Qantas Delays/Cancellations

[Quickstatus]

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

???...Except that a bird strike would probably qualify as "extraordinary circumstance" outside of airline control exempting "compensation" but probably does not exempt the airline from providing "care"

 

[MEL_Traveller]

???...Except that a bird strike would probably qualify as "extraordinary circumstance" outside of airline control exempting "compensation" but probably does not exempt the airline from providing "care"

Bird-strike has not been deemed 'extraordinary' in the UK by a County Court judge. The reasoning was quite clear... a bird strike might be unusual or unexpected... but it is not 'extraordinary': Passengers delayed by bird strikes can claim compensation, judge rules - Telegraph

 

[Melburnian1]

QF1, the 1550 hours SYD - DXB - LHR (A388 VH-OQD) did not take off until 1657 (which is quite unusual, as this flight has a better punctuality record than the ex Melbourne QF9) on Tuesday 14 June and so should arrive DXB on Wednesday 15 June at about 0105, 40 minutes late.

 

[Quickstatus]

This morning 14/6/16, QF42 CGK-SYD arrived 51 minutes late after having to deplane a passenger:

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ve-return-gate-because-76529.html#post1463707

 

[Melburnian1]

Presumably due to foggy conditions in CBR, QF1543, the Wednesday 15 June 0610 hours BNE - CBR (B717 VH-YQT) was airborne at 0719 and coming in behind a couple of similarly delayed VA flights is about to arrive at 0857, 57 minutes late.

 

[Quickstatus]

I thought I should post a non-delay flight. An on-time performance often gives as much information to prospective customers as a delayed flight.

Ive been following QF35 MEL-SIN for a while. Flightstats suggests a 2.8/5 star ontime performance making this one of the more punctual in the airline's network

Today its performance is as close to perfect as an international flight can get given the multitude of delay inducing factors that lurk just beneath the surface ready to pounce.

15/6/16:

Schedule 1145-1755 (gate to gate time as suggested by Flightstats)
Actual : 1144-1755

I shall ignore the 1 minute tardiness (though Japanese public transport operators would have gone apopleptic)

Melburnian1 or other esteemed contributors: Can you suggest a QF flight with higher Flightstats star rating?

 

[Melburnian1]

Quickstatus, 'esteemed contributor' is reserved for tech crew and other similar individuals who can manage the science of aviation. Although some of them may become a tad grumpy at times (which we'll ascribe to the rigours of shiftwork), those with a passing interest in aviation or transport cannot match them. And apart from anything else, self praise is...(you know the saying as your mother taught it to you, one hopes.)

Without trawling through the whole list, one flight stood out to me as I have previously praised it for an almost perfect timekeeping record (albeit with the occasional - very occasional cancellation): B744-operated QF25, the nightly SYD - HND so-called 'redeye' has a FlightStats rating of 4.3 out of 5 which is very good given that the website takes account of two variables in compiling the 'star' punctuality and delay rating.

It is punctual more often than 95 per cent of other flights which is excellent: many of us may like (academically speaking) to have been in the top five per cent when we did our HSC, VCE or whatever a state or territory calls the end of secondary school year.

The B744-operated QF26 (nightly HND - SYD) is even better with a FlightStats score of 4.4 out of 5.

A330 flight QF61 (day flight BNE - NRT) raises the bar to an almost impossible-to-beat level with 4.9 out of 5. QF62 coming back (overnight) from NRT to BNE is a relative slacker at 4.7 out of 5.

As a comparison, JQ23 from MEL to NRT has a FlightStats rating of an appalling 0.1 out of 5: today (15 June 2016) it was 133 minutes late arriving at 1118 as it had departed at 0205 in the small hours instead of 0015.

Interestingly, JL772 (day flight from SYD to NRT) only has a rating of 2.6 out of 5. It is generally punctual when I glance at its progress, and like other day flights formed by night flights can be affected by weather such as fog or - as we saw on Sunday 5 June - heavy rain in Sydney, a scenario likely to be repeated this coming Sunday of 19 June.

QF61/62 lack the long term operation to and from Japan that QF25 and QF26 could be judged on was the history of every flight ever undertaken using these flight numbers to and from Japan the yardstick.

When I previously (subjectively) ranked QFi flights IMHO by punctuality and noted the terrific punctuality of these QF Japanese flights, one AFF member commented 'that's because they have to be'. While he did not greatly elaborate, some factors would include how busy Japanese airports are (presumably meaning that slots are intricately calculated and allocated, and hence valuable) and (to which you allude above) how punctilious the Japanese are as a matter of course. Curfews may be another factor.

The FlightStats figures may have some limitations as they are based only on the last measured flights - a typical period is the previous 60 or so flights.

To obtain a better picture it would be preferable to base it on the last 365 flights as that would include punctuality in all the year's seasons. My recollection (subject to fallibility) is that these four QF Japanese flights have excellent punctuality throughout the year. The schedules may be slack but for the purposes of your question one can take that as a constant across flights of similar duration, and therefore exclude it from consideration.

 

[Melburnian1]

The Thursday 16 June 2016 QF23 (0950 hours SYD up to BKK) was airborne at 1044 with A333 VH-QPD expected to be at the BKK terminal at about 1715, 35 minutes behind time.

QF81 (1020 hours SYD - SIN) took off at 1105 and with A333 VH-QPF undertaking the task should arrive at 1715, half an hour late.

The 1020 hours MEL - HKG, QF29, was airborne at 1136 and should arrive at 1845 hours this early evening, 45 minutes tardy. A333 Vh-QPB is doing the honours.

UPDATE: QF2034, the 1850 hours SYD to university town ARM departed at 1919, arriving 33 minutes late at 2038.

 

[Melburnian1]

QF130 (1955 hours Thursday 16 June departure ex PVG) is showing as departing at 2030 (which was 10 minutes ago as I write) so Friday 17 June SYD arrival will be at least delayed by 20 minutes to 0850 hours.

 

[Mattg]

Looks like QF566 (PER-SYD) landed almost 30 minutes after the 11pm curfew tonight.

 

[Melburnian1]

QF130 on Thursday 16 June ended up departing from PVG at 2040 hours for a forecast SYD arrival on Friday 17 of 0905.

On Friday 17 June, QF94 (A388 VH-OQF) is about to arrive in MEL at about 0731, 31 minutes late. This may slightly delay the returning QF93 to LAX.

QF30 is arriving in MEL at approximately 0730, half an hour behind. VH-QPA is the aircraft that on Thursday 16 had not been airborne until 2129 despite a pushback time of 2030 hours.

 

[docjames]

Looks like QF566 (PER-SYD) landed almost 30 minutes after the 11pm curfew tonight.

That's actually quite interesting.

Is that accurate? Wonder why dispensation was granted?

 

[Melburnian1]

QF408, the 0700 MEL - SYD on Friday 17 June was not in the sky until 0903, so A332 VH-EBP is about to arrive at about 1009, 104 minutes late. A bad start to the day for this aircraft.

Earlier, QF415 (the 0800 SYD - MEL) departed 34 minutes late and is expected to arrive 35 down at 1010.

 

[pjm99au]

That's actually quite interesting.

Is that accurate? Wonder why dispensation was granted?

I was on this flight and yes we landed at 11.26pm. Captain advised that dispensation had been granted by Canberra for a pre 11.30pm arrival. We left PER at around 5.50pm after tech difficulties delayed the scheduled 4.20pm departure time and trucked across the continent with SOG bouncing either side of 1000km/hr the entire way.

Not sure of the reason for granting the exemption just very thankful that it was asked and approved.

 

[Melburnian1]

On Friday 17 June, QF81 (1020 hours SYD up to SIN) was airborne at 1119; arrival of A332 VH-EBV should be at about 1730 local time, 45 minutes tardy.

QF29 (1020 MEL - HKG, B744 VH-OEG) took off extremely late at 1440 this afternoon; it should arrive at around 2125, 205 minutes late. It looks to be forming QF128 from HKG to SYD, the 2015, as this has been delayed until a forecast 2300 hours HKG time departure. This may be an underestimate of the delay: 2310 or 2315 may be a more realistic pushback time given past turnaround times achieved by QF for its B744s. On Saturday 18 June, SYD arrival is estimated at 0940 rather than 0715 but as always this may need to be revised once the southbound flight is in the air.

QF451, the 1715 hours from SYD down to MEL (B738 VH-VZB) did not take off until 1810 on runway 34R so it should arrive about 35 minutes late at 1925.

 

[Melburnian1]

The Thursday 16 June 2016 QF12 (A388-operated sector) from LAX departed at 2323 hours late night, 53 minutes behind time, with Saturday 18 June SYD arrival expected at 0740 hours, 70 minutes late.

QF16 on Thursday night (the 2320 hours from LAX) departed at 0034 on Friday morning with BNE arrival suggested as 0740 hours, 90 minutes late, on Saturday 18.

Earlier on Thursday, the B744-operated 'tag flight' sector of QF12 had left JFK at 1918 hours, 68 minutes late, arriving in LAX at 2141 hours, 36 minutes late.

Unusually when there is late running of the transcontinental westbound QF12, QF94 (2215 hours LAX - MEL) did not depart until 2319 so on Saturday morning, 18 June, it should arrive at 0825, 85 minutes late.

Delays to the Saturday 18 June QF11 ex SYD and QF93 ex MEL may occur as a result.

Earlier on Friday 17 June, QF63 from SYD departed 72 minutes late at 1202 with arrival in JNB suggested as 1740, half an hour late.

QF10 ex LHR on Thursday 16 June departed at 1409, 64 minutes late. On Friday 17 June it arrived DXB at 0011, 51 late and departed at 0211, 36 minutes behind time with MEL arrival suggested as 2159 (earlier it was shown as 2124) as A388 VH-OQH was in a hold between Rokewood and Anakie for more than 15 minutes. While MEL may have simply been busy, a number of other flights were similarly delayed: was there low visibility for a while at the airport rather than just many incoming flights?

This late arrival has resulted in the returning QF9 to DXB and LHR having its MEL departure altered from the usual 2255 hours to a suggested 2330 late tonight. '2330 hours' is a bit light as a predicted delay: 2340 - 2350 may be more like it.

QF493 (1915 hours SYD down to MEL, B738 VH-VXO) took off at 1938 - hardly late - but is arriving at about 2142, 52 minutes late as it was placed in a fairly lengthy holding pattern above Mt Buller.

QF467 (B738 VH-VYJ) is the 1930 hours SYD - MEL that took off punctually at 1944, but like QF493 is significantly delayed due to a hold, with arrival in the southern capital predicted as 2153, 48 minutes tardy.

 

[Melburnian1]

On Saturday 18 June, the 0800 SYD - DBO QantasLink flight departed at 0839 with expected arrival as 0940 hours, 40 minutes late.

QF2205 down to border city ABX has been worse affected, with departure delayed from 0820 ex SYD to a forecast 0950 hours, and arrival identically tardy at a suggested 1120 instead of 0950 hours. Is this due to fog?

The delay to inbound QF94 noted in post 3053 above sees the MEL departure of QF93 delayed by an anticipated 90 minutes to 1045 for the very long flight to LAX. Arrival is predicted as only 45 minutes late, same day, at 0720 hours.

QF419, the 0900 SYD down to MEL (B738 VH-VXP) was not in the sky until 0952 hours, meaning a suggested 1109 arrival, 34 minutes behind the schedule.

 

[Quickstatus]

Last night QFA768 did a uie and diverted to ADL

Eventual arrival into MEL was 2 hours late.

The flightpath suggests a non medical/other urgent need to land diversion as MEL was closer to the divert point than ADL. Melburnian1 yesterday suggested that several MEL bound flights were in holding patterns causing some minor delays suggesting some weather related delays at that airport?. Inadequate fuel to stay in the sky holding and then landing in MEL?

 

[Melburnian1]

QF93 (A388 VH-OQG) on Saturday 18 June took off at 1124 as against a pushback time of 0915, so about an hour and 45 late, and is expected to arrive in LAX, ex MEL at about 0815, 100 minutes behind time.

QF83 (A333 VH-QPD, the 1015 hours SYD up to HKG and the more recently commenced of the two QF flights each way) took off at 1110 and so will not arrive until about 1853, 73 minutes behind time. Indicated speed is only 756 kilometres an hour so there must be a headwind.

VH-QPC (A333) on QF35 (the 1145 MEL - SIN) was in the sky at 1258, with arrival suggested as 1908, 73 minutes late.

 

[Melburnian1]

On Saturday 18 June, the 1300 hours SYD to SFO B744-operated flight, QF73, departed at 1435 hours. Arrival is suggested as 1045 same day, 75 minutes late.

Friday 17 June's QF9 from MEL did not depart at 2330 hours as QF had predicted, but at 0043, 108 minutes late, on Saturday 18. DXB arrival was at 0813, 68 minutes late with departure at 0952, 47 minutes behind time. Showing how much slack there can be in what has been the revised timetable since late October 2015 (adjusted for the half yearly time change), LHR arrival is predicted as on time at 1415. If this is achieved, the plane will have taken 108 minutes - almost two hours - out of the timings. Naturally this cannot be achieved every day, as climatic conditions, the amount of air traffic and the time required on the ground at the intermediate stop (DXB) vary, but it just shows what can occur when all goes well. QF's MEL - LHR schedules are slower than those of some other airlines, although many take different routes.