of us from the plane as they start to refuel the plane. We are herded off to the lounge. Ok this is the GA lounge, but at least it is out of the sun. Started talking with the “copilot” who happened to be a real pilot. He tells us that he looked at the FMC and said the pilot never even put in KFLL in to the system, and the transponder code never left 1200. This idiot was flying a commercial flight VFR with no route following or filed flight plan.
Our thought is that we were making such a racket that he decided it was better to get the flight airborne then actually do the flight correctly.Anyway, after refueling we reboard the plane for the second attempt out to FLL. This time the experience is totally different. Take off is fast, with an immediate bank to the right and straight towards FLL. No scenic tour this time. Up to about 9000 feet and level flight. Then the bumps begin. Now those of you used to small planes no that bumps are common and you will get a bit of a roller coaster ride. But to the passengers on this flight, it was not what they expected. The lady next to me lost her lunch. The lady over one seat spent the flight with her head between her legs. Others were looking a little green around the gills. An hour later we land in FLL and taxi over to T4, two hours late.
At T4 they proceed to unload the plane and send us on our way. Needless to say many passengers were upset at the way the flight went. I at least said to the pilot thanks for getting us to FLL. Others had less than publishable words for him.
Overall impression of the airline. They were hardly professional. It seemed more like a couple of yokels got together and decided to start an airline, and forgot about all of the other things that are needed to run an airline. Hence why I will call them Bubba Air from now on. I think that in the future if all I can find is this airline to go from FLL to EYW I will drive.
Apr 26, 2005, 4:34 pm
#5
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: USA
Posts: 186
Awesome trip report! I would try them.
...but then I fly small airplanes and get a kick out of all that...
I cannot remember if 'part 135 scheduled' service must be on an IFR flight plan (I would know if I flew for hire, but I don't!) That sounds a bit sketchy to me but it may be legitamate. Will have to dig out the regulations books to see.
...but then I fly small airplanes and get a kick out of all that...
I cannot remember if 'part 135 scheduled' service must be on an IFR flight plan (I would know if I flew for hire, but I don't!) That sounds a bit sketchy to me but it may be legitamate. Will have to dig out the regulations books to see.
Apr 26, 2005, 4:54 pm
#6
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: its FREEZING!!! even in summer!
Programs: OnePass, GoldPoints Elite, ErrorPlan, Star Gold, United Premier Exec, Starwood Gold
Posts: 142
... they're trying, anyway...
FCA is actually ran by a group of former TWA pilots... one of their planes is in the last TWA livery.
Their main focus is the Bahamas, and they're the "safest" bunch flying, in the Part 135 world.
Reason you guys had to turn back to EYW was that when FLL flow control (groundstops) are in effect, the pilot must file some sort of flight plan. FCA rarely does this (Cape Air, the other 402 operator on that route), files Visual Flight Plans to Ft. Lauderdale, takes off about 15 minutes in flying time to just "aim and go".
Btw, you can get webfares as low as $59 each way to the Keys from Ft. Laud on their website (which could use some work as well)...
Their main focus is the Bahamas, and they're the "safest" bunch flying, in the Part 135 world.
Reason you guys had to turn back to EYW was that when FLL flow control (groundstops) are in effect, the pilot must file some sort of flight plan. FCA rarely does this (Cape Air, the other 402 operator on that route), files Visual Flight Plans to Ft. Lauderdale, takes off about 15 minutes in flying time to just "aim and go".
Btw, you can get webfares as low as $59 each way to the Keys from Ft. Laud on their website (which could use some work as well)...
Apr 27, 2005, 7:35 am
#8
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 4,329
Frankly they sound like a cost effective airline. Why should they use a fancy computers to load 9 people on a Cessna? 
Just because something isn't fancy and pretentious doesn't make it unsafe. Frankly classifying it is Bubba Air is deragatory. Did you not get to your destination safely? Other than than a bit of ATC that you hear on UA how do you know what is going on in the cockpit of the "majors?"
Maybe you should...
Just because something isn't fancy and pretentious doesn't make it unsafe. Frankly classifying it is Bubba Air is deragatory. Did you not get to your destination safely? Other than than a bit of ATC that you hear on UA how do you know what is going on in the cockpit of the "majors?"
Originally Posted by MSY-MSP
I think that in the future if all I can find is this airline to go from FLL to EYW I will drive.
Apr 27, 2005, 8:08 am
#10
Moderator, OneWorld
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: SEA
Programs: RAA RIP; AA ExEXP
Posts: 11,801
Great report. I love Part 135 ops - the intimacy, the brother/sisterhood, the joy of watching Real Pilots Fly Planes. OTOH, the experience is not for everyone, especially those who believe air transport is/should be a precise science. Oh baby, what a misconception.
Anyone old enough to remember Bob Newhart's Grace L. Ferguson Airline and Storm Door Company monologue? Timeless, and here it is: http://www.qis.net/~jimjr/trav74.htm
Anyone old enough to remember Bob Newhart's Grace L. Ferguson Airline and Storm Door Company monologue? Timeless, and here it is: http://www.qis.net/~jimjr/trav74.htm
