Swanhunter

Knowing how much BA staff dislike the hat, that proves they really are rolling the red carpet out.

Have a lovely trip!

MHendo84

Surprised they didn't use the other a318 sitting at a stand further up?

Edit: It actually took-off at 13:10, the second plane.

continentalclub

Replacement of engine sensor now complete. Part brought up from LGW and an Airbus engineer is now on board to supervise the tesing procedure.

Still no obvious concern in the lounge, although some dinner arrangements must be being re-arranged.

Sandwiches, wraps and rolls, and more bottles of Ayala have arrived at Gate 24!

bafan

Still pretty poor for only the second day of service though, dontcha think ?

kered

Mmmm, I guess aircraft go tech though

Looking forward to keep track of your trip continentalclub ^

continentalclub

Getting to the lounge, which is at the far end of the 'bridge' corridor from the main departures area at LCY is undoubtedly made swifter by the segregated security channel, but this is what you'll find after you've negotiated the terminal proper:

The lounge has exactly 32 seats, not one more, not one less. They're a combination of leather and velour armchairs, arranged in facing pairs and each pair has a small coffee table between.

Some of the tables host small baskets of snacks. The seats do not have individual or bespoke power points, but there are a few wall-mounted ones dotted around the walls. I'm currently plugged in to the boarding podium power points!

Washrooms are not in the lounge, but rather they're to be found back up the stairs to the bridge, and then immediately to the left.

There's a bookcase with the usual Galleries selection of magazines and newspapers, atop which currently stands an arrangement of lilies which could probably do with a few drops of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen.

At the far end of the lounge is a buffet laid out with tea and coffee, red and white wine, Ayala champagne, soft drinks, fruit, Kettle Chips and a variety of other snacks. This is not a place to grab a meal; it's expected that most passengers will arrive close to departure time and board immediately. For a short heel-cooler though, it's perfectly acceptable.

The lounge is at apron-level, with floor to ceiling windows and, by virtue of that, the view is most unusual these days. You really are up-close-and-personal with the aircraft turnrounds and movements.

CT-UK

I would say unlucky rather than poor. A part can fail at any time.

continentalclub

My opinion: I think the words embarrassing, disappointing or a shame are probably more appropriate. Aircraft go tech all the time, but whereas this might have been a big issue for, say, EOS or Maxjet, BA could get the part from stores close by and are doing well handling the situation. Thinking about it, my inbound TATL on Saturday was delayed by a similar amount, by headwinds. These things happen. It's just a shame today.

continentalclub

Boarding in 10; take-off ETD just after 14:30.

Tom Otley

Here's the menu:
MENU: FROM LCY to JFK


London City – Shannon
Shortly after take off, we will be serving you an appetiser and drink service on our short journey to Shannon.

Appetiser
Welsh Carmarthen ham with Cox’s apple potato salad with pea shoot

Shannon – New York
Shortly after take off, whilst we prepareyour lunch order, we will be offering you a selection of drinks from the bar to enjoy with your meal.

Lunch
Dedham Vale Farm fillet of beef with Scottish girolles and Madeira sauce
British corn-fed chicken cooked in a Somerset cider sauce
Grilled sea bass served with a roasted fennel and caper dressing
Penne pasta in a courgette and aubergine tomato sauce with chestnut mushrooms and Berkswell cheese
Inverawe smoked salmon and prawns with new potato and horseradish salad

Dessert and Liqueurs
We will be pleased to offer you a liqueur to savour with your chosen dessert option.
Eton mess
Cornish Yarg and Cropwell Bishop
Stilton with Bath Oliver and Orkney
oat biscuits

Working Lunch
If you prefer to eat later whilst you finish off some work, we will be happy to serve you a main meal salad together with your choice of dessert from the lunch menu.
Inverawe smoked salmon and prawns with new potato and horseradish salad

Club Kitchen
After lunch, please help yourself to a selection of tasty treats including crisps, chocolates and biscuits
available in the forward galley area for you to choose from.
Drinks are available throughout the flight.

Afternoon Tea
We will be serving a traditional British afternoon tea service approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes
before our arrival into New York.

Sandwich Selection
Roast beef with horseradish cream and beetroot chutney
Smoked salmon with cream cheese, mature English farmhouse Cheddar with tomato or
Laverstoke Park Buffalo Mozzarella with roasted figs and Port reduction
A selection of plain and sultana scones served warm with English preserves and Cornish clotted cream
Afternoon Tea cake selection of coffee éclair and lemon tart

Drinks
Tea, ground coffee or decaffeinated coffee
Selection of herbal teas includes green tea with jasmine, peppermint, blackcurrant
and camomile with honey

salut0

That's perhaps a key question about the service, I think. If there's no major maintenance base at LCY for BA, mechanical problems have more of an effect. Does anyone know how they do maintenance at LCY for the RJs and other small planes: do they have to service them elsewhere or drive/fly in parts for them?

continentalclub

Phew, that saved me a whole load of typing! Thank you ^.

J-Class

The failure of the part is indeed bad luck.

However, the fact that the replacement part has to be driven in from LGW is responsible for most of the time delay. This isn't bad luck, but a unavoidable feature of BA's business model on this route. BA, like most airlines, presumably keeps substantial inventories of spare parts at its major home bases. (These spare parts inventories are large, significant enough in capital terms to be a source of finance themselves: several of the near-bankrupt US carriers have put a lien on their spare parts inventories to raise further capital).

But LCY is not a major base for BA and the operating model of BA 1/2 is to service the aircraft weekly at LHR on Saturday when LCY is closed. It would be prohibitively expensive to keep a full suite of spare parts at LCY to service just two aircraft, so I believe there is always going to be an increased risk of tech-related delays at LCY on this service, as the more esoteric parts will always need to be couriered in at short notice.

JFK is of course a different story - a major Airbus base, so no problems expected at that end.

BahrainLad

Maintenance for the RJ/EMB fleet at LCY is done at EDI I think as that's where all of the aircraft 'rotate' through.

Tom Otley, excellent stuff. I'm starving.

continentalclub

Don't know the precise answer to that in this case, but I do know that a lot of airline stores are held off-airport, sometimes they're centralised in metro areas that have several airports and regularly parts are transferred between stores whether they're on- or off-airport.