VA Cancellations, Delays growing?

[AustraliaPoochie]

First a delay due to late arrival of outgoing crew, 16.20 to 16.50...
What next?
17.20 then 18.50...
Then probably 19.20...
Then probably "cancelled".
---
Ben, the laugh emoji was in regards to #3.
Very extreme measure tho.
===
30 mins late dep from MEL now.
So this means its a late dep for next run fir this pksne from ADL onwards.

 

[ben95]

Ben, the laugh emoji was in regards to #3.
Very extreme measure tho.

Well the Mrs is a massive swifty and I’ve been instructed to make this “100% bullet proof” so all cards are on the table.

 

[Must...Fly!]

Well the Mrs is a massive swifty and I’ve been instructed to make this “100% bullet proof” so all cards are on the table.

Do you have a car? That would be my backup. No real planning required.

 

[antycbr]

Do you have a car? That would be my backup. No real planning required.

Waiting for the answer to be LST

 

[elanshin]

I’ll be flying VA from Sydney to Melbourne on the Thursday for the Taylor Swift concert and I’m a bit worried about getting cancelled for whatever reason and finding a replacement flight as I expect all flights will be very full the days prior to the concert.

1. Am I correct in thinking that the VA rapid rebook system will give my Gold status priority so I have a high chance of grabbing the few remaining seats the same day or the next morning?

Yes they will, but keep in mind there's a taylor swift concert in town. Alternate flights on ALL carriers might be full or close to capacity. (Robbie Williams dates was hard to get from SYD to MEL at a reasonable price).

2. What’s the best strategy to have pre-confirmed seats on an alternative flight? I’m thinking of buying a flexible fare on Rex for the later that night (or potentially the first flight next morning even?) and cancel if the VA flight is all good.

Flex ticket on alternate carrier. Be it QF or ZL. JQ even.

3. Perhaps even the overnight XPT train would be the ultimate hedge against weather disruption?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Drive is the ultimate hedge. Ive had to do this exactly once in the last decade. Massive storm in Sydney for multiple days, nobody was moving and odds of a rebooked flight making it the next morning was close to 0 according to staff. Rented a car, paid the one way fee and drove down overnight stopping to sleep a few hours at Yass. We started at 10pm and rolled into Melbourne around noon with the breaks and naps.

 

[Saab34]

Flex ticket JQ to AVV? I’ve done this option before, when VA cancelled nothing until next day, all other carriers also full, I just booked the last JQ flight down to Avalon and got the Skybus x2 back to my car.

 

[ben95]

Do you have a car? That would be my backup. No real planning required.

I do but I'm Melbourne based and at this point it's already too late/difficult to replan everything and bring the car to Sydney for that week.

Flex ticket JQ to AVV?

I ended up doing this. A flex JQ ticket into AVV Friday morning that I'll cancel the moment I land in Melbourne. With the added benefit that it's actually very reasonably priced (at $110 a piece + $20 for Flex) should I have to activate it.

Drive is the ultimate hedge.

Thanks for bringing this to the table - its actually something I had not thought of. A rental car is now the ultimate backup plan and will be used when push comes to shove.

 

[elanshin]

Thanks for bringing this to the table - its actually something I had not thought of. A rental car is now the ultimate backup plan and will be used when push comes to shove.

Just be aware that it can cost $400+ for the one way fee. The airport rental facilities generally open relatively late, but if its looking dire, I'd go earlier to the rental to secure better vehicles as others will also look to rent.

Also gives you time to drop by colesworth before they close to stock up on some driving snacks and drinks.

 

[alexczarn]

First a delay due to late arrival of outgoing crew, 16.20 to 16.50...
What next?
17.20 then 18.50...
Then probably 19.20...
Then probably "cancelled".
---
Ben, the laugh emoji was in regards to #3.
Very extreme measure tho.
===
30 mins late dep from MEL now.
So this means its a late dep for next run fir this pksne from ADL onwards.

sounds like you were on the same service as me.

 

[openseat]

Just be aware that it can cost $400+ for the one way fee. The airport rental facilities generally open relatively late, but if its looking dire, I'd go earlier to the rental to secure better vehicles as others will also look to rent.

Also gives you time to drop by colesworth before they close to stock up on some driving snacks and drinks.

Depending on rate codes, usually if you rent for three or four days there is no one way fee and it is still cheaper than the one way fee.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I’ll be flying VA from Sydney to Melbourne on the Thursday for the Taylor Swift concert and I’m a bit worried about getting cancelled for whatever reason and finding a replacement flight as I expect all flights will be very full the days prior to the concert.

1. Am I correct in thinking that the VA rapid rebook system will give my Gold status priority so I have a high chance of grabbing the few remaining seats the same day or the next morning?
2. What’s the best strategy to have pre-confirmed seats on an alternative flight? I’m thinking of buying a flexible fare on Rex for the later that night (or potentially the first flight next morning even?) and cancel if the VA flight is all good.
3. Perhaps even the overnight XPT train would be the ultimate hedge against weather disruption?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

As a platinum, the earliest available flight SYD-MEL - on a day with no major weather - was more than four hours later. The cancellation was due to crew shortage. Everything else was running more or less on time, so flights weren’t crammed due to multiple delays or previous cancellations.

As a gold you’re going to be behind the beyonds and platinums.

 

[Harrison_133]

December OTP figures were released today:

Table 1: Total Industry On Time Performance for December 2023​

Individual operating entities
Reporting Airlines	Sectors Scheduled	Arrivals On Time %	Departures On Time %	Cancellations %
Bonza	701	55.0	52.6	19.4
Jetstar	8,193	63.0	62.1	5.5
Qantas - all QF designated services	18,807	67.8	69.5	3.7
Rex Airlines	5,429	70.6	74.3	0.6
Skytrans	312	76.4	76.4	9.0
Virgin Australia - all VA designated services	12,182	54.0	56.5	7.5
All Airlines	45,624	63.6	65.2	5.0

Source: Airline On Time Performance Statistics —Monthly

 

[ThatMrBlake]

Not pretty at all but in line with what many were experiencing in December. January to me at least feels like it’s semi back to normal with less delays and no cancellations on my regular runs.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Don't think VA has recovered in January just have a look at the figures for their flight 883 to Sydney it is getting cancelled three or four days every week!

 

[Saab34]

Virgin won’t get stability until Bain departs and all new agreements are in place. Still need to address the Pilot EBA issue.

 

[Harrison_133]

Don't think VA has recovered in January just have a look at the figures for their flight 883 to Sydney it is getting cancelled three or four days every week!

That's a bit of an exaggeration though. 883 has only been cancelled once so far in January (17th).

 

[MarkD]

Don't think VA has recovered in January just have a look at the figures for their flight 883 to Sydney it is getting cancelled three or four days every week!

Whilst I agree their performance has been terrible, its a bit unfair to pick a flight that always seems to get cancelled when in reality there are many that never get cancelled. It sucks and their response is usually somewhat pathetic ( I am still waiting from september for them to fix their coughup with refund and correct original routing sc) the figures speak for themselves really. Bonza are more reliable

 

[MEL_Traveller]

That's a bit of an exaggeration though. 883 has only been cancelled once so far in January (17th).

View attachment 367763

Check the couple weeks before! It's my regular flight and I was checking it and thinking just as well I had not booked it!

 

[Harrison_133]

Check the couple weeks before! It's my regular flight and I was checking it and thinking just as well I had not booked it!

You said you don't think VA have recovered in January, based off cancellations the month before? Ok.

@youfoundblake isn't wrong in saying there has been a noticeable improvement in on-time performance for January. From my own experience, all of my VA flights have been on time in January. One was even in the air 5 minutes before the scheduled departure time.

Then looking at actual data, take today as an example. At the time of posting, there has been 55 scheduled departures from Melbourne so far today. 2 were cancelled, and 4 have departed late. That works out at around 89% for on time departures for flights from MEL up to 3pm.

Looking at yesterday too, there were 94 scheduled departures from Melbourne. 4 were cancelled and 13 departed late. That's about 82% on time departure rate. I didn't have time to check the other major ports in detail, but at a quick glance, it's a similar story for Brisbane and Sydney.

I completely agree that VAs OTP and service recovery has been absolutely shocking recently. The December figures make that abundantly clear, but it's not a ludicrous suggestion that there's been an improvement this month.

Their biggest challenge will be to keep this consistent going forward. I have my doubts, but hopefully we'll be surprised.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

You said you don't think VA have recovered in January, based off cancellations the month before? Ok.

Your data is from 15 Jan... What happened 1-15 Jan?

My issue is that virgin and Qantas had the same weather to contend with and the same air traffic control and yet virgin's performance is so much worse.

Unfortunately too late for them to recover from that now as far as my travel is concerned

The other issue is that while it might be a 50% on time performance overall in the evenings it's closer to a 75 or 100% delay outcome.