Qantas Delays/Cancellations

[Quickstatus]

The other possibility of an outstation grounding is inadequate crew number necessary to operate aircraft. Can one sick cabin crew cause a grounding?. Is HNL an A330 crew base?
...or pilot...?
M1 you meant QF4 22/10 cancelled

 

[Flyerqf]

The other possibility of an outstation grounding is inadequate crew number necessary to operate aircraft. Can one sick cabin crew cause a grounding?. Is HNL an A330 crew base?
...or pilot...?
M1 you meant QF4 22/10 cancelled

yes that's a possibility, I'm assuming based on jb's callout that the passenger who said it was aircraft related is incorrect (perhaps misunderstood)

QF4 22/10 was cancelled which results in the QF3 23/10 being cancelled.

 

[Melburnian1]

Thank you Quickstatus. I have corrected the date.

 

[jb747]

...but the QF website states that on 22 and 23 October respectively, QF4 (the 1245 HNL - SYD) and QF3 (the 2225 hours late night SYD - HNL) are both cancelled, so is not Flyerqf highly likely to be correct?

Unless the social media comment actually specified a reason for the cancellation, then it seems to me that saying the aircraft has 'gone tech' is an assumption. I'll accept that the 3 has been cancelled as a consequence (the aircraft isn't where it was planned to be).

Flights can be cancelled for many reasons. A technical problem with the aircraft is just one possibility. As we've seen in Hong Kong, weather is another. Crew issues can cause problems. There's quite a list if you think about it.

I'm on leave, so I don't have any specific information...it may well be broken, but I wouldn't necessarily jump to that conclusion.

BTW, I hate the term 'gone tech'. It's a cabin/ground staff term. Tech is anything they don't understand.

 

[OATEK]

BTW, I hate the term 'gone tech'. It's a cabin/ground staff term. Tech is anything they don't understand.

I think whichever profession one might be involved with, it is always annoying when a term is used incorrectly or out of context. However, I think you might cut those of us who are not professional pilots a little slack for the use of terms that work for frequent flying pax.

 

[nlagalle]

The other possibility of an outstation grounding is inadequate crew number necessary to operate aircraft. Can one sick cabin crew cause a grounding?. Is HNL an A330 crew base?
...or pilot...?
M1 you meant QF4 22/10 cancelled

given there is only a single flight to HNL, there would be no crew base.

 

[calgarychris]

Just by way of follow up - I emailed Qantas and told them I wasn't very happy (politely). Initial email was "we sometimes delay for safety blah blah" which was even more annoying, however for some reason, they called me and emailed offering 3,500 QF points. I called and spoke to an agent, let her do most of the talking and she offered a bottle of wine in addition or another 2,500 points. So, 6,000 points + voucher for the delays - I'm not happy but at least they acknowledged the issue and she was really nice.

Does one normally see this sort of thing?

Update - Pretty stoked, I got a package in the mail - a decent ($35) bottle of wine, on top of 6K points and the voucher. Alright Qantas, you win, I'm satisfied

 

[katiebell]

BTW, I hate the term 'gone tech'. It's a cabin/ground staff term. Tech is anything they don't understand.

I agree re incorrect use of terms. For our education, what is your preferred wording for a flight cancelled NOS ('not otherwise specified' in my profession's jargon)

 

[Melburnian1]

The delayed QF10 (Sunday 23 October timetabled 2150 hours arrival) pulled in to MEL at 0101 this morning (Monday 24) with QF9 on its way at 0247, an hour and 46 minutes later. This was an impressive turnaround as the quickest I have observed is an hour and 38. It must take a lot of coordination and cooperation to achieve this.

DXB arrival is predicted for 0910, 125 minutes late after departing MEL 152 minutes late. The stop at DXB is predicted to reduce from the timetabled 120 minutes to 100 minutes, so if all goes well the sector from DXB should commence at 1050 for a LHR arrival prediction of 1555, also 100 minutes late. This shows how much QF expects can be gained on this slower QF9 timetable that has applied for a year since October 2015, but not every day has identical weather or amount of airline 'traffic' on approach to DXB or LHR, or when departing from DXB. Slower than necessary timetables, however, add to airlines' operating costs which may be fine when the oil price is as low as it has been recently (although starting to rise) but when aviation turbine fuel increases in price, slackness in the timetable may not be optimal for an airline, let alone for passengers whose elapsed journey time arguably has needlessly increased.

'The 9' as one esteemed contributor delightfully refers to it has a FlightStats timekeeping rating for its last 60 or so flights of 2.3 out of 5 between MEL and DXB, and 1.8 out of 5 for the shorter DXB - LHR sector. In each case, 80 per cent of flights have been 'on time' (presumably meaning arriving 15 minutes or less late) but it is the minority of flights that are 'excessive' in their lateness that bring down these 'out of 5' ratings. There are some flights operated by many airlines that are given a '0.1' or '0.2' rating by FlightStats.

Many of us appreciate that when the previous faster timetable applied, QF had a shocking late running record on the MEL - LHR - MEL route in particular (and sometimes on SYD - LHR - SYD) but perhaps some of the extra time could be removed in an effort to reduce the overall timetabled (and actual) journey times point-to-point for travellers. QF may be conscious of Murphy's law, in that if it made the timetables a bit faster (but not as fast as pre October 2015), delays would then reassert themselves.

 

[Quickstatus]

Update - Pretty stoked, I got a package in the mail - a decent ($35) bottle of wine, on top of 6K points and the voucher. Alright Qantas, you win, I'm satisfied

Thanks for informing us lurkers of the outcome of your claim from the 3.5 hr delayed QF 155 that flies across the "dutch".

 

[Melburnian1]

On Monday 24 October, QF616, the 1210 hours very early afternoon flight from MEL to BNE (B738 VH-VXS) took off at 1301. Arrival is predicted to be 31 minutes late at 1351 hours.

QF93, the 1015 MEL longhaul TransPacific to LAX departed at 1121, 66 minutes tardy, but is forecast to be only 25 late into LAX at 0700 same day.

 

[jb747]

I agree re incorrect use of terms. For our education, what is your preferred wording for a flight cancelled NOS ('not otherwise specified' in my profession's jargon)

We just say it's U/S or unserviceable. Even broken is better than 'gone tech'.

 

[Melburnian1]

The B744 operating the JFK - LAX QF12 arrived on time on Sunday evening 23 October, but departure of the flight it normally forms, QF16 from LAX to BNE, has been delayed from 2320 to an expected midnight (in a minute or so as I write) with Tuesday 25 October 2016 BNE arrival suggested as 35 minutes tardy at 0645. This should still allow plenty of time for the next flight, QF15 from BNE to LAX, to depart on time.

 

[CMA222]

Anyone have any news on today's QF127/128 ??

 

[Quickstatus]

Thanks CMA222,

Looks like QF127 and therefore QF128 has been cancelled. VH-OEH.
It arrived this morning Oct 25 on schedule as QF128 but will not be flying back as QF127.
VH-OEH has then been pressed into service as QF11. I dont know if there was another B747 operating Tuesday's B747 QF11 service but became unserviceable (VH-OJT?)?

QF117, the A330 service to the ex British outpost remains on schedule. Unfortunately 127's Premium Economy passengers will likely be downgraded to economy unless they have some status where they may be lucky to score an involuntary upgrade, or perhaps CX has PE space.

Luckily OW partner CX has 3 flights that would be able to transport those unable to fly QF127 or 117 - CX162 departing around the same time as QF127, CX100 this afternoon and CX138 tonight.

There was an article about a month ago quoting the CX CEO as saying premium passengers are getting harder to find as HKG is losing its cachet as a HUB with passengers preferring to fly PtoP in that region. Well they would have got a few today

Only VH-OEI remains in maintenance in HKG. All other B747s are in correct position (Im unsure of VH-OJT's status) and its a Tuesday, so demand for B747 and international seats would be at a nadir as well. Currently VH-OJT sitting in SYD and VH-OEF due in this afternoon from JNB

A good example of "dynamic load management"???

This is the seat map for QF117 today:

 

[CMA222]

Thanks Quickstatus. That explains the sudden cancellation notification I have received. Obviously QF prefer to "inconvenience" the HKG paxs and give preference to the LAX paxs. This treatment will force me to reconsider in future going with CX and having the extra choices.

 

[Quickstatus]

What time did you receive the "sudden cancellation"?
'And what was the offered solution?

I dont think its a preference of one region over another.
QF in fact is cancelling a transpacific route (QF95/96) to make the MEL-HKG a 7 day a week B747 service.

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....r-program/qf-cancels-qf95-96-makes-78931.html

 

[CMA222]

What time did you receive the "sudden cancellation"?
'And what was the offered solution?

Text received here in Hong Kong first thing this morning advising "Sorry your flight has been cancelled. Please call (an Australian 1300 number!!)"
I found and called the Hong Kong contact number and was offered tomorrows QF128.

 

[Quickstatus]

As HKG is 3 hours behind SYD, can you give an actual time as the time of cancellation may hint at the reason for cancellation

 

[CMA222]

I turn my phone off at night while overseas because not everyone contacting me understands time zones. I turned it on at 0730 HK time and the text arrived at 0733, so 1033 AEDT. Not much help as it could have been sent anytime prior by QF. My first post (request) was based on Flight Aware advice of cancellation.