b12e

They looked at covid techniques.. "flatten the curve" and all.

If everyone shows up between 7 and 10 am, for their flights all the way until 4-5pm, then there's massive queues for everybody and chaos for those who are about to miss their flight.

If the afternoon/evening people show up after lunch or dinner, at least the queue will be relatively large all day, but manageable.

Will it work? We'll see. But I do understand they don't want 4pm flight passengers to join the already large queues at 10am.

johan rebel

I bet the retailers were pleased as punch!

johan rebel

When you need to be at the airport not only depends on the departure time of your flight.

Some pax will need to check in, maybe even pay for an extra bag, etc., whereas others travel OLCI/HBO. Also, those getting to the airport by public transportation may need to arrive "too" early, simply because taking the next bus or train would have them arriving too late. Etc.

Well before this 4-hour rule was announced, my employer already decreed that everybody flying from AMS has to be at the airport 4 hours before STD. I'm OLCI/HBO, but since we use a chauffeur service there's no way around it. Four hours it is, and until they change their minds four hours it remains, regardless of any slots, windows or whatever else Schiphol may come up with.

No matter how you look at it, and no matter what you try to do about it, Schiphol has created a huge mess, and a mess it will remain until they fix the core problem.

Johan

irishguy28

I am shocked, Johan. Shocked.

I thought you were in charge of things!

😁

johan rebel

Unfortunately not to the point where I can dictate the airport transfer schedule, unless I happen to be the only person flying on a particular day. That happens, but very rarely. In any case, I have no grounds for complaint when compared to my 20+ colleagues who commute from the Ukraine.

In other news, security is not the only problem at AMS today. KL's punctuality is a right mess again.



Doesn't look any better this afternoon.

Johan

dkeng

Yeah, I picked the wrong day to be back on KL after several weeks on orange planes. Sat at FRA one hour past scheduled departure and captain just announced a further 30 min slot delay. Fun times..:

Although could be worse, the 10 am flight is also still here on the ground in FRA after seemingly getting hit by a ground truck this morning and needing some repairs or similar…

johan rebel

I suspect the wind is once again blowing from one of many "wrong" directions, NE this time. With RWY 18L/36R closed for months, that leaves only RWY 06 (Kaagbaan) available for arrivals.


Five minutes ago.

dkeng

Indeed this is what our captain said.

Currently my connection is planned to operate with the same aircraft that I’m currently sat on, so should reduce the risk of missing it!

HadesNL

Just in from Dutch news:
https://nos.nl/artikel/2431319-klm-a...uchten-per-dag

Klm flight cancellations this Pinksteren/WhitSun|Mon/Pentacost.

Also:
Trial of loading luggage in the aircraft belly hold at a later moment then usual.
So that there will be no delay of offloading items of passengers who have checked in but will miss their flight (not turn up in time)

in Dutch:
Verder experimenteert de vliegmaatschappij dit weekend met een "alternatief bagageproces", waarbij koffers later dan gebruikelijk aan boord worden gebracht. "Daarmee wordt voorkomen dat koffers van passagiers die uiteindelijk hun vlucht niet halen, later weer van boord gehaald moet worden", staat in een persbericht

johan rebel

"Vanwege verwachte drukte op Schiphol schrapt KLM dit pinksterweekend tot 50 vluchten per dag. Passagiers die met annuleringen te maken krijgen worden omgeboekt naar andere vluchten, laat de luchtvaartmaatschappij weten. Morgen zouden ruim 300 KLM-vluchten vanaf Schiphol vertrekken.KLM zegt dat ook op meerdere andere vluchten stoelen worden vrijgemaakt, zodat passagiers die vanwege drukte hun vlucht missen op een later moment op de dag alsnog kunnen vertrekken. Verder experimenteert de vliegmaatschappij dit weekend met een "alternatief bagageproces", waarbij koffers later dan gebruikelijk aan boord worden gebracht. "Daarmee wordt voorkomen dat koffers van passagiers die uiteindelijk hun vlucht niet halen, later weer van boord gehaald moet worden", staat in een persbericht.

KLM zegt dat de maatregelen nodig zijn "om bij te dragen aan een beheersbare situatie op de luchthaven en in de eigen operatie". De vliegmaatschappij hoopt dat reizigers begrip hebben voor de "uitzonderlijke situatie" en roept andere luchtvaartmaatschappijen op hetzelfde te doen, "in het belang van alle passagiers"."

Firstly, it would not at all surprise me if this is in part a convenient excuse to scrap flights that KLM would have chosen to cancel anyway due cabin and flight crew shortages, etc.

The logic of all this also escapes me. Does canceling 50 flights at very short notice make the passengers booked thereon vanish as if by magic? Transfer pax can possibly be rerouted via other hubs, but Schiphol's main problem is their inability to cope with the sudden and completely unexpected () surge of departing pax swamping security. KLM's business is normally something like 60-70% transfer pax, but in an article I read somewhere recently it was stated that the recovery in travel demand has led to a noticeable increase in AMS O&D pax for KLM.

And, how exactly is making seats available on "other flights" to accommodate pax who missed their original ones due to Schiphol delays going to work? This should presumably and logically mean that afternoon flights will somehow have to accommodate those who miss their morning departure, and evening flights will suddenly have to make room for pax who miss either morning or afternoon flights. Where will those seats come from at one or two days notice? Any unsold seats will have been available anyway, but will presumably first go to the pax on those 50 canceled flights. How will they conjure up more seats? Substituting larger mainline planes for smaller KLC ones? Good luck with that at one or two days notice.

Loading checked bags at the last possible moment sounds like a recipe to delay all flights a little while, instead of some flight for a longer time. Not sure which is the lesser evil.

And no, KLM, this reiziger has practically zero begrip voor de uitzonderlijke situatie. I also plan to spend this Pinksterweekeinde at home, venturing no further than any place I can reach by bike in under 15 minutes. Sounds like the safest bet to me.

Johan

JeffersonCampervan

So, generally I have a friend pick me up outside departures, as arrivals is permanently blocked off to pickup traffic. I take the escalator or elevator up from arrivals to departures then walk outside, where I am picked up.

I guess this means I won't be able to access the vehicle drop off point at the departures level?

johan rebel

Hadn't thought about that, but I will have the same issue, as I'm always picked up at departures as well.

Johan

malmostoso

Quick walk to the Valet/Sheraton parking entrance? There's enough room to stop for a second to pick someone up.

johan rebel

I'll leave it to our travel coordinator to make a plan. I don't particularly care where I'm picked up, whatever works is good enough for me.

Johan

JeffersonCampervan

I'm thinking the shuttle to Lang Parkeeren; he could pick me up there.