Qantas Delays/Cancellations

[Becb18]

QF93 to LAX delayed due to bird strike, pushed back from 9.15 to 4pm!

 

[Quickstatus]

Thanks Becb18,

Are you a passenger on that flight? If so are you able to give us a coal face report on the delay and at the other end. Particularly interested and what the airline does to mitigate the effects of the delay.

Usually QF94 turns around to become 93. If this is true for today then it will be VH-OQB. I wonder if the bird strike occurred on 94's approach?.

Thats a long delay. I wonder if a new crew is required.

 

[milehighclub]

Thats a long delay. I wonder if a new crew will be required.

Sure does and one is already in place to sign on this afternoon.

 

[Becb18]

Yep, passenger on the flight. They've just put an announcement over. Bird strike on arrival, plane is in hangar going through checks. They will get a new crew at 2pm. Just offered to escort people through customs if they want to go home and come back later in the day with a taxi voucher. Happy to be in lounge for this one!

 

[Quickstatus]

Sure does and one is already in place to sign on this afternoon.

Thanks milehighclub

would this be a standby crew? What happens to the original crew?. To what extent do their roster have to be rejigged?

 

[Quickstatus]

Yep, passenger on the flight. They've just put an announcement over. Bird strike on arrival, plane is in hangar going through checks. They will get a new crew at 2pm. Just offered to escort people through customs if they want to go home and come back later in the day with a taxi voucher. Happy to be in lounge for this one!

Thanks Becb18,

I presume all the checked luggage stays put.
Are you able to say whether the taxi voucher has a set credit limit or equal to the cost is to go home and back to airport.

I would also be very interested in hearing what plan the airline has in place to get passengers on to their final destination past LAX especially those who may have connections on a separate ticket.

 

[milehighclub]

Thanks milehighclub

would this be a standby crew? What happens to the original crew?. To what extent do their roster have to be rejigged?

For Cabin Crew:
Yes it was all standby crew. The original crew goes home but they will now owe hours. The company has 42 days to have the crew repay those hours. Since they were due home Friday, it means Wed, Thurs, Fri will turn into an 'A' day. This means they are available to the company. Some of them will get used but not all.

Since the original crew is on a flying line any call out cannot impede another trip unless the crew member agrees to it (unlike the new crew who have just been called out who have to accept any duty as they are on a reserve line)

Some crew won't end up getting a trip as it won't fit into their roster. They still get paid but won't get the allowance or overtime.

 

[jb747]

Yes it was all standby crew. The original crew goes home but they will now owe hours. The company has 42 days to have the crew repay those hours. Since they were due home Friday, it means Wed, Thurs, Fri will turn into an 'A' day. This means they are available to the company. Some of them will get used but not all.

Slightly different rules for cabin crew and pilots. Different contracts. In the case of the pilots, the company has until the end of the bid period, which is a bit less than six weeks away. It means that the system will never release you on A days (about half of all time off), which has the overall effect of ruining your roster.

Since the original crew is on a flying line any call out cannot impede another trip unless the crew member agrees to it ...

They get around that particular restriction, by simply assigning a standby, and then 'calling you out' for the duty.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

BNE - SYD flight was late yesterday 13jun16.
Supposed to dep at 10.35am to arr SYD a bit before 12 noon.
Left engine had some problem, furl pump lamp or something... delayed half an hour.
Several pax on their next QF flight SYD to DFW at 13.00pm were not happy about late arr at SYDd.
12.35pm to 13.00pm to get from dom plane to gate 15 to get to int terminal.
Linked tickets, saw their green OPC.
Guessed QF held the int dep for them.

 

[Becb18]

flight to LAX, plane is ready and being towed to gate, getting crew and catering etc. should be boarding at 3.20. Not sure about taxi vouchers, couldn't think of anything worse than going home just to turn around again, but if I was out in the terminal sitting on the ground, would have been a lot more tempting...People next to me got $30 vouchers each to get food etc in terminal and used it to but some mags etc for their kids for entertainment.

 

[Becb18]

Just chatting about what else would have happened, what happens to all the food, I can imagine it would be hard to find a home on other planes for a 380 plane full of peoples food etc...

 

[Quickstatus]

BNE - SYD flight was late yesterday 13jun16.
Supposed to dep at 10.35am to arr SYD a bit before 12 noon.
Left engine had some problem, furl pump lamp or something... delayed half an hour.
Several pax on their next QF flight SYD to DFW at 13.00pm were not happy about late arr at SYDd.
12.35pm to 13.00pm to get from dom plane to gate 15 to get to int terminal.
Linked tickets, saw their green OPC.
Guessed QF held the int dep for them.

Im not sure if any of them made it because QF7 departed from the ramp at 1259 hrs today

Thats a bit stupid to catch a flight that arrives at SYD Domestic 1 hour before a departure from the International terminal. However QF does sell a BNE-DFW ticket that involves a MCT of 1 hour at SYD so it may not entirely be the fault of the passenger(s). Upthread Boris Spatsky (pilot and AFF contributor) commented on the anxiety passengers often visit upon themselves when they book flights that involve a short connection time from DOM-INT. I think irrespective of whether the ticket is valid, more than 1 hour is required to do a DOM-INT at SYD and at most other airports.

Ive had to HUACA with QF131313 when they retimed QF93 (daylight saving) causing my MCT to reduce to 1 hour coming in from SYD. From their point of view 1 hour was sufficient time, but they reneged after 2 HUACAs

 

[Quickstatus]

Just chatting about what else would have happened, what happens to all the food, I can imagine it would be hard to find a home on other planes for a 380 plane full of peoples food etc...

I suspect as the airline knew the aircraft was to require inspection as soon as the flight landed, catering would not have been loaded, as the aircraft went straight to the hangar and did not emerge until just recently. It is likely that the initial engineering estimate (which is like estimating the length of a piece of string) was out by a few hours and by the time a re-estimate was issued original crew hours would have started ticking.

Im not sure, while its chilled, what the lifespan of the catering is.
I know that Q Catering is a supporter and donor to Ozharvest, but Im not sure how such food is "rescued"
http://www.ozharvest.org/our-family/supporters-and-donors/

 

[Melburnian1]

Not sure about taxi vouchers, couldn't think of anything worse than going home just to turn around again, but if I was out in the terminal sitting on the ground, would have been a lot more tempting.

Becb18, you make an important point. Everyone I have ever spoken to about this has agreed that 'psychologically' when there is a delay like this, in their mind 'they have left home' and have no wish to get in a taxi, drive or use public transport to go home and then after a small number of hours return to the airport.

At 1615 on Tuesday 14 June FlightAware was suggesting QF93 (the delayed to 1600 hours - originally 0915 hours - MEL - LAX) remained on the ground. I believe it is VH-OQB.

If I recall, milehighclub posted a summary of chilled airline foods' 'shelf life' some months ago. It is hard to quickly locate that thread so perhaps milehighclib may be kind enough to repeat it.

This page mentions Melbourne Airport endeavouring to develop a 'biodiversity and conservation plan' by 2016. It may be a classic example of a page on a website that has not been updated for months or years:

http://melbourneairport.com.au/abou...iodiversity-conservation-land-management.html

None of us can capture every delay but I don't recall a recent case of a 'heavy' or 'super heavy' aircraft in Melbourne being delayed by a bird strike, but they must happen.

The Monday 13 June 2016 QF12 (2230 hours LAX - SYD) is showing as delayed until 2315 but as I type, that was 10 minutes ago in Hollywood City. Arrival is forecast as only 25 minutes late on Wednesday 15 June at 0655.

QF16 has been delayed in departing from LAX from 2320 to 0020, with Wednesday 15 June arrival suggested as 50 minutes late at 0700 hours.

QF96, the B744-operated 'extra' was timetabled to depart from LAX at 2335 hours on Monday but should depart at 0030 on Tuesday 14 June for an arrival on Wednesday morning in MEL at 0835 instead of 0800 hours. (QF94, as is often the case departed a minute late and should arrive in MEL 15 minutes early on Wednesday).

 

[kermatu]

Good of QF to give people the option though. Some may be happy to have more time with a loved one, or get a bit more work done etc. And always the chance the flight gets cancelled and you've saved yourself a few hours if so.

I've been affected twice by birdstrikes in the past few weeks (one QF, one VA). Domestic though so substitute aircraft meant relatively short delays.

 

[milehighclub]

As was mentioned, the aircraft went straight to the hanger so the catering would have remained in the centre where it would have been kept appropriately stored until this afternoon. Had it been loaded, it probably would of been removed.

In instances where the delay occurs after loading the caterers will come around with a laser temperature device and make sure that the chillers are doing their job on the ground.

 

[Quickstatus]

Interesting, on 13/6/16:

VH-OEH (B744) operated QF93 on a usually A380 flight. VH-OEH then performed the transcontinental QF11 to JFK and returned as QF12 to LAX.

VH-OQL (A388) operated QF94 LAX-MEL . Originally this aircraft came in from DXB as QF2 then repositioned on 13/6/16 as QF6055 operating SYD-BNE-LAX. Is this a Charter flight for a certain exclusive group again?. QF94 (arriving 15/6/16) will be the only westbound QF transpacific flight which will be on time .

VH-OEG (B744) operated QF1516 but did not carryon as the tag transcontinental QF11 to JFK and back, It will arrive 1 hr+ late into BNE on 15/6/16

VH-OQJ (A388) operated Transpacific QF11/12 arriving back in SYD just over 1 hour late on 15/6/16
QF95 did not operate.

This ordinarily would leaves an extra aircraft at LAX but VH-OEH seems to be now operating 13/6/16 QF96 LAX-MEL. Its arrival will be nearly 2 hours late on 15/6/16


At the same time as VH-OQL departure for LAX, VH-OQI operated charter QF6053 MEL-BNE-DXB-LHR, in place of QF1 and arriving into DXB just after midnight.

 

[Melburnian1]

The bird strike delayed QF93 on Tuesday 14 June departed at 1723, eight hours and eight minutes late but no 'Chinese-style luck maximisation' for passengers (unless the positive of the flight not being cancelled is considered).

Arrival is expected same day in LAX at 1420 hours rather than 0635.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

flight to LAX, plane is ready and being towed to gate, getting crew and catering etc. should be boarding at 3.20. Not sure about taxi vouchers, couldn't think of anything worse than going home just to turn around again, but if I was out in the terminal sitting on the ground, would have been a lot more tempting...People next to me got $30 vouchers each to get food etc in terminal and used it to but some mags etc for their kids for entertainment.

Not a bad outcome for the airline... had this happened ex LHR it is likely EU261 would have kicked in.

 

[Quickstatus]

This (old) article suggests DRW tops the list for bird strikes:
Revealed: Australian airport with most bird strikes - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)