Less than Good experience on SQ out of Dubai

[TheRealTMA]

I was on an SQ flight ex LHR over the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, where turbulence can be quite servere and unpredictable. After around 75 mins of moderate to heavy bumps, I really needed the bathroom. I got to the J toilets, the crew listened to my plea, told me to be very careful but did not either stop me or order me back to my seat. The seatbelt sign went off soon after so I beat the rush. My advice is to use common sense and ask if necessary.

There's always the Gérard Depardieu option as a last resort!

 

[serfty]

Pre COVID, I was near the front of a American Ailines RJ, PTY-MIA. During the flight I had noticed an older guy visit the WC maybe half a dozen times. After landing we had a 15 minute or so taxi made longer by the same guy getting up and heading to the loo, despite accoustically forceful instructions to sit down.

The plane pulled over into a taxi siding and an apologetic PA came from the coughpit. We waited for the guy to come out and sit down before proceeding to the gate.

 

[AIRwin]

Pre COVID, I was near the front of a American Ailines RJ, PTY-MIA. During the flight I had noticed an older guy visit the WC half a dozen times or more. After landing we had a 15 minute or so taxi made longer by the same guy getting up and heading to the loo, despite forceful instructions to sit down.

The plane pulled over into a taxi siding and an apologetic PA came from the coughpit. We waited for the guy to come out and sit down before proceeding to the gate.

@Peanutbladder by any chance?

 

[DC3]

The plane pulled over into a taxi siding and an apologetic PA came from the coughpit. We waited for the guy to come out and sit down before proceeding to the gate.

Nothing quite doing like the Walk of Shame

 

[rbjhan]

I'm sitting in SQ 621 right now.
Flight has been smooth other than a few mins above Kagoshima.
Took them 2hours to serve the satay and set the table and we just received the entrée as I'm typing....

Yeah I'm glad I didn't book SQ for my October trip to London!

 

[PERLHR]

I'm sitting in SQ 621 right now.
Flight has been smooth other than a few mins above Kagoshima.
Took them 2hours to serve the satay and set the table and we just received the entrée as I'm typing....

Yeah I'm glad I didn't book SQ for my October trip to London!

Gosh. It's just a six hour flight as well! Bit rubbish. Hope the drinks are flowing if you want them...have a good one.

 

[Quattro]

I'm sitting in SQ 621 right now.
Flight has been smooth other than a few mins above Kagoshima.
Took them 2hours to serve the satay and set the table and we just received the entrée as I'm typing....

Yeah I'm glad I didn't book SQ for my October trip to London!

Perhaps a blended course might be more appropriate to save time…

I wouldn’t rule out SIA for LHR. Perhaps 6 hours in you’ll be on your first dish

 

[Mr H]

First time I heard of this Josh Cahill was his appearance in an ad on a recent CX flight before a movie started on the IFE.

He is a tiresome man who sensationalises everything. One slip by one flight attendant or one speck of dust and he will declare it to be the worst flight of his life and spend 20 minutes berating the airline and their lack of an adequate apology (I'm not sure what he would consider to be an acceptable apology).

 

[OATEK]

He is a tiresome man who sensationalises everything. One slip by one flight attendant or one speck of dust and he will declare it to be the worst flight of his life and spend 20 minutes berating the airline and their lack of an adequate apology (I'm not sure what he would consider to be an acceptable apology).

Do you mean like when he got banned mid-flight by an airline for a negative comment he made from the aircraft on social media?

I have an upcoming SQ flight in Y and that is bad enough without being tied to my seat for hours!

 

[Quattro]

Do you mean like when he got banned mid-flight by an airline for a negative comment he made from the aircraft on social media?

I have an upcoming SQ flight in Y and that is bad enough without being tied to my seat for hours!

Look out for a mySQ upgrade

 

[Scarlett]

In over 1000 flights I’ve only HAD TO GO, whilst the seat belt sign is on, twice. It was pretty much a non event and I can’t even tell you which airlines it would have been with.

I recall one of the occasions there was some initial push back from the cabin crew and that I should resume my seat, but I probably very briefly and urgently conveyed the fact that I could no longer wait. Was I disobeying a crew instruction? Probably. Was I met at the gate by police? No.

 

[PERLHR]

I think as individuals one needs to make a judgement call....but not at the time, as I have seen, when gear is coming down on finals!! ,

 

[Quattro]

I think as individuals one needs to make a judgement call....but not at the time, as I have seen, when gear is coming down on finals!! ,

Spot on. Pleading ignorance doesn’t cut it in this day and age. Nor does bad planning

 

[Peasant]

I've been a Solitaire for many years, so I'm familiar with SQ. And I've been a fan. But mark my words, SQ post COVID is not the same airline it once was. A new CEO will be appointed within the next few months and the airline is being torn apart by the political war between the top contenders to take over from the long-serving Goh Choon Phong. A good and ethical man on most accounts.

As someone who has lived in Singapore, and knows the place well, the response to the SQ321 turbulence incident is predictable. The airline is complacent until something happens and then loses its mind, lacking any sense of nuance or discretion, devolving into fear.

SQ doesn't have a safety culture or pilot cadre like Qantas, despite Joyce trying relentlessly to destroy it. SQ still has its fair share of cowboys who will always take risks to protect schedule because generally they've been fortunate enough to get away with it. And they're protected. @jb747 the expat pilot community was removed for the most part in the first GFC in 2008-2009 by Chew Choon Seng, so this isn't necessarily something new.

Scratch beneath the veneer and you'll find that there's a lot that's wrong...that they came only seconds from disaster at Batam a couple of years ago due to a cascade of incompetent pilot decisions and poor airmanship is pause for thought. I'd recommend everyone reads that CAAS Report, even if it stops short of explicitly embarrassing the state owned airline. That incident wasn't caused by climate change.

The relatively new Chief Operations Officer - Tan Kai Ping - is a contender for the top job. He actively and vociferously rebuffs any suggestion or criticism the airline is responsible or to blame for the incidents they've had in the last couple of years.

It's difficult to construe this as positive for any airline's safety culture. He's universally despised within the airline and known for a culture of fear, so only time will tell what this means for SQ, especially if he happens to secure the top job. He's also the man personally responsible for the post SQ321 turbulence rules. Rather than looking at the operational aspects and decisions that may have resulted in that aircraft encountering the awful situation that led to the death of one of its passengers, this is the way he's decided to respond. Shooting straight from the hip.

Singapore Airlines was a wonderful airline for many years with many, many good people and a strong moral compass. I have good experiences to look back on. But as we witnessed with the Joyce years at Qantas, things can change quickly with the wrong leadership. Given what I now know about where SQ is currently at, I'd be very, very careful.

 

[Quattro]

That CAAS report is diabolical.

You can feel the intensity lift very quickly and the errors caused by that is scary.

2.3.5
Pilots should keep in mind that they have the prerogative to request air traffic
controllers to provide a more direct routing if they assess that safe operation of
their flight is compromised.

 

[Peanutbladder]

@Peanutbladder by any chance?

Not me Although the length SQ keep the seatbelt on when departing Changi over Indonesia usually causes me some issues !!!!