Originally Posted by krispy84 (Post 31673298)

Another question for the excellent Heathrow Tower, do aircraft departing from the Royal Suite get ATC priority and if so, how easy/difficult is it to shuffle them past the other outbound aircraft.

Originally Posted by BOH (Post 31671746)

Quick question regarding a disabled friend of mine and whether she can fly with BA. After a car crash 30 years ago, my friend is paralysed from the neck down and has a carer with her 24 hours a day. However by her own admission, "I am no longer 50kg as I was in my 20s" and I suspect she is now more like 70kg and now needs 2 people to assist her when she needs to move out of her wheelchair into a fixed seat (one of these people is always her carer).

So am not sure what BA's requirements are for people of this high level of disability to fly? My understanding is she could not have an aisle seat, she would have to be in a window as she would block the whole row in an emergency if she was in an aisle? But of course maneuvering someone who is a 70kg deadweight, entirely unable to assist herself, into the narrow confines of a window seat is virtually impossible to do.

So does she have any options to fly with BA or is this level of disability just a complete no-no?

Originally Posted by BOH (Post 31675076)

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Originally Posted by shefgab (Post 31675111)

I think you'd best contact the PMCU:

Passenger Medical Clearance Unit (PMCU)

British Airways has a dedicated Passenger Medical Clearance team who can assess your fitness to fly and advise if you'll be able to travel.

Office Opening Hours: Monday to Friday - 07.00 to 18.00, Saturday - 08.00-16.00, Sundays and Bank Holidays - Closed

Telephone+ 44 (0) 20 8738 5444

Fax+ 44 (0) 20 8738 9644

Email[email protected]

OK brilliant, many thanks. Had tried to find something on this but could not.

Will e-mail them in the morning.

https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb...-and-pregnancy

Originally Posted by Heathrow Tower (Post 31671841)

In terms of take-off order, there are many variables.

Firstly is the wake turbulence category. At LHR we have a relatively new scheme called 'ReCat EU': Recategorisation of Wake Turbulence - Europe
This divides aircraft up into different categories than the rest of the UK.
Super - A380, AN225
Heavy - 747, 777, 787, A350, A340, A330
Upper - 767, 757
Medium - A319/20/21, 737-600 upwards, A220/CSeries
Small - Embraer + Bombardier RJs
Lights - most bizjets and smaller
We have now gone from wake separation on departure being none, 2 or 3 minutes to increments of 20 seconds, so H-M is 1:40, Super - Heavy is 1:40, Super-Medium is 2:20.

One major intention of the Air Departures controller is to minimise the wake separations. There are a few tricks for this, such as while H-M is 1:40, H-U is none, and U-M is 1:20, so ideally you'd end a group of Heavies with a 767 or 757, then go to a group of Mediums, saving 20s.

Route separation also applies, regardless of the category of aircraft. Any pair of aircraft flying exactly the same route need to be 2mins apart (although on westerly ops aircraft on the DET (Detling) route (coasting out over Dover) need to be 3 minutes apart). If they are diverging by more than about 40 degrees, there is generally no separation needed, so we can clear the second for take-off as soon as the first rotates. If they diverge, but less than 40 degrees, we generally aim to get 3 nautical miles between them when the second aircraft gets airborne, which equates to about 1:10-1:30 in time between them depending on the exact route and order.. So for purely route separation purposes, you try and get a North/South/West/North/West/South/North etc mix going.

However, you might want to use up a 1:40 wake separation at the same time as a route separation, thus 'spending' two gaps at once.

There are modifications to the route separation based on relative speeds of aircraft. Luckily at LHR we have 99% jet airliners, so the vast majority are all in the same speed group. The FlyBe Dash-8 is the only regular aircraft in a lower speed group, but even then it's not too bad.

Then as mentioned you have CTOT, or ATC slot times, which give a window of 15 minutes within which an aircraft has to be airborne.

There are also many other factors to take into account:

• You might prioritise a certain queue in the holding area (for example, 27R departures has two flows, one from the west parallel to the runway from T5 and T3, and one up from the south from T2 and T4 departures). One queue might be tailing back and impinging on Ground control ops, or might be blocking the entrance into the BA maintenance areas by the fire practice ground, so you prioritise aircraft in that queue to clear the blockage, or the queue for 27L out of T4 as it's blocking a cul-de-sac, or the queue down from T5 on 09R as it's blocking pushbacks, or you need to clear a taxiway to allow towing traffic through the 27L holding area etc.
• There might be short term restrictions placed on departures by London Control, such as a maximum rate of 1 every 4 or 5 minutes on a certain route (due weather or many other reasons). This can impact the departure rate more than first imagined because you then make sure you achieve the 1 every 5 minutes on that route, but this might not provide the overall best order.
• You also need to take into account speeds and cruising levels in the bigger picture. I wouldn't launch an A340 going to LAX and then 2 minutes behind it a Shuttle A319 going to MAN, just as I would try to launch a 747 to CPT before an A340 going to CPT, rather than the other way around.
• You also have to think about the aircraft taxying out. If I have a good mix of traffic from all routes in my holding area, but looking at what's coming there's a load of DET route traffic taxying towards the runway, I will prioritise getting rid of my own DETs already at the runway so as to attempt to keep a good mix of traffic in the near future. So I accept a shorter-term reduction in overall departure rate to ensure that it stays the best rate over the hour.
• You might build in some gaps intentionally on 27L and 09R departures because you can see an inbound taxying around needing to cross to park at T4.

There is a piece of kit called the Departure Manager (DMAN) that is trying to do a lot of this, and thus working back to generate Target Start Approval Times for departures, but the complexity of the ground operation at LHR usually means that the aircraft arrive at the holding area in a different order to that which the DMAN planned.

Originally Posted by bubbah (Post 31681237)

I have been trying to find out about taking a suit carrier on board Club Europe. I explained that we go to a European city every year to a NYE Ball on a short break. Always been fortunate in putting our formal wear in the hold and our cases are never lost or delayed, but asked whether we could take it into the cabin and hang it where our coats and jackets go to be safe.. The reply I had from Customer Relations: : on short haul flights you won't be able to hang your outfits as there are is no available wardrobe space onboard, so place it in the hand luggage. Have they done away with these hanging places on all aircraft.

Originally Posted by bubbah (Post 31681309)

Karfa thank you, not sure we will take the chance and have it go in the hold. Been looking at the suit carry on bags that roll up and look like a holdall and are size compliant for the cabin. Wondered if anyone has used tham?

Originally Posted by KARFA (Post 31681246)

There are still cupboards at the front even on the neos.

This is something you would really have to ask the cabin crew on the day when you board - there isn't much point asking CR before the flight. It more than likely should be ok. However, there could be reasons why cupboard space is taken up so there is a small chance it won't be possible.

Originally Posted by bubbah (Post 31681237)

I have been trying to find out about taking a suit carrier on board Club Europe. I explained that we go to a European city every year to a NYE Ball on a short break. Always been fortunate in putting our formal wear in the hold and our cases are never lost or delayed, but asked whether we could take it into the cabin and hang it where our coats and jackets go to be safe.. The reply I had from Customer Relations: : on short haul flights you won't be able to hang your outfits as there are is no available wardrobe space onboard, so place it in the hand luggage. Have they done away with these hanging places on all aircraft.