‘Shock and anger’ over Monarch Airlines collapse
October 2, 2017 by admin
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Robson Smith
Empty check-in desks pictured on Monday morning at Gatwick Airport, London
Hundreds of thousands of Monarch Airlines passengers found out early on Monday via text message or letter that the company has ceased trading. Many have expressed distress and disbelief after their holiday plans were left in tatters.
‘Shock then anger’
Katie Ode drove to Manchester airport on Monday morning from Anglesey, north Wales, for a Monarch flight at 07:00 BST.
She told BBC Radio 5 Live she received a text message at 04:00 BST when she and her friend were only 10 minutes from the airport.
When they got closer, the scene outside the terminal was “chaotic”.
“There was a massive queue of traffic. Stewards were stopping every car saying there was no point going into the airport… there was no staff, they have gone home,” she said.
Ms Ode said she felt “shock at first, then anger”, mainly because it was their only holiday booked for the year.
She has phoned her package holiday company to see if she can get another flight or, if not, a refund.
‘£900 out of pocket’
David Elrick had his flight to Dalaman, Turkey, cancelled this morning from London Gatwick, but has managed to rebook.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I’m at Gatwick airport still.
“I arrived at 05:00 the flight was due 07:10 and we were met by some of the staff at Gatwick airport handing out letters saying that Monarch had stopped trading.
“It wasn’t until we got to Gatwick that we were advised… You can imagine quite a few people were quite shocked by this.”
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Reuters
Letters were handed out at London Gatwick Airport
He said he managed to book an alternative flight online, but this cost him another £600 for him and his partner.
“Plus baggage and seats, I imagine I am £800 to £900 out of pocket.
“I booked through Thomson and they are Atol protected so hopefully there will be some form of compensation, but I’ll worry about that when I’m back from holiday.”
‘Absolutely gutted’
Steve Walker, from Northampton, told 5 Live: “Travelling to Luton – or I was – to fly to Sweden to defend my world power lifting title tomorrow.
“Now driving back home. No chance of getting to Sundsvall in time, three months of hard training down the pan. Absolutely gutted.”
‘First Ryanair, now Monarch’
Chris, from Milton Keynes, told 5 Live he had his Ryanair flight cancelled a couple of weeks ago and now his Monarch flight to Lanzarote in the New Year had been cancelled as well.
‘I thought it was a prank’
Mike Olley was due to fly back to Birmingham from Malaga on Monday.
“We got a text this morning saying that Monarch had gone out of business. I thought it was a prank,” he said.
“Our flight is at 12:15 back home today. We haven’t got any information on our flight yet.
“[It is a] bit of a shock to the system, but I am reassured by the assurances of [Transport Secretary] Chris Grayling. The CAA seems very up to speed but I feel sorry for the staff.”
‘I paid for flights on Saturday’
Stewart, from Renfrew, told 5 Live he booked flights from Manchester to Dalaman on Saturday.
“They took my money knowing they might go into administration,” he said.
“I have lost £750… I may have to cancel everything, my wife and two boy are going to be gutted.”
‘Really disappointed’
Joe Alvarez, 23, from London, said: “I have a flight booked with Monarch to Spain in three weeks to take my elderly grandmother to a family wedding, I am now worried that we won’t be able to go and she will be very upset.
“The flights are not Atol protected. They had cost £80 each. Other flights are looking really, really expensive.
“I’m really disappointed. I am quite upset that we won’t be able to go to the wedding.
“My grandmother doesn’t know yet. I need to speak to her, but I want to work out a plan before I do so I don’t worry her too much.”
‘Suitcase packed for three weeks’
John Shepherd, from Tamworth, told the BBC: “I was due to fly to Cyprus tomorrow morning with my 92-year-old blind dad. He’s had his suitcase packed for three weeks.
“We’ve been very lucky in that we went straight on the internet and have managed to book flights from Manchester to Cyprus – but it’s cost a fair bit of money.
“I’m worried we’ve lost all the money on the flights. We’ve now got to go through rigmarole of contacting the credit card company and seeing if we can get it back.
“I’m amazed a company as big as them has gone so quickly.”
An employee’s perspective
One Monarch Airlines worker, who asked to remain anonymous, told the BBC: “We’ve had a really good performance recently so I’m shocked.
“I work in training at head office. I never thought it would come to this. That it would go this badly wrong.
“Management have been excellent and very transparent in their communications so far today. I spoke to my manager this morning and they were happy to answer any of my questions and gave me their personal number if they ever need to contact them.
“We have a meeting at the head office later this morning so I will find out what is going to happen next.”
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Lions top Vikings in defensive slugfest
October 2, 2017 by admin
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In an edgy bout between two NFC North rivals, the Lions (3-1) knocked out the Vikings (2-2) in a game that saw Minnesota suffer a season-altering injury on offense. Here’s what we learned from Detroit’s 14-7 victory:
1. This divisional clash took a pivotal turn five minutes into the second half when Minnesota rookie workhorse Dalvin Cook crumbled to the turf with a non-contact knee injury. The second-round running back was quickly ruled out following a play that saw him lose a second fumble, sending the Lions on their way toward a five-play, 29-yard touchdown march that put Detroit up for good at 14-7. NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported after the game the Vikings believe Cook tore his ACL based on the initial diagnosis.
Back to Cook, whose loss cannot be understated: After the game coach Mike Zimmer told reporters that they are “concerned about his ACL, will get an MRI.” The initial diagnosis is a nearly complete ACL tear, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport and NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported. The former Florida State star leads the team this season with 354 yards on the ground at 4.8 yards per rush with another 90 yards through the air off 11 receptions. The drop off from Cook to Jerick McKinnon and Latavius Murray is steep and puts Minnesota’s season in a truly dark place. From an injury perspective, this feels like one of the unluckiest franchises league-wide.
2. Detroit’s backfield came into Sunday having gone a “league-leading” 55 straight games without a 100-yard rusher. The Lions came painfully close to snapping that streak after Ameer Abdullah gashed Minnesota for 94 yards at 4.7 yards per attempt. While the Lions struggled in pass protection, the line successfully opened holes for Abdullah, who gained extra yards with his highlight-reel cutting ability, despite failing to cross the 100-yard threshold. It was a rare sight to see Matthew Stafford checking down into successful run plays to keep the offense chugging.
3. This was a sleepy affair out of the gate with both teams combining for three points and six punts over the first 29 minutes of play before Cook raced off left guard for a five-yard score before the half. Coming off his monstrous, 369-yard, three-touchdown explosion in Week 3, Case Keenum (16-of-30 passing for 219 yards) returned to the land of mortal signal-callers. Sam Bradford’s backup was out of sync with his wideouts for multiple drives at a time, especially on Minnesota’s final two possessions. On third-and-goal from Detroit’s 3, with 2:31 left in the game, Keenum drifted backwards before taking an 11-yard sack from Anthony Zettel. On the following play, Keenum sailed the ball high out of the end zone. The Vikings got the ball back with 1:51 on the clock, but it was not to be as Adam Thielen caught a 11-yard strike from Keenum only to fumble the pigskin away. Game over.
4. Making his 100th consecutive start, Matthew Stafford (19-of-31 passing for 209 yards) struggled against the Vikings, taking six sacks from an active Minnesota pass rush and looking stuck in the mud before finding Marvin Jones on a 38-yard laser that led to a field goal, Detroit’s lone first-half score. That wound up as the team’s longest gain through the air, with no Lions pass-catcher topping 42 yards. This attack looked nonfunctional with Stafford taking punishment from wire to wire, but some of those sacks and hits came as the result of the Lions quarterback holding the ball forever.
5. Vikings pass-rusher Everson Griffen turned heads this week after calling Lions left tackle Greg Robinson a “lazy” athlete. Griffen wound up with one sack on the day, but Minnesota’s Danielle Hunter — with two takedowns — wound up as the much bigger headache in a dominant performance against right tackle Ricky Wagner. Detroit spent much of the game employing two-wideout sets to bring in extra blocking help.