Qantas Delays/Cancellations

[Melburnian1]

Re: General Qantas Delays/Cancellations/etc. Discussion

Last night the A380 for QF1 from SYD to LHR must have failed. Had passengers assembled at the gate (or in the QF lounges)? Did they have to then return to landside?

Instead of departing at 1715 on Saturday 14 June, QF1 finally departed at 0843 this morning. VH-OQD has the honours.

It will not reach LHR until approximately 2245 London time this evening, inevitably delaying QF10 that should depart LHR at 2225. Once again, the QF website is yet to show this update for QF10.

While 11 of the 12 are intensively used, QF has had a few unexpected failures of its Airbus A380s lately which must be costly given that rescheduling to the next day means hotel rooms having to be found for many of the booked passengers, while crew costs rise with such delays. Freight also has to be stored for a longer time.

 

[Flyerqf]

Re: General Qantas Delays/Cancellations/etc. Discussion

Last night the A380 for QF1 from SYD to LHR must have failed. Had passengers assembled at the gate (or in the QF lounges)? Did they have to then return to landside?

Instead of departing at 1715 on Saturday 14 June, QF1 finally departed at 0843 this morning. VH-OQD has the honours.

It will not reach LHR until approximately 2245 London time this evening, inevitably delaying QF10 that should depart LHR at 2225. Once again, the QF website is yet to show this update for QF10.

QF10 will probably depart on time using the aircraft that operated QF9 to LHR. Otherwise there will be a flow on to delay QF93 on Tuesday.

QF2 will probably be delayed and arrive late into Sydney on Tuesday but still in time to operate QF11.

 

[Melburnian1]

Re: General Qantas Delays/Cancellations/etc. Discussion

Flyerqf, that is of course possible but it isn't the normal operating pattern. As far as I know, QF9 normally forms QF2 with QF1 normally returning to Oz as QF10.

 

[Mattg]

Re: General Qantas Delays/Cancellations/etc. Discussion

Flyerqf, that is of course possible but it isn't the normal operating pattern. As far as I know, QF9 normally forms QF2 with QF1 normally returning to Oz as QF10.

You are correct, however there is nothing stopping them from using a bit of common sense when delays occur.

 

[mannej]

Re: General Qantas Delays/Cancellations/etc. Discussion

Flyerqf, that is of course possible but it isn't the normal operating pattern. As far as I know, QF9 normally forms QF2 with QF1 normally returning to Oz as QF10.

There is such thing known as Plan B, as mentioned to limit the flow on effect.

 

[Melburnian1]

Re: General Qantas Delays/Cancellations/etc. Discussion

There are some restrictions on night flights at LHR but it falls short of a curfew:

BBC News - Heathrow Airport night flights 'disturb sleep and should stop'

When QF1 or QF9 have run badly late (15 hours or more) to imperil the timetabled departure for QF2 or QF10, the flights have generally been able to depart at 0030 or so.

How many hours leeway would the airline have for crew duty hour restrictions to kick in (thus cancelling the flight) for the seven hour or so trip to DXB? For the flight crew, predeparture checks plus post arrival work chews up at least another hour and a half on top of the actual blocks to blocks time.

 

[Mattg]

Re: General Qantas Delays/Cancellations/etc. Discussion

There are some restrictions on night flights at LHR but it falls short of a curfew:

BBC News - Heathrow Airport night flights 'disturb sleep and should stop'

When QF1 or QF9 have run badly late (15 hours or more) to imperil the timetabled departure for QF2 or QF10, the flights have generally been able to depart at 0030 or so.

How many hours leeway would the airline have for crew duty hour restrictions to kick in (thus cancelling the flight) for the seven hour or so trip to DXB? For the flight crew, predeparture checks plus post arrival work chews up at least another hour and a half on top of the actual blocks to blocks time.

The A380 does not fall into the higher noise categories which are banned from departing LHR after 23:30, so they should be able to get around the nighttime restrictions. Regarding crew hours, I'm not entirely sure but I would imagine that a few hours' delay would not be enough to prevent the crew from operating a relatively short sector such as LHR-DXB.

 

[Flyerqf]

Re: General Qantas Delays/Cancellations/etc. Discussion

QF2 is showing as due into SYD at 7.10 Tuesday morning (2 hrs later than the scheduled time of 5.10).

Therefore the curfew must not be an issue for QF2 to take off from LHR at 12.30am.

 

[Melburnian1]

Re: General Qantas Delays/Cancellations/etc. Discussion

The delayed QF1 arrived at LHR at 2235 and managed after an efficient turnaround to depart as QF2 at 0008 on Monday morning London time. It is expected to arrive SYD at 0710 in the morning, in time as noted above to form QF11 with a comfortable margin for any attention required.

 

[Melburnian1]

Re: General Qantas Delays/Cancellations/etc. Discussion

QF566 (operated by VH-EBV) departed PER about an hour late tonight but is really bowling along en route to SYD with a forecast curfew beating arrival of 2243, only 18 minutes late. It has been flying at 1109 kilometres an hour while at 12192 metres.

The difference between making curfew and having (heaven forbid) to put passengers and crew up in MEL or ADL hotels for the night must run to tens of thousands of dollars, not to mention the aircraft being out of position for Wednesday morning.

It must be a tense time at a 'station' such as PER when a delay occurs at the last minute to this evening SYD flight.

 

[jb747]

Re: General Qantas Delays/Cancellations/etc. Discussion

It has been flying at 1109 kilometres an hour while at 12192 metres.

... 598 knots, and 40,000 feet.

 

[nlagalle]

Re: General Qantas Delays/Cancellations/etc. Discussion

... 598 knots, and 40,000 feet.

I was wondering if I missed the NOTAM that said altitude was now in metres and speed was in km...

 

[Melburnian1]

Re: General Qantas Delays/Cancellations/etc. Discussion

It's been a rather 'ordinary day at the office' for Qantaslink and its National Jet Systems B717 flights between MEL and HBA.

QF1501 departed MEL 23 late but did not arrive HBA until 0957, 47 minutes late, losing 24 minutes in running. Was there fog in HBA this morning?

QF1502 departed HBA 51 minutes late at 1036 but again lost time, arriving MEL at 1201, 61 late. To lose 38 minutes on a MEL-HBA-MEL rotation is quite a lot.

QF1504 has been delayed an extraordinary estimated seven and a half hours as instead of departing at 1330 as scheduled, it is forecast to leave HBA at 2100 for a 2210 arrival in MEL. Jokes aside about walking on water and with a Friday night allowance for a little hyperbole, it would almost be as quick to take the Spirit of Tasmania to Melbourne!

QF1505, the 1525 from MEL to HBA was cancelled.

QF1507 from MEL to HBA (normally with times of 1915/2030) is anticipated to depart MEL at 2250 for a just after midnight arrival at 0005 on Saturday morning, 21 June 2014.

QF1530, the 1205 from MEL to CBR was 33 minutes late arriving into the national capital.

If an aircraft went tech, there may be a limited number of crews available for this aircraft type, not helping in minimisation of delays.

Under its agreement with National Jet, does the latter provide flights to QF for a contracted price per flight, implying that the latter bears the costs of any delays or cancellations, or would there be some both gain and pain sharing clauses in the contract to try to give National Jet every incentive to run on time (with safety the priority, of course)?

 

[mannej]

Re: General Qantas Delays/Cancellations/etc. Discussion

You missed the delayed 762 out of PER yesterday... Tsk tsk...

 

[Melburnian1]

Re: General Qantas Delays/Cancellations/etc. Discussion

mannej, yes I did see that.

In a two hour window ex PER yesterday (19 June 2014) of departures for the similarly AFL mad (as in 'interested' not 'crazy') southernmost east coast mainland capital yesterday, QF762 departed 266 minutes late at 1241 but was 277 minutes late on blocks at MEL at 1822, while QF802 was 77 minutes late when it terminated at MEL at 1842, the orange cancer's JQ971 was 82 minutes late into MEL at 2017 and QF476 the least delayed, arriving MEL at 1947 a relatively small 27 minutes late. The latter would however still be recorded as 'late' in the monthly www.bitre.gov.au statistics.

Much later in the evening JQ973 departed PER at 0105 this morning instead of 2320 on Thursday 19 June, arriving MEL this morning at 0637 instead of 0450.

Today (20 June) QF802 was far later than yesterday, arriving MEL at 2032, three hours and 17 minutes late. In the opposite direction across the Bight, QF481 is expected to depart MEL at 2130, two hours and forty minutes late while QF653 is forecast to be an hour late for its westbound run, hopefully about to depart MEL at 2120.

Nice to see that the delays weren't just on QF but also on its much loved and respected subsidiary. Naturally though, we know which of the two Head Office will lumber with any resultant additional costs.

 

[Melburnian1]

Re: General Qantas Delays/Cancellations/etc. Discussion

It's been a rather 'ordinary day at the office' for Qantaslink and its National Jet Systems B717 flights between MEL and HBA.

QF1501 departed MEL 23 late but did not arrive HBA until 0957, 47 minutes late, losing 24 minutes in running. Was there fog in HBA this morning?

QF1502 departed HBA 51 minutes late at 1036 but again lost time, arriving MEL at 1201, 61 late. To lose 38 minutes on a MEL-HBA-MEL rotation is quite a lot.

QF1504 has been delayed an extraordinary estimated seven and a half hours as instead of departing at 1330 as scheduled, it is forecast to leave HBA at 2100 for a 2210 arrival in MEL. Jokes aside about walking on water and with a Friday night allowance for a little hyperbole, it would almost be as quick to take the Spirit of Tasmania to Melbourne!

QF1505, the 1525 from MEL to HBA was cancelled.

QF1507 from MEL to HBA (normally with times of 1915/2030) is anticipated to depart MEL at 2250 for a just after midnight arrival at 0005 on Saturday morning, 21 June 2014.

QF1530, the 1205 from MEL to CBR was 33 minutes late arriving into the national capital.

If an aircraft went tech, there may be a limited number of crews available for this aircraft type, not helping in minimisation of delays.

Under its agreement with National Jet, does the latter provide flights to QF for a contracted price per flight, implying that the latter bears the costs of any delays or cancellations, or would there be some both gain and pain sharing clauses in the contract to try to give National Jet every incentive to run on time (with safety the priority, of course)?

Unfortunately these delays are continuing:

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....am/hba-route-massive-failure-b717s-61102.html

Interesting to see some AFFers suggesting that it's the ground crews who are at least partly to blame. It is hard to see how an incompetent ground crew could mean much more than half an hour's delay, especially at an airport like HBA where flight frequencies are low and QF or VA do not operate nonstop flights to or from many destinations, minimising the chances of luggage being put on incorrect flights.

If crews overnight in HBA, a significantly late 'last of the night' arrival could well mean a late 'first of the morning' departure if that is the roster.

While price may be a major consideration, surely QF will lose some passengers to VA if this poor punctuality and flight cancellations continues.

 

[Shan Man]

Re: General Qantas Delays/Cancellations/etc. Discussion

Slight delay on QF417 this morning ex SYD.

Pushed back from the gate but couldnt start engines due to a hydraulic issue that needed to be figured out.

Ended up being a false warning and after sitting in the middle of the taxi way outside gate 3 for about 30mins we started taxiing. Dunno how the little dash's got through during that time. Maybe they went the long way around behind maintenance.

Also had to do some weaving on the way down to melb which saw us at the gate in melb at 10:45. 2hr15min gate to gate.

 

[Melburnian1]

Re: General Qantas Delays/Cancellations/etc. Discussion

QF11 from SYD to LAX today has been delayed from 1305 to 2215, more than 10 hours late, with a consequent forecast arrival in LAX at 1815 in lieu of the usual 0945. The predicted arrival should be in plenty of time to operate the return working, QF12. No doubt some AFFers had a leisurely lunch and are now enjoying dessert after dinner in a QF SYD lounge.

Did an A380 fail around lunchtime? All arrivals using A380s were on time or less than an hour late as far as I could see.

Let's hope for the QF beancounters' and shareholders' sake that the flight gets out tonight and isn't delayed until 0600 or later tomorrow morning.

In the case of a 10 hour delay, would QF have to locate a substitute flight and cabin crew or would those rostered simply go home (assuming that they all lived within an hour and a half of the airport, which may not be true in every case) and return this evening if they only knew of the delay after signing on at airport?

 

[etops1]

Re: General Qantas Delays/Cancellations/etc. Discussion

Not sure this is the ideal thread but did QF94 land on rwy 27 this morning? Or was I imagining things.

 

[mannej]

Re: General Qantas Delays/Cancellations/etc. Discussion

Not sure this is the ideal thread but did QF94 land on rwy 27 this morning? Or was I imagining things.

You could always use the Ask the Pilot thread.