I’m no eco-maniac, but this is inexcusable.
As a CONSERVative I agree it’s stupid and wastefull.
I bet the cargo holds were full.
They have a flight back from Hong Kong to London and needed to get the plane there to carry those passengers. Canceling the return leg, too, wouldn’t have solved anything - and would have made 300 people in Hong Kong boiling mad, since it might have taken several days to book them all on alternate flights.
Well, y’know, sometimes I drive my 15 passenger, gas-guzzling van to work, instead of my SUV, though it’s close enough to walk.
I own it, I buy the fuel, enviroweenies can bite me. Humans are NOT causing global warming, so screw it. If they want to fly an empty 747, can afford the fuel, GREAT! It’s their business.
No, it's not. It's called repositioning. The plane has to be where the schedule says it needs to be. British Airways paid for the fuel and lost revenue with empty seats. Capitalism can be cruel at times. It didn't cost the rest of us a dime. And as far as carbon in the atmosphere, I couldn't care less.
It amazes me that on the strength of a biased story, anyone without direct knowledge, would question business decisions in such a kneejerk fashion.
So all the people who paid for a return ticket and are waiting at the other end of the segment can just go hang, eh? Route them home through Timbuktu a day and a half late?
I have an idea, whenever there is a deadhead from England to a pestilential Islamic sh*t-hole, why doesn't BA offer free one-way rides home to the denizens thereof?
-ccm
what about the cargo? what about the positioning of the plane for the return flight?
Remember this is hysteria by the SHADOW minister. Essentially a MINORITY PARTY person trying to make political points.
This is a non-issue.
If they need to reposition their planes to cover another flight, what do you suggest they do? Glide there? They’re not flying for the hell of it.
I see lots of empty subway cars and buses at different times each day. Should we alert the Media and have public transportation officials arrested?
If this is inexcusable, then you are an eco-maniac.
So they flew a plane from point A to point B. Big deal. That’s part of the airline business, moving planes from one place to another.
A few months ago, I reported to Pittsburgh because I was changing a Sunday evening flight (nearly 100% full) for a Sunday morning flight (only 40% full).
They wanted a $25 change fee for what was supposed to be a cheaper flight. I told them I was flying standby because I knew there were seats available. They told me it would be $25 or I wouldn't get on. When I paid the fee, the agent told me US Air often flew that flight nearly empty because they made more on the cargo than the passengers! Any passengers were considered bonus income on that early morning flight.
Oh, c’mon! If you run any kind of a transportation operation, you are going to have deadhead trips from time to time. Sometimes your vehicle needs to be someplace else, and you have nothing to take there.
If you object to this, you object to air travel altogether, because one follows the other.