VA Cancellations, Delays growing?

[TiredOldFlyer]

No, you really don't have to agree to anything. Find another means to get where you need to go, you're not forced to fly VA, you chose that.

As it's been stated before, airlines don't want to cancel flights within the operational window and do their best to avoid it. There are huge staffing and reaccommodating costs associated with cancelling 'operationally' on the day or a few days before. It's nothing about suiting themselves, it's about providing what they can provide within the environment they operate in. The airlines in Australia absolutely strive for 100% OTP, where literally every minute delayed is accountable to

They may strive for 100% OTP but achieving 70 % is certainly
nothing to be proud of.
Cancel a flight SYD to BNE then cancel the return saves about $40,000 in fuel alone - goes a long way to cover staffing and reaccommodating costs.

 

[ramboflyer]

You decided to make the changes, based on the tickets you purchased, you agreed to the change fees if a change by you is made.

You can't say, "oh you may cancel my flight, so you need to change it for free". It needs to be cancelled first.

If the airline cancelled it, then they can change it to something else free of charge. That's the way it works and works like that on probably every airline around the world.

If you want somewhat of a guarantee of times, charter your own aircraft maybe, even then they would be bound by things like ATC, weather, staffing issues.

Somewhat harsh response I think. The man makes the point that he changed to an earlier flight to ensure he connects with his international leg. You may be technically correct but surely we should all expect that the contract we enter into with an airline is honoured by both parties.

 

[latawiec]

11/26 days in the last month VA807 the 0630 MEL-SYD has been cancelled.
View attachment 353715

It looks terrible with so many cancellations. In Europe or USA such performance would turn passengers away from such airline.

I have already booked flight from Perth to Sydney on 31 Jan 2024, a day ahead, before boarding our cruise on 1 February.

Now I am wandering if one day ahead is enough? Can we still trust our Australian airlines?

 

[Mattg]

Yes. They’re cancelling at least 10% of flights each way between MEL and SYD. Sometimes more. Delayed flights would be running at 20% or more. What’s the point of advertising a schedule you’re really unlikely to keep?

The reality is that there is currently no financial incentive for airlines to do the right thing by customers. They can cancel as many flights as they like, and all they have to do is offer a refund or a new flight (which might not even be on the same day).

This kind of thing just doesn’t happen at this scale in Europe, where EU261 sets out clear compensation amounts that airlines need to pay to passengers if they screw them over. Yes, EU airlines also have operational issues from time to time, but they have more contingencies in place to prepare for that.

 

[justinbrett]

The reality is that there is currently no financial incentive for airlines to do the right thing by customers. They can cancel as many flights as they like, and all they have to do is offer a refund or a new flight (which might not even be on the same day).

This kind of thing just doesn’t happen at this scale in Europe, where EU261 sets out clear compensation amounts that airlines need to pay to passengers if they screw them over. Yes, EU airlines also have operational issues from time to time, but they have more contingencies in place to prepare for that.

I would assume the vast majority of VA & QF pax are reaccommodated on services close to their original flight, and thus even in the EU would not receive any compensation (-1 to +2 hours). That's the reason MEL-SYD is the worst performing route for cancellations, it's easier to pick up the pieces.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I would assume the vast majority of VA & QF pax are reaccommodated on services close to their original flight, and thus even in the EU would not receive any compensation (-1 to +2 hours). That's the reason MEL-SYD is the worst performing route for cancellations, it's easier to pick up the pieces.

It would be interesting to see those figures for reaccommodation.

My flight was cancelled and the first available was four hours later SYD-MEL. There was a queue of people at the service desk all being told the same thing. I think the gold coast flight was also cancelled.

A colleague’s 6pm in the reverse direction was cancelled and they were offered 9am the next morning.

Quite often I’m in the MEL lounge and the last flight of the day to OOL or whatever is cancelled, meaning an overnight.

The most a passenger in VA can do at the moment is get a refund, or complain to customer service. The customer service response is ‘sorry’, and there’s no avenue to escalate.

 

[Mattg]

I would assume the vast majority of VA & QF pax are reaccommodated on services close to their original flight, and thus even in the EU would not receive any compensation (-1 to +2 hours). That's the reason MEL-SYD is the worst performing route for cancellations, it's easier to pick up the pieces.

Unfortunately, there have been plenty of stories lately about people being offered alternative flights that aren't even on the same day.

Not saying it's the norm, but it's definitely been happening recently.

 

[Flyfrequently]

A colleague’s 6pm in the reverse direction was cancelled and they were offered 9am the next morning.

Quite often I’m in the MEL lounge and the last flight of the day to OOL or whatever is cancelled, meaning an overnight.

For that reason, I never (or try not to) book the last flight of the day
@MEL_Traveller
Curious to know how your colleague fared in that situation.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

For that reason, I never (or try not to) book the last flight of the day
@MEL_Traveller
Curious to know how your colleague fared in that situation.

6pm wasn’t last flight if the day! Still another 5 or 6 flights MEL-SYD after that.

They rang me, I directed them to Rex. They bought a walk up fare cheaper than the price of the VA advance purchase!

 

[FlyingKangaroo]

SYD-MEL first half of the day. Speaks for itself:

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I saw that! And hovering over the flight number in the VA flight status page showed that ‘bad weather is impacting our network’. I checked SYD, MEL and BNE… no bad weather to speak of.

So dunno what’s going on.

 

[Harrison_133]

I checked SYD, MEL and BNE… no bad weather to speak of.

Today’s air traffic flow management plan would disagree. Ground delay programs in place for BNE, MEL, PER & SYD due to inclement weather.

I’m in MEL and it was raining this morning, no doubt causing front only boarding.

The forecast for tomorrow isn’t much better.

https://www.airservicesaustralia.com/noc/filex.asp?file=ATFM_Daily_Plan.pdf

 

[FlyingKangaroo]

Be that as it may, here's QF:

I know who I'd rather be flying SYD-MEL today, and that's saying something.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Today’s air traffic flow management plan would disagree. Ground delay programs in place for BNE, MEL, PER & SYD due to inclement weather.

I’m in MEL and it was raining this morning, no doubt causing front only boarding.

The forecast for tomorrow isn’t much better.

https://www.airservicesaustralia.com/noc/filex.asp?file=ATFM_Daily_Plan.pdf

maybe they should look out the window! lol

Front only boarding shouldn’t impact the passenger… airlines should expect to board through a single door, andy thing else should be a bonus!

 

[Harrison_133]

Be that as it may, here's QF:

I know who I'd rather be flying SYD-MEL today, and that's saying something.

For comparison, Jetstar & Rex this morning:

maybe they should look out the window! lol

If only it was that easy…

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Dunno what to say…

departing SYD today for MEL.

left gate on time.

Got to runway, and holding.

A few minutes later the Rex flight to MEL pulls up on the adjacent taxiway, also holding short.

A few minutes again later the Rex plane turns on to the runway and departs!! We’re s
left sitting waiting.

So it seems VA is getting the raw prawn.

Us and Rex were scheduled to depart SYD at the same time. Same destination. We were both on time. We got to the runway earlier. But left 5 mins later.

In total we held at the runway for 23 minutes waiting to depart while the Rex and 6 QF group aircraft left, including some for MEL.

 

[justinbrett]

Dunno what to say…

departing SYD today for MEL.

left gate on time.

Got to runway, and holding.

A few minutes later the Rex flight to MEL pulls up on the adjacent taxiway, also holding short.

A few minutes again later the Rex plane turns on to the runway and departs!! We’re s
left sitting waiting.

So it seems VA is getting the raw prawn.

Us and Rex were scheduled to depart SYD at the same time. Same destination. We were both on time. We got to the runway earlier. But left 5 mins later.

In total we held at the runway for 23 minutes waiting to depart while the Rex and 6 QF group aircraft left, including some for MEL.

Assuming you were on the 1600 flight (and if not, the comments are probably still valid...)

This is most likely due to the Ground Delay Program (referenced above). According to FR, ZL departed the gate a minute after you. Close enough that it's 50/50 who asked for their airways clearance first. It's not who gets to the runway first, the times are calculated to hold you on departure so they don't have to hold you in the air. The use of different taxi intersections is to facilitate this flow, as the taxi order won't always be the same as the runway order.

As for the QF aircraft, they're a bit closer to the runway from T3, so you would not have seen them commence taxi, but looks like most of them were taxiing before yours.

 

[RooFlyer]

Got to runway, and holding.

A few minutes later the Rex flight to MEL pulls up on the adjacent taxiway, also holding short.

A few minutes again later the Rex plane turns on to the runway and departs!! We’re s
left sitting waiting.

So it seems VA is getting the raw prawn.

Us and Rex were scheduled to depart SYD at the same time. Same destination. We were both on time. We got to the runway earlier. But left 5 mins later.

I recounted similar situation in Ask the Pilot thread here. Conclusion was that the other jet needed some more time, so got banished, or was at the wrong holding point. AI's reply here. Maybe the same in the front of your craft. Or maybe ATC ...

 

[TheInsider]

Usually if the crew want to board early then it's highly likely they have an early slot time, which would be before the scheduled departure time.
With the slot times and COBT, from what I remember, they get to pushback 3 minutes early or up to 15 minutes after the time. Anything more or less would result in a new slot. Some airlines have a system with ASA where they can take other airlines slot times and switch them around with mutual agreement.

 

[N860CR]

This is most likely due to the Ground Delay Program (referenced above). According to FR, ZL departed the gate a minute after you. Close enough that it's 50/50 who asked for their airways clearance first. It's not who gets to the runway first, the times are calculated to hold you on departure so they don't have to hold you in the air. The use of different taxi intersections is to facilitate this flow, as the taxi order won't always be the same as the runway order.

This is incorrect. The ground delay program (COBT) is dependent on pushback time. Not airborne time. Once an aeroplane contacts the tower, the first to call “ready” is the first to depart.