Maxjet - What Happens When the Plane Has Problems

Hi all

Just wanted to let you know that my flights with Maxjet were very good, service and food was great for $599 each way, especially if the company is buying.

A couple of issues though that they could work on. IF they arrive early, then they are parked and we use the shuttle bus that raises up to the plane doors and then takes you to the far end of Terminal 1 to walk to customs. But of course by the time the shuttle bus turns up and manages to reach the door its well past the scheduled time. I would if they save a lot using the bus instead of a normal gate?

Secondly, yesterday the 8.15pm flight to Stansted was cancelled ( with my wifes cousin waiting to get on). As usual when this happens its pretty confusing whats available to passengers. From my house in Patterson NY to JFK is a good hours and 30 mins. So at 9.30pm I get the call to come and pick her up. The alternative was to spend the night and whole day at Hampton Inn where the other passengers who did not have alternative places to go back to i.e family were placed.

Interestingly when I called Maxjet, they told me the flight was only DELAYED and may take off just before the scheduled 8.15pm today and ALL passengers were to have gone to the hotel. BUT at the airport the Maxjet staffed asked for a show of hands of who needs a hotel room and is NOT being picked up by friends or family and then they split everyone into those two groups, eventually only a very small group went to the hotel.

At least the compensation is OK, they have already offered my wifes cousin a free round trip anytime in the next year from UK to any of there destinations JFK, LAS, IAD, LAX.

Nice compensation, a freebie to use whenever. I'd say the compensation was outstanding, not just OK!

Yesterday and today MaxJet used Globespan Boeing 737-800 on flights to/from IAD :)


Rafal

Maxjet usually only cancels a flight if they don't have a second A/C at JFK. You can usually see one sitting by Hgr 19 or Bldg 260. They usually try to book their Pax on other flights to STN or LHR as a last resort. The gate assignments at Terminal 1 are usually done the previous night by the Tower coordinator :lol: Terminal 1 is owned by Korean, Japan Airlines, Lufthansa, and Air France and they get first crack at gates. There are also restrictions on what aircraft can go on a particular gate for a variety of reasons. Maxjet has a relatively low passenger count as compared to other 767s due to their seating configuration, they also have a long ground time. All of these factors contribute to them being assigned a "Hardstand." Many times Maxjet is also assigned a gate and then they have to reposition to a hardstand after unloading to allow for another arriving aircraft to use a gate. The Maxjet aircraft then repositions to another gate closer to departure time, or the Pax board via Planemate at the hardstand. Many times they will also swap aircraft for ARR/DEP and it is just easier to arrive them at the hardstand. It is basically a collaboration between the Terminal 1 ramp controllers/tower coordinators and Terminal 1 Management.

NYCMedic,
Great explanation of the Terminal 1 Ops...thanks for that!!

Very interesting NYCMedic, along the those same lines I was rather surprised last week when I was tooling around JFK to see how many jets load and unload via the airstairs at T4. Almost makes you wonder if T4 was truly built for the future needs of JFK.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by T-Bird76

Very interesting NYCMedic, along the those same lines I was rather surprised last week when I was tooling around JFK to see how many jets load and unload via the airstairs at T4. Almost makes you wonder if T4 was truly built for the future needs of JFK.

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So what did you find?

[quote=RDU-JFK]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by "T-Bird76":74fe5

Very interesting NYCMedic, along the those same lines I was rather surprised last week when I was tooling around JFK to see how many jets load and unload via the airstairs at T4. Almost makes you wonder if T4 was truly built for the future needs of JFK.

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So what did you find?[/quote:74fe5]

I think I'm missing the point of your question? NYCMedic was speaking about the loading and unloading process of MaxJet and I mentioned that along those same lines a number of jets were loading and unloading at T4 via airstairs and not a jet bridge. Since all the gates were full it begs the question was T4 built for the future.

Today MaxJet to IAD is Miami Air B737-800 via Gander.

Rafal

Quote:

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Originally Posted by T-Bird76

...to see how many jets load and unload via the airstairs at T4...

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I was asking what your findings were on how many jets loaded via airstairs as per the above. How many jets remotely board? Do they board via bus or planemate? Interesting that quite a few of JFK terminals still have remote boarding...does DL board via airstairs for any of their trans-atlantic ops?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tipek

Today MaxJet to IAD is Miami Air B737-800 via Gander.

Rafal

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I wonder if customers will be given any compensation for the change of equipment?

[quote=RDU-JFK]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by "T-Bird76":e6c2f

...to see how many jets load and unload via the airstairs at T4...

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I was asking what your findings were on how many jets loaded via airstairs as per the above. How many jets remotely board? Do they board via bus or planemate? Interesting that quite a few of JFK terminals still have remote boarding...does DL board via airstairs for any of their trans-atlantic ops?[/quote:e6c2f]

At T4, Mexicana, Caribbean, and B6 were using air stairs bringing passengers over via a bus. Delta had two 767s boarding via Planemate at the hard stand.