Qantas Delays/Cancellations

[Melburnian1]

This morning's QF1408 BXG Bendigo - SYD Sydney, crew made the decision to divert to CBR Canberra due to a mechanical issue with its deicing boots.

The flight was operated by Q300 VH-TQH which remains on the ground in CBR.

Checking until 1500 hours this afternoon, there don't apepar to be any QF turboprop flights from SYD cancelled as a result. This reflects relatively low fleet utilisation on many Saturdays, that outside of major sporting events like AFL finals tends to be the least busy day of the week.

 

[dylarr]

Interesting - it certainly seems they have a bit of wiggle room when it comes to the turboprop fleet. Seems the issue with VH-TQH has been rectified fairly quickly. Just checked and they'll be flying it empty to SYD as QF6710 (QLK710) shortly. Was supposed to depart CBR at 1300 hrs to arrive at 1355. It has been delayed to now depart at 1340, arriving in SYD at 1435.

 

[Melburnian1]

Interesting - it certainly seems they have a bit of wiggle room when it comes to the turboprop fleet...

The smaller Q300s are not suitable for some of the busier routes "Qantaslink" operates, so that may also be a factor.

 

[Melburnian1]

Continuing with Saturday 31 August, QF19, the 1210 hours lunchtime SYD - MNL is expected to depart at 1440, 150 minutes late with arrival at 2105, 155 late. This will delay the 2000 hours QF20 redeye until at least 2215 in its pushback.

It pushed back at 1506 but is estimated to arrive in MNL a little earlier, at 2102 this evening, 152 late.

QF20 is displaying as a forecast 2220 hours ex MNL with Sunday 1 September SYD arrival of 0835 hours, 145 behind schedule.

 

[Melburnian1]

On Sunday 1 September 2019, kicking off spring, QF79 departed MEL five minutes late at 0915 but NRT arrival is forecast for 1908, 33 late.

QF424, the 1030 hours MEL - SYD was cancelled. Later, QF446 and QF496, respectively the 1600 and 1745 hours on the same route will also get the flick.

 

[Melburnian1]

QF1010, the scheduled 0600 HBA-MEL cancelled this morning and QF1582, the scheduled 0630 HBA-SYD rescheduled to an afternoon departure. Reasons unknown- the allocated aircraft appear to have operated inbound on time last night and this mornings BoM weather observations don’t suggest fog. (The corresponding VA flights departed on time.)

flydoc, you've been renamed 'the soothsayer.'

A day after you discussed it, QF1013 on Sunday 1 September, the 1030 hours HBA - MEL took off at 1438 with estimated arrival at 1545, 255 minutes tardy. Aircraft is B738 VH-VXU. It had arrived in HBA this morning four minutes late at 0939 on QF1011 ex MEL, so not sure what went wrong.

 

[Hvr]

QF400 MEL-SYD 0600, 02 SEPT Cancelled, got the SMS and rang, have been accommodated on the 0615 flight.

 

[Hvr]

Arrived early and was asked if I wanted to be on the 0530 flight but only middle seats available. So am now in 6B with some poor people thinking they were going to have a free middle seat. Looks like lots of people either moved forward or it's a very full plane.

 

[Melburnian1]

QF409, the southbound 0700 hours SYD down to MEL (A332 VH-EBD) on Monday 2 September did not become airborne until 0811 so arrival should be 56 minutes late at 0931 hours.

Earlier, the HKG - BNE QF62 arrived at 0649 hours, 54 late. This may have been due to demonstrators blocking roads and forcing cancellation of yesterday afternoon and evening MTR Airport Expres trains.

 

[Melburnian1]

Later on 2 September, QF581 (A332 VH-EBN, the 1025 hours mid morning flight SYD - PER) departed at 1658 hours, 393 minutes behind schedule. Takeoff was at 1708, a very fast taxi. Expected arrival is 1950 hours, 380 late. Earlier, the aircraft arrived in SYD at 0745, 15 minutes early on QF140 so it must have required significant attention (or less likely, a crew was unavailable).

If this was a higher frequency or much shorter distance route, the flight may well have just been cancelled and passengers placed on other flights. It's one of teh worst delays in the last few months for a flight on this route that hasn't been cancelled.

VH-EBN looks to be returning from PER as QF6111 - usually indicating an empty ('ferry') flight - at 2000 hours tonight from the WA capital, six hours late with MEL arrival at 0135 on Tuesday 3 instead of 1930 hours tonight. "Positioning" move, and perhaps were it not for the curfew, to SYD?

At the start of the day, QF480, the 0605 hours PER - MEL was cancelled.

QF476 (1245 hours lunchtime PER - MEL) pushed back at 1450, 125 minutes tardy with arrival predicted at 1954, 99 minutes behind schedule.

QF10, the domestic sector of the ex-LHR "express", departed PER at 1417 instead of 1325 but is predicted to be slightly under half an hour late arriving tonight.

The 1430 hours PER to SYD, QF582 is estimated to depart 90 minutes behind its timetable, arriving at 2145 hours mid evening, 70 minutes late.

QF566, the 1625 hours PER - SYD has a minor 15 minute pushback delay expected. Based on recent timings, it will still easily make the SYD curfew.

It's rainy in part of the area around PER but the BOM indicates PER airport hasn't received any recordable precipitation. NW wind gusts have been as high as 59kmh so far this afternoon.

Some of these delays (apart from 'the 581') may be less than would otherwise be the case because QFd may endeavour to juggle aircraft around a little, provided one isn't a B738 and another an A332.

QF2658, the morning 1040 hours PER - BME also got the flick as did QF1900, the 1145 hours PER - KTA.

 

[Melburnian1]

Further to the previous post, on Monday 2 September QF10 from PER to MEL arrived at 1931 hours, 36 minutes late.

QF476 on the same route arrived at its gate at 1958 hours, 93 minutes behind the timetable.

QF6111, showing as a programmed 1400 hours pushback in PER has been further put back to depart at an estimated 2125 hours tonight with MEL arrival at 0300 hours on Tuesday 3.

The 1430 hours ex PER, QF582, departed 92 late at 1602 with SYD arrival suggested as 2138 hours mid evening, 63 minutes late.

 

[Silvia]

Also, QF768 PER-MEL (B738 VH-VZE) is expected at 22 22, 52 min tardy.

 

[flydoc]

QF836, the scheduled 2005 BNE-DRW operated by B738 VH-VYA turned back almost an hour into flight, returning to BNE. Appears to have been re-scheduled to depart again at 2230 AEST.

 

[Silvia]

Tuesday 3rd of Sept sees QF713 CBR-ADL currently diverting to Melbourne (B738 VH-VYE), QF671 MEL-ADL also diverting back to Melbourne (B738 VH-VZE)

 

[Melburnian1]

Also on Tuesday 3 September, QF605 (B738 VH-XZJ, the 0610 hours BNE down to MEL airborne on time at 0625) should arrive at 0905, half an hour late.

The 0700 hours SYD down to MEL, QF409, took off at 0742 with A332 VH-EBF. Arrival is anticipated at 0906 hours, 31 late.

UPDATE: QF677, the 0730 MEL - ADL in the sky at 0741 hours (B738 VH-VXA) had to hold near the Coorong for a considerable period due to fog but is arriving at 0859, 39 minutes late.

 

[Melburnian1]

Continuing with Tuesday 3 September, due to the earlier fog in ADL, QF676 (VH-VXA) should arrive MEL at 1121 hours, 31 minutes late.

QF713 (0920 hours MEL - ADL airborne at 1004) has VH-VYE and should be at its gate at 1041,also 31 tardy.

The 0730 hours PLO - ADL, QF2266 (Q300 VH-SBW) is far worse, having taken off at 0956 for a predicted 1040 hours arrival, 140 minutes behind the timetable.

QF754, the 0750 hours ADL - DRW was in the sky at 1026 hours with B738 VH-VZT. Its at gate arrival looks to be 1357, 142 minutes tardy.

The aircraft that as Silvia advised had to return to MEL, B738 VH-VZE on the 0610 hours MEL - ADL (QF671) took off from MEL a second time at 1007 with ADL arrival predicted for 1113 hours, 253 minutes late.

 

[Melburnian1]

In more on Tuesday 3 September, QF79, the 0910 hours morning MEL - NRT is expected to depart at 1200 'high noon' with arrival at 2105 tonight mid evening, 150 minutes late. Neither 'the 62' to BNE or 'the 80' back to MEL is yet showing as delayed tonight ex the Japanese major airport, but this reflects QF's flight status software that often does not update consequent delays until the original flight is at cruising altitude.

The affected aircraft appears to be A333 VH-QPA that arrived ex NRT at 0728, seven minutes early on QF80 this morning.

Many thousands of kilometres away, QF12, the Monday 2 1810 hours JFK - LAX B789 departed at 1833 with projected arrival 2131, 31 late.

 

[Melburnian1]

QF9 is usually good for timekeeping on its domestic MEL - PER and international PER - LHR sectors. However on Tuesday 3 September, its initial 1515 hours timetabled pushback became 1548 so PER arrival is estimated as 1755, 40 minutes tardy. An indication for the second sector is not yet displaying but a guess would be a PER departure at around the 1925 hours mark as usually the intermediate stop takes 90 minutes.

 

[levelnine]

What happened to the QF12 LAX-SYD leg? It's showing delayed 11.5 hours. Another A380 gone tech?

 

[Melburnian1]

What happened to the QF12 LAX-SYD leg? It's showing delayed 11.5 hours. Another A380 gone tech?

When I'd checked about five hours ago, it was displaying as punctual but you're correct, as it's been altered to depart LAX at 1000 hours on Tuesday 3 instead of 2230 hours on Monday evening. This will delay SYD arrival until 1805 hours on Wednesday rather than 0630, so 695 minutes late.

If there are spare seats on 'the 16' B789 to BNE or 'the 94' A388 to MEL (as hopefully there should be, as it's not school holidays in Oz, although it's peak holidays in USA), passengers with status may well be transferred to those flights. QF56 to BNE is also operating on Monday night, having departed LAX only 14 late at 2229 hours. Otherwise, a night in LAX. I assume flight and cabin crew may be the same for 'the 12' after sufficient mandated rest in LAX, but it can be intriguing how an airline knows the plane, if a failure, will be ready to go by the morning.

On Wednesday 4, QF11, QF7 and QF1 are all at this stage showing as one time ex SYD. QF11 is still showing as an A388: sometimes when there are delays it can be altered to a B744.

VH-OQF and VH-OQK, as discussed elsewhere on AFF are in either AUH or DRS undergoing maintenance or refurbishment, leaving 10 available QF A388s, With the timetable requiring all 10 most days. It would normally be surprising therefore that one out of SYD tomorrow hasn't been cancelled or altered to a B744. QF35 (MEL - SIN) tomorrow is showing as the usual A388 as is QF93, the MEL - LAX.

However, QF7/QF8 do not usually operate on Tuesdays, so after arriving 103 minutes late at 0653 hours in SYD on QF8 on Tuesday 3, A388 VH-OQD is the "spare" overnighting in Sydney that will enable three A388 flights ex SYD (and two ex MEL) to hopefully all operate punctually on Wednesday 4.

AFFer Flyerqf (AKA 'the oracle') is the world expert on these changes so he may provide further information.