Jimmie76

Sorry you're right. I didn't spot the WTP in the post by the OP .

Tdgraves

So a large breakfast in the lounge and some kind of take away to supplement the "ambient snack" then.....

Jordan D

Is that the same for the 1220 LHR-DXB departure? Lunch followed by a biscuit before landing?

Jordan D

I hadn't considered Standby passengers - I'd guessed they'd be issued with a boarding pass to go airside, so that could help make up the numbers ... still interesting we've not got a definitive answer on it!

JAXBA

Standbys do get a sequence number, and at least pre-FLY, I'm fairly sure anyone who is offloaded and then checked back in, they get a new sequence number, which would also inflate the numbers.

BA6501

I've offloaded and checked back in (changing seat after issuing BP due to aircraft change) and got the same seq number. Perhaps because it was all within a few minutes and no one else had checked in in the meantime?

Globaliser

A couple of minutes after take-off in a 77W, a fairly loud noise started near the overwing exit that I was sitting next to. It was somewhere between a hum and a howl; it sounded a bit like a hydraulic system at work (eg for flaps), only louder. It stopped, then started again and continued for much longer than I've ever heard a hydraulic system run. Then it stopped, and came back for two or three shorter bursts before stopping entirely. (Which was merciful, considering there was still another 12½ hours of the flight to go.)

Later in the flight, I mentioned this to some of the cabin crew in the galley. One of them said, "Oh, it does that sometimes", agreed with me that it sounded like the door seal not properly seated, and then basically brushed it off as nothing.

I was a bit surprised by this, and was left wondering: Is it that trivial? Isn't this the sort of problem which could deteriorate, and eventually lead to a costly return after take-off so that it can be fixed? (Together with all the attendant risks of crew going out of hours etc.)

As it happens, one of the others later said to me that she had heard the noise and would report it anyway, just in case.

BMWMOT

Hi
We will soon be flying from BOS-LHR-EDI. We have a long layover in LHR. There is an earlier flight that we should be able to make assuming the BOS-LHR flight is on time.

Does BA allow you to move up to an earlier flight? Is it standby only?
There will be 2 of us in J class and I'm OW Sapphire if that means anything. I know with AA if you have status you can standby for an earlier flight at no charge.

What is BA's policy?
Thanks

Globaliser

Policy is that if you want to change your flight, even on the same day, then you should pay the fare difference plus change fee required by your fare rules. Some fares allow same day changes for free, but I strongly suspect that yours is not one of them.

Here are a few recent threads on this subject:-

• http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...by-policy.html
• http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...-question.html
• http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...tandby-ba.html
• http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...er-flight.html

EDIflyer

Also if you have a checked bag there's almost zero chance. If you're HBO and you speak nicely to staff in the lounge there's a possibility (depending on aircraft loads), but I wouldn't be banking on it - definitely not the same setup as the airlines in the USA though!

alextheengineer

Yes, these seals can sometimes be the kind of thing that deteriorate, however there's any one if a number of reasons why a door seal can make a noise. Often, it's due to debris stuck around the door seal rather than a breakup of the seal itself. Exterior scuff plates also make a bit of a din quite often too.

if the crew have reported this in the log then it will get looked at. There is a department (my department in fact) that looks at trends on individual tails that are having frequent reports to ensure a more considered approach than just cleaning the seal out every time.

Things like this are difficult to replicate on the ground and the aircraft don't often get seen by the same engineers even at base so it's nescessary to have a technical team that oversees repetitive issues.

In response to the crew not being overly concerned, it's not that much of an issue all told and every tail experiences a noisy door now and then. The biggest issue with it is the noise in the cabin rather than anything to do with pressurisation. The pneumatic system is more than capable of coping.

Hope this was of interest. Unfortunately I'm now off for a while on my own travels otherwise I'd have offered to look into the particular tail in question to see what happened. I'll trust my colleagues to pick it up if it's an issue.

golfmad

Thanks for the insight. Very interesting.

Waterhorse

Door seals do leak sometimes. As alexthe engineer mentioned it might be a deteriorating seal or debris or it might be that the seal did not go to its normal position and gets caught the wrong way in the door. Pressure usually pushes them back into position but not always - them you get the noise squeal. It used to happen more in days gone by on older aircraft when the solution was to put damp blue kitchen towel against the door which would plug the small leak. It wasnt for air loss reasons but to stop the noise which can be irritating.

All aircraft leak - it is a myth that they are airtight. The pressurisation system works on the principle of greater supply than leakage. Indeed they have to leak or have a controlled rate of air loss or the aircraft would blow up like balloons and pop. So while it is annoying it would be very unlikely to lead to an airborne return.

Globaliser

Many thanks, alextheengineer and Waterhorse. It was indeed the noise that I was concerned about, not the air leakage. I don't think that any of us in the cabin would have been pleased if the door had been noisy like that all night. It would have been awful even on a day flight if it had gone on for 13 hours!

If the noise had continued and everyone was complaining, would that not have led to some consideration of an airborne return? Would we have just had to put up with it?

Oxon Flyer

Just curious : as the pressurisation ensures it's the warm cabin air leaking out, rather than the outside air leaking in, why do people report it's 'very cold' by the affected door ?