Qantas Delays/Cancellations

[Flyerqf]

There is no mention of the allegation about Alan Joyce 'bumping' others off so he could get home more quickly:

From what I've read it doesn't appear that Alan 'bumped' anybody or took an earlier flight. He was on the Thursday flight and was delayed overnight and departed on Friday when the other passengers from his flight also left.
What people are questioning is whether the decision to make the last minute aircraft switch would have been made if staff weren't trying to look after AJ.
History would show that it's highly unusual to delay a second flight to minimize a delay on another.

 

[Melburnian1]

History would show that it's highly unusual to delay a second flight to minimize a delay on another.

Agree: I can't recall QF recently doing this with any other delay.

 

[Quickstatus]

Ongoing QF10 operated by VH-OQD departed DXB after sunrise at 0710 Gulf Standard Time (UTC+4) and is expected to arrive after New Year on 1 Jan 2017 at 0130am causing rolling depays for the following QF9

Will the airline and cabin crew give out celebratory champers, party hats and luminous party accessories when 0000 clicks over?

They could turn the LED cabin lights into party lights with changing colours!



Regarding QF9 and the departure timetable anxiety associated with this flight.

Would it not be better to reset the departure timetable of QF9 to say 0200? It would arrive into DXB at 0900 and LHR at 1500?
The departure of the following QF2 will not be materially affected. Additionally this would avoid most morning fog?

What was the reasoning to turn around QF10 into QF9 in minimal time?

 

[Flyerqf]

You do have to wonder if QF have done enough to recover this. Since OQF issue on Thursday morning there are more than 10 flights between DXB and Australia on the QF/EK network that could have been used to get a lot of the passengers back onto Australian soil. That's not to mention other EK services via BKK SIN KUL etc

 

[Melburnian1]

Continuing with Saturday 31 December 2016, QF19 (A332 VH-EBR) departed SYD 55 minutes late at 1320 with MNL arrival predicted as 32 minutes late at 1807, but due to air traffic congestion at the latter, the latter can be an underestimate of the actual arrival time.

 

[Melburnian1]

You do have to wonder if QF have done enough to recover this. Since OQF issue on Thursday morning there are more than 10 flights between DXB and Australia on the QF/EK network that could have been used to get a lot of the passengers back onto Australian soil. That's not to mention other EK services via BKK SIN KUL etc

Fair point, but with Christmas holidays loadings may be high on all these flights. One Facebook contributor mentioned that there were 478 booked on the delayed QF2 with VH-OQF, which is close to 100 per cent of available seats occupied. There's little reason to suggest EK's flights would be much different.

If the same thing happened on 20 February, there might be heaps of empty seats provided it was not Chinese New Year.

 

[Flyerqf]

Regarding QF9 and the departure timetable anxiety associated with this flight.

Would it not be better to reset the departure timetable of QF9 to say 0200? It would arrive into DXB at 0900 and LHR at 1500?
The departure of the following QF2 will not be materially affected. Additionally this would avoid most morning fog?

What was the reasoning to turn around QF10 into QF9 in minimal time?

The reason 10 turns around into 9 is that this change freed up the A380 to allow DFW to go A380.

In regards to changing the time - lunch time arrival would be better for passengers. Also not sure whether you can just change the time or whether it's slot dependent at LHR.

 

[Flyerqf]

Oh dear, here we go again!

QF9 has diverted to DWC

 

[Melburnian1]

QF9 has diverted to DWC

Thank you Flyerqf: that is unbelievable!

Simply to fill in the times, QF9 departed MEL at 2358 on Friday 30 December, 33 minutes late and after being diverted arrived at DWC at 0719. QF claims that this flight will arrive in LHR at 1520 hours instead of 1240 - 160 minutes late. Going by what's very recently occurred with other flights, this may prove to be another over optimistic prediction.

While many airports face climatic challenges, this continual DXB fog (if that is again the cause) at this time of year is another reason why QF's move from SIN to DXB as its intermediate stop base has been sub-optimal.

Whatever the hype from AJ or spin doctors at QF surrounding the eventual introduction of QF B789 MEL - PER - LHR flights, the fact is that it will be yet another reduction in QF own metal seat capacity to and from LHR. It wasn't so long ago that QF planes were flying through BKK, HKG and SIN to the UK or to a lesser degree FRA. QF just keeps losing 'own metal' market share on these European (including UK) routes whether through abandonment of routes or downgauging of aircraft sizes.

Worst of all is that when there are delays or cancellations, the 'service' on the ground at DXB is either non-existent or poor. It's not realistic to expect 480 delayed passengers off one A380 to be all dealt with instantly, but it's the height of rudeness and arrogance to not have any staff visible to deal with the numerous needs of delayed passengers, some of whom are children and infants.

 

[Quickstatus]

Oh dear, here we go again!

QF9 has diverted to DWC

report 31dec 0400 UTC
wind 5kts variable direction
temp 18c
pressure 1018 hPa
visibility 0.2km
Fog
Vertical Visibility 100 feet


Diverted QF9 due to fog or ATC issues is not too much of a problem - as per my previous post. there is enough time at LHR to turn around as QF2 (assuming nothing else is a factor such as crew hours that bedevilled the recent QF1.

 

[Flyerqf]

Thank you Flyerqf: that is unbelievable!

Simply to fill in the times, QF9 departed MEL at 2358 on Friday 30 December, 33 minutes late and after being diverted arrived at DWC at 0719. QF claims that this flight will arrive in LHR at 1520 hours instead of 1240 - 160 minutes late. Going by what's very recently occurred with other flights, this may prove to be another over optimistic prediction.

While many airports face climatic challenges, this continual DXB fog (if that is again the cause) at this time of year is another reason why QF's move from SIN to DXB as its intermediate stop base has been sub-optimal.

Whatever the hype from AJ or spin doctors at QF surrounding the eventual introduction of QF B789 MEL - PER - LHR flights, the fact is that it will be yet another reduction in QF own metal seat capacity to and from LHR. It wasn't so long ago that QF planes were flying through BKK, HKG and SIN to the UK or to a lesser degree FRA. QF just keeps losing 'own metal' market share on these European (including UK) routes whether through abandonment of routes or downgauging of aircraft sizes.

Worst of all is that when there are delays or cancellations, the 'service' on the ground at DXB is either non-existent or poor. It's not realistic to expect 480 delayed passengers off one A380 to be all dealt with instantly, but it's the height of rudeness and arrogance to not have any staff visible to deal with the numerous needs of delayed passengers, some of whom are children and infants.

Perth as a hub makes a lot of sense. Eventually you could have direct Europe flights to London, Paris, Frankfurt etc from Perth with the domestic traffic feeding in. At least when things go wrong (at the hub) they'll have plenty of flights going back and forth to clear backlog and you're only 4.5 hrs from the east coast.
But if something happens at London you're further away!

 

[christine-louise]

I was on QF1 that left Sydney three hours late and then diverted to Muscat for around 9 hours before Dubai and then London yesterday. Firstly the crew were great considering the circumstances, no issues there at all but I suspect Qantas as a company lost a lot of customers out of the experience. On the ground in Dubai and London I think things could have been handled with a lot more clarity and direction. A lot of people felt out of the loop and there really wasn't any organised communication on the ground in any of the airports leaving a lot of confusion and general angst for people.

We received a burger, chips and a drink from Dairy Queen at Muscat International for free but nothing else. And I think the new crew came in on an emirates flight and the original crew flew back to Dubai with us. In all fairness I've transited much much worse airports than Muscat before, it was spacious enough, not much food but enough, air con worked, clean bathrooms etc.

My onward flight was rescheduled for then next morning (now cancelled thanks to BA) and I've been put up in a hotel with meal vouchers and a free hotel hoopa bus ticket but I had to negotiate with the ground baggage people (who were lovely, no fault to them) and wait around 45 min for them to even locate where my bag had gone.

My biggest issue is that when BA cancelled my morning flight (7.20 BA0304) to Paris it took me over half an hour to get through to Qantas at 3am local time and they didn't even have record at that time that my flight had been cancelled! They've rescheduled me for later in the day and it's really not a lot of drama but when you've been travelling for effectively well over 2 days because of multiple issues there has to be some proactivity?

They've given us delay letters so my next task is to navigate the complaints process.. (any tips appreciated, I'm just a lowly bronze FF)

 

[Quickstatus]

Thanks very much for your "Coal Face from the desert" post Christine!!.
Were you travelling in economy?

Burger and Chips in the desert!.! Who would have know !

It would have been a bit surreal for cabin crew and pilots to now be passengers.

For a full service airline like Qantas, it seems like they were caught with their pants down.
One would think they would have been a bit more polished and rehearsed in situations like these which are not so unusual that at least the pilots are well practised.

The fact that the flight departed nearly 4 hours late from Sydney should have alerted an insightful airline that any further delays such as fog could have put the flight into a divert and thus into jeopardy..

Was the onward flight to CDG with BA on a separate ticket?.

Your attitude is very commendable after such an "interesting" journey. Many of your fellow passengers according to Twitter and Facecrap were a little more frustrated. A lesson to all of us that in the end travel is not so much about the destination but the journey.

Wishing you you a warm welcome to AFF Delays and Cancellations thread and may your travels be less delayed in the New Year!!

 

[moa999]

For a full service airline like Qantas, it seems like they were caught with their pants down.
One would think they would have been a bit more polished and rehearsed in situations like these which are not so unusual that at least the pilots are well practised.

Even with the best plans in the world, accommodating an A380 load of pax anywhere is not a simple task..
Hotels, vouchers, flying in crew etc all take time to arrange and confirm.

I suspect those working in the Qantas IOC have had a very busy period.

 

[christine-louise]

Yes, economy ticket, and the flight to CDG was on the original ticket, boarding pass even issued in Sydney.

The burger and chips left a lot to be desired, I promise!

I very much got the impression that we were lucky to even be allowed into the terminal at Muscat such was the uncertainty from everyone.

 

[jb747]

The fact that the flight departed nearly 4 hours late from Sydney should have alerted an insightful airline that any further delays such as fog could have put the flight into a divert and thus into jeopardy..

I'm sure many were twitchy, but what could you actually do?

 

[Flyerqf]

I'm sure many were twitchy, but what could you actually do?

The Muscat diversion couldn't be avoided obviously. They already did a crew change at SYD before departure when the delay was approaching 4 hrs.
I think that QF did all the could with QF1 given the circumstances.
Not sure what the relevance of the Sydney delay is in relation to fog at DXB.

 

[Flyerqf]

Yes, economy ticket, and the flight to CDG was on the original ticket, boarding pass even issued in Sydney.

The burger and chips left a lot to be desired, I promise!

I very much got the impression that we were lucky to even be allowed into the terminal at Muscat such was the uncertainty from everyone.

Sorry to hear your troubles and all the best with the rest of your travels.

Out of interest, why didn't you fly direct from DXB to CDG?

 

[Quickstatus]

Yes. A mis positioned load of passengers from an A380 is always a logistic challenge but Christine suggested there was a perception of confusion and lack of communication/direction by the airline. A common refrain when travel is disrupted.
While inflight service is a mark of a full service airline and any number of awards are given in this regard, the service provided in recovery of disruption is hardly ever the subject of industry awards.

I think this is an area where businesses in general can improve as this is one area where investing a little can reap many benefits including the loyalty of customers.

 

[Quickstatus]

El

The Muscat diversion couldn't be avoided obviously. They already did a crew change at SYD before departure when the delay was approaching 4 hrs.
I think that QF did all the could with QF1 given the circumstances.
Not sure what the relevance of the Sydney delay is in relation to fog at DXB.

So the divert into MCT put the aircraft into a zero priority situation with respect to ATC at DXB and that put the crew out of hours?.