Monday I had a business meeting in Paris and booked a flight from Nice to Paris and return the same day in the evening. As usual when boing late my flights, I booked Easyjet. My morning was 1 hour later because for its previous flight, the plane we used left CDG one hour late due to %26quot;defrost%26quot; queue. We could imagine they were organized for that but there were not. Everyone in France knew that snow and cold weather were forcasted.
For the evening flight, I knew that Air France and British Airways were cancelling nearly all of their flights, I called Easyjet and got the answer that our flight would be at 10pm instead of 8.55pm. I went to CDG early, used my computer in a café there and at 9pm I went through controls (hand lugagge only). Every 30 minutes we got informed that the plane would be delayed another 15, another 30 minutes...
Around 11pm, we have been informed that our plane had landed and had no parking slot available. This means that te plane, full of passengers, had to taxi on the tarmac for about an hour before CDG could prepare a parking slot. 60 minutes later they found somewhere to park. From there they had no bus available and had to wait another 30 minutes for a bus. We would have thought that the bus who took people from the plane to the terminal could have taken us from the terminal to the plane. NO. We add to wait another 60 minutes simply for a bus.
We landed in Nice at 2.30am, instead of 10.15pm.
Easyjet staff have given us realtime information all the time. Even thought several customers were angry about Easyjet, I must say the girls remained very polite all the time and had a lot of self control. Thanks to Easyjet who maintained the flights. Thanks to staff who did extra hours in bad conditions.
How could we imagine that in 20O9, the 2nd biggest airport in Europe is blocked with 2 inches of snow, cannot find a parking slot at night, cannot find a bus at night, especially on an evening where 50% of outgoing flights have been cancelled.
The Minister of Transportation has declared today that there would have an enquiry about all the problems that happened Monday %26amp; Tuesday at CDG Airport.
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Weather delays are like dominos, the whole system falls not just one airport. You were only 4 hours late - I consider that %26#39;not bad%26#39;. CDG isn%26#39;t fun even when things are working %26#39;normally%26#39;.
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I have no problem with regard to weather problems. I am upset about the terrible organization. Does JFK get blocked for 2 inches of snow ? Moscow ? Toronto ?
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JFK, Moscow, Toronto expect two inches or more of snow: it happens regularly. It is unusual in France.
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You seem very ready to praise Easyjet and to lay all the blame on the airport. In my experience, airlines will always seek to blame the airport, and to appear as the good guys. Sometimes they have good reason, but some of the delays that I%26#39;ve experienced were because the airline had limited their financial commitment to the airport in terms of the number of parking slots they had paid for, or the number of buses that they had reserved.
I don%26#39;t know whether those sorts of things applied to your situation. All I%26#39;m saying is that you shouldn%26#39;t necessarily believe the whole story that the airline gave you.
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I have read this narrative several times yet find no conclusive evidence of failure upon the part of CDG. Aircraft parking and ramp transportation are services provided by the airport but are negotiated by the airline. The delays could just as easily been caused by Easyjet%26#39;s inadequate airport handling agreements or an unwillingness to pay for services outside of those provided during normal operating conditions.
Of course it is possible someone at airport operations is to blame but given the unusual weather conditions, to firmly place responsibility I should need to know a great deal more of what was going on behind the scenes than what is outlined here.
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Paris sees one or two inches of snow every other year or so. They do not have the equipment we have in the States. Traveling during winter months can be stressful, Traveling during school vacation too.
I am convinced airlines do their best to keep clients content, within their budget. Call me naive but I believe that. Air France has always compensated me for inconveniences, strikes (free ticket), missing luggage (payment for what I needed that was stuck in missing suitcase etc), additional miles for delays etc. You have to be nice and ask them (by certified letter with documentation of the problem) and they will try their best to keep you as a customer,
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CDG Airport has bought some winter equipment. It is very possible that they haven%26#39;t got enough equipment for 100% of the flights but for sure they are supposed to provide a minimum level of service, especially for incoming flights. On Monday night, they were several planes arriving from different companies, including Air France, stucked until free parking slot and waiting for buses. The bus company seems to be the same for many companies and I don%26#39;t think Easyjet could be blamed, nor any other Airline.
It is not the first time we experience the same problem at CDG. You would think they would have learned from their previous mistakes but they haven%26#39;t.
No, I%26#39;m sorry to disagree with you but this situation is not acceptable anymore.
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Globetraveller is not the only passenger that has complained about the lack of organisation at CDG on these days. Various forums and the press are full of similar experiences and different airlines, so I don%26#39;t think the airline can be blamed.
It would seem this weather is unusual in Paris, so like the UK two inches of snow brings the country to a halt, not just the airports.
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%26quot; like the UK two inches of snow brings the country to a halt%26quot;
A gross exaggeration for both countries. But then tabloid newspapers and TV news only focus on the %26quot;horror%26quot; stories.
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For those who understand French, here is the report of what happened on Monday : between 2000 and 2500 people were stucked at Roissy because of the snow.
videos.leparisien.fr/video/iLyROoafJsjw.html
I agree that Easyjet was not too bad about coping with the situation. My parents flying Air France to Guadeloupe on Monday morning waited 5 hours...in the plane!
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