In a previous installment, I wrote about our really bad luck flying from Miami (MIA) to Skiathos (JSI). The previous installment was about our first flight, which was delayed, then canceled, and then had a baggage situation. Oh well.
Continue reading: Our Wild Austrian Flight To Skiathos: A Fall, Two Go Arounds, And A Diversion
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Interesting read and a good outcome.
Were the captain's announcements in English and translated into German and Greek, or how did that work?
@ DKB -- The announcements were first in German and then in English. As you'd expect, they were always funniest and most detailed in German, but also excellent in English.
Had a similar diversion via Milan & back when a thunderstorm over Pisa (PSA) caused a lot of circling and puking last summer. Landed almost 3 hours late too, but just relived to be at the right airport.
I was on a simple domestic flight once with sudden (CAT?) turbulence that threw the cart over my seat! The cabin attendant magically threw her body flat in the aisle. She later explained this was not a fall but a trained safety maneuver.
I gotta use that line next time I trip over my own feet. "It's a trained safety maneuver! See how deft I was?"
as much as some criticize US airlines for having FAs start securing the cabin at 18K feet and cutting service as a result.
US FAs are not going to dust themselves off and keep going if this happens.
also, the FAA requires 45 minutes of fuel after the intended diversion point; other countries might not require that
I know it’s a boomer take, but as cute as the kids are, it’s better not to post their faces.
Last year desending into DFW in first class we hit heavy turbulence and the FA right in front of me flew to the ceiling and landed on her side. She was shaken but was able to get to the jump seat and buckle in
I hope you do a review of the Moxy. Moxys are tight fits with just two people -- how did you fit four, unless you got two rooms or a suite (do they have suites? did your Marriott SUA clear?)
While most parents might be saving for university fees I think your savings might be aimed at flying school 🙂
It would be one hell of an experience for you to be on your son's first flight as a pilot (not to get too ahead of ourselves of course)
Your entire quality as a parent comes down to this -- during the diversion, did you teach the kids to sing "The plane in Skiathos goes 'round and 'round'?
Ok, all flight drama aside, I have two questions: 1. Your kids wear in white T Shirts on the travel day? 2. Their T Shirts stay white after a flight? Please, tell me your secrets!
I'm not a pilot. I thought that the wind direction would determine whether one would use 1 or 19 at this single-runway airport, unless the wind was nonexistent or at a right angle to the runway. Could the storm going through have changed wind direction, causing the changed landing direction? I flew into Belize once. We did a go-around on attempt one. The captain explained a storm had hit the airport. A bit later we attempted a second on the same runway. Another go around. This time it was because the wind direction had changed post storm, so we had to loop around and land in the opposite direction.
Lucky, your perspective is off on your JFK connection.
You were very lucky to make your connection with all your bags!
Bad luck would be losing a bag.
Very bad luck is losing a bag and missing the flight.
There are a few reasons why JSI has very few domestic flights, you just discovered one of them. A SKG stop on the way back north used to be pretty standard until a few years ago because certain aircraft couldn't depart JSI with a full load.
My guess: checking the property itself, they have a Queen room with sofa bed and crib.
One night not horrible
Maybe you should train to become one! Do they have flight schools in Ohio? (I mean, the Wright Brothers were literally from Dayton…)
I like Austrian for the most part…Love your kids’ names…You, obviously, have a sense of humor. I don’t like turbulence…thank God the purser was ok!
Group of us stayed at the Moxy Vienna Airport when on a MegaDo with Austrian Airlines about 10 years ago. The Moxy had a fun lively lobby area - and rooms were new then. BUT, the hotel does not have Air Conditioning in the rooms - have to open windows. The top floor was the upgrade level - that floor had phones in the room. But other levels had no phone (ie if you wanted to call the front desk). Also underground walkway to terminal from a short distance out front of the hotel.
Ben, we know you want Miles to become a pilot so you can get his flight benefits 😉
Can't wait to read this blog in a couple of years and hear what your 1 year old was thinking about all this chaos. And what he thought about the Flight Attendant jokes.
Austrian crews can be fantastic - I've generally had great onboard experiences with them as well. Unfortunately my recent customer service experience has been the exact opposite.
I'm currently dealing with a bizarre situation where Austrian Airlines repeatedly confirmed and displayed a rebooked flight as "confirmed" in their systems, while simultaneously telling me the flight was never actually confirmed. After 10+ calls over 3 days, Austrian, Expedia, and Austrian's agency support all seem to be telling different versions of the story.
I sent you an email with the documentation in case you're curious. It's one of the stranger airline ticketing situations I've encountered.
Meh, nonrev flight benefits are overrated. Flights are so full these days that even if you book business, you're lucky to get a middle seat in economy, which is often only assigned to you after boarding has already begun.
Fuel is more complex than, "well let's add 30 minutes and see". It can be broken down into taxi fuel, trip fuel, contingency, alternate fuel, additional fuel and discretionary fuel. That amounts into two different minimums, the ramp fuel (the legal fuel needed when you block off) and takeoff fuel (minimum legal fuel when you start your takeoff). Without knowing the actual details for this flight, generally, it would have likely been fuelled with the taxi+trip fuel, the amount actually needed to complete the flight itself, it would have had a contingency, either the EASA minimum or by airline policy, it would need to have been fuelled to Thessaloniki, plus an alternate on top of that (if not more, my airline has 3 alternates as minimum), then likely because they knew they'd be flying into weather, making holds at this particular airport rather likely, added additional fuel to begin with, and that doesn't have to be 30 minutes, it could be 10 minutes worth of fuel or an hour or whatever amount is deemed necessary, and then on top of that, Captain's can always add discretionary fuel, if they think that will be necessary down the road. So, the alternate/diversion fuel is always carried, but the hold fuel can be more or less what is best for the situation, calculated separately. If it's cheaper and/or better operationally to hold for an hour than to divert to refuel, that's what's going to happen and vice versa.