Qantas A380 reliability issues creeping up again?

[ShrinkWrapped]

another night, another qf a380 meltdown

jfk-lax-syd-akl, get to lax, then get a text that qf12 has been cancelled for the night and rescheduled 1100 the next morning.

the kicker for that is the rollover would be I would miss the last connection out of Sydney to Auckland and end up with forced overnight in Los Angeles and then Auckland.

a few things that annoyed me a little
- QF12 actually zero'ed out 48 hours prior so I'm annoyed there wasn't any proactive movement
- while QF11 operated, it seemed that it was never going to operate the QF12 back tonight
- there is something off with scheduling as QF 94 as also operating tonight so it meant that there was only 1 380 flying in, but supposedly 2 out. I'm guessing one was stuck in workshop
- I had to be firm in getting re-routed on NZ5 with Auckland as the final destination. first lounge sent me to ticketing (we can't help you), then the first agent told me "we don't do other airlines" (what a lie, I've done enough IRROPS), eventually had to get the manager on duty to authorize and ok it.

a380 ops really are a cross your fingers and hope you'll get a plane endeavour right now! excuse for the ranty post, a little frustrated!

 

[Quickstatus]

As I said in another thread:

 

[moa999]

Doesn't help there are four aircraft in AUH for various maintenance/ return to service/ upgrades, so there are less planes to juggle about.

 

[Spacetravel]

Have family members on the same flight affected by the delay. We were also affected by a380 delays coming in causing us to miss an onward connection. This means both ways for my family members they have had an overnight stop in LAX at the courtesy of QF. I'm not travelling with them on the return so unfortunately I was only able to provide phone direction and as they are inexperienced bronze travellers they had a hard time getting looked after at all.

When booking ahead of time I talked up how much better the flight experience on the a380 vs 787 is, which is the case but only if it actually flies. Now the family are vowing to not fly Qantas again at all due to IRROPS both directions.

It really looks like the a380 fleet is stretched right now and 1 problem throws the entire schedule out.

Imagine if they had an extra 1-2 a380's

 

[moa999]

Imagine if they had an extra 1-2 a380's

They'd still be at VCV or AUH waiting for enough third party engineering capacity to get them back.

 

[Himeno]

They'd still be at VCV or AUH waiting for enough third party engineering capacity to get them back.

They could make having them ready to use a condition of lease/purchase from one of the airlines (like AF, TG, MH, KE or OZ) that have parked/retired theirs.

 

[ShrinkWrapped]

my biggest peeve of the whole experience is that the IRROPS are very dependent on your own skills and knowledge around the commercial aviation sector

I think I only got rebooked on an NZ flight to AKL, which was my final destination, due to persistence and knowing routing and availabilities. for joe blogg public, the check in agent just gave a generic "we don't book onto another carrier"

what I'm also frustrated about was given it was zeroed 48 hours out which clearly meant impending cancellations there was no attempt at rebooking. could have got only AA or at least QF 94/96/16 before they processed classic reward upgrades for those flights

 

[Spacetravel]

my biggest peeve of the whole experience is that the IRROPS are very dependent on your own skills and knowledge around the commercial aviation sector

I think I only got rebooked on an NZ flight to AKL, which was my final destination, due to persistence and knowing routing and availabilities. for joe blogg public, the check in agent just gave a generic "we don't book onto another carrier"

what I'm also frustrated about was given it was zeroed 48 hours out which clearly meant impending cancellations there was no attempt at rebooking. could have got only AA or at least QF 94/96/16 before they processed classic reward upgrades for those flights

You got lucky, QF12 has been delayed again. My stranded family members who are like joe public that you refer to aren’t happy. QF wouldn’t even give them their bags back (transferred from inbound flight).

 

[Jay M]

I'm stuck on this delayed flight, no J on Mel or AA Syd flight last night, and you're telling me they knew 1-2 days in advance of this issue???

It's also further slipped from 11am to 1pm, so I'm a bit worried.

Their hotel voucher process last night was a joke. F Lounge kept giving me "it's coming via email in 10 minutes" when I asked them multiple times between 9pm-10.45pm last night. In the end they walked us to the counter downstairs and it was done in 60 seconds.

 

[Jay M]

QF wouldn’t even give them their bags back (transferred from inbound flight).

That's rough. I was offered mine back, but told it would take 60-90min to get it out. I declined.

 

[ShrinkWrapped]

I'm stuck on this delayed flight, no J on Mel or AA Syd flight last night, and you're telling me they knew 1-2 days in advance of this issue???

It's also further slipped from 11am to 1pm, so I'm a bit worried.

Their hotel voucher process last night was a joke. F Lounge kept giving me "it's coming via email in 10 minutes" when I asked them multiple times between 9pm-10.45pm last night. In the end they walked us to the counter downstairs and it was done in 60 seconds.

I tried to get rebooked on the F lounge when I got in from JFK around 1930, but they sent me outside to ticketing which fortunately wasn't too busy yet.

I know something was fishy as I was monitoring a J to F upgrade and about 60 hours ish out it went from F2A2J9D9 and economy down to N or something with 9s to suddenly all zeroed out which generally suggests that the flight was going to be cancelled or delayed.

the other option would have been to try get on UA to syd last night but would have required pushing I suspect.

also the delayed qf12 with 1300 departure shows a 2050 arrival. if it pushes out anymore, it will run into curfew issues....

 

[Jay M]

So the aircraft was at LAX for a few days for a scheduled maintenance. And clearly it took longer than expected, and thus they should have known and advised sooner.

 

[ShrinkWrapped]

as I said, they did know...it was zero'ed out at T-60. I just found it silly they didn't do anything about it....

 

[Jay M]

And it's now going back to a gate, after pushing back, due to a hydraulic issue.

 

[ShrinkWrapped]

And it's now going back to a gate, after pushing back, due to a hydraulic issue.

it will hit Sydney curfew very soon if they don't depart...it will become a QF12D at this stage leaving at midnight or something

 

[Jay M]

it will hit Sydney curfew very soon if they don't depart...it will become a QF12D at this stage leaving at midnight or something

Yes, they're aware of that. I asked wtf they are keeping us on the plane and they said they were applying for special dispensation to land after curfew, and the backup is to go to Brisbane.

Either way, the hotel situation sounds dire if we can land late.

 

[airlinemn]

Another day and another QF11 delay.

This route is proving brutal. 3 delays a week on both legs at a minimum it seems.

That new schedule isn’t working very well for them.

 

[Jay M]

The plane pushed back 15 minutes ago, and we are now returning to the gate. This is cooked.

It sounds like a botched engine swap out.

 

[Scarlett]

@Jay M does this sound like you’ll be spending a second night delayed in the US? Or will they now consider putting you on other airlines to get home?

Also, is this flight that has now been delayed twice the QF12 9May departure? If so, looks like -OQH got into LAX on 7 May. That same jet is scheduled for the 10May departure.

 

[Jay M]

@Jay M does this sound like you’ll be spending a second night delayed in the US? Or will they now consider putting you on other airlines to get home?

Also, is this flight that has now been delayed twice the QF12 9May departure? If so, looks like -OQH got into LAX on 7 May. That same jet is scheduled for the 10May departure.

They're saying they're spreading people across the three flights tonight. I don't think they have enough seats

Yes same plane as what was supposed to leave last night - 9 May.