To pay extra to fly on a certain plane

[MozzchopsThirty]

I am a bit of an odd flyer, love it and hate it in equal measure
I could probably save £40-£50 by flying with BA, but it's on an old aircraft and that'll increase my anxiety

AIBU to pay a little more to fly Virgin on the 787

Btw am lone parent so £50 not exactly a drop in the ocean but I think it's worth it

he worked at Oceanic control at Prestwick. I presume he had his reasons.

he worked at Oceanic control at Prestwick. I presume he had his reasons.

Ah - I know several people who work there.

None of whom have the slightest problem flying on 2-engine aircraft across oceans...

Take the piss all you want. He obviously had a thing about it and was prepared to pay extra to feel more comfortable.

Has no one here heard of ETOPS?

Has no one here heard of ETOPS? hmm

The op mentioned it a few pages back and I suspect others didn’t feel the need to mention it.

Has no one here heard of ETOPS?

Yes, I have! But I have found merely being an ETOPS-rated long haul pilot doesn’t stop other people telling me about my job (because they watch Air Crash Investigator!)

For those that haven’t, and there is no reason why many of you should have, it stands for Extended Twin engine OPerationS, and refers to the ability of a 2 engined aircraft to fly on one remaining engine. The rule set is complex but basically requires an aircraft to be sufficiently equipped to fly for 180 minutes on one engine. It assumes that all other systems are functioning normally at the start of the flight. Occasionally a required system may not be operating with its full back up (eg you can fly with only 1 air conditioning pack but need 2 for ETOPS,) so the aircraft could not fly further than 60 minutes away from a suitable diversion airport in this case. This means it is no longer ETOPS and can’t fly across large uninhabited spaces such as oceans or deserts.

All long haul 2 engines aircraft are ETOPS and there is no need to demand an extra 2 engines. Even Richard Branson came to realise his ‘4 engines 4 long haul’ was nothing more than a bit of self promotion of his dirty old fleet and soon dropped the logo when he bought some modern twins.

Could be worse OP, at least you have the option. I'm flying with United Airlines with work, no choice because UA was much cheaper. Not looking forward to it. Would have loved the option of BA

I flew to the States with both Virgin (Premium Economy) and United (Economy Plus) last month, and there wasn't much between them. United really isn't all that bad, IMHO. Worth upgrading to the economy plus - it's not that expensive and you can still do this when you choose your seats/ check in online.

@prettypossums I'm here now. We do get economy plus through work, United wasn't as bad as I expected, although the cabin crew left a lot to be desired.