VA Cancellations, Delays growing?

[Carrots]

My excellent gauntlet running skills of avoiding VA delays and cancellations came to a screeching halt today. We are heading OS in a couple of days and my parents are coming from the Snowy’s to house sit for about half the time we are away so I decided to take a flying visit and have lunch with them at CBR and give them keys and a gift.
So against better judgement and riding my luck I went for ADL-MEL-CBR with a 3hr stop at MEL and then 2hrs at CBR with my folks before CBR-MEL-ADL on the way home with 45 minutes at MEL. All in J except MEL-CBR way over which utilises the horrible 737-700.
So this morning I get the 0300 message from Flighty app that my ADL-MEL 0715 has been cancelled and a few minutes later VA sends the confirmation and that they have booked me on the 0815 in J so no problems. I get down to the airport at around 0600 and the plan was to have a coffee in the lounge but on checking in the staff member says if I have no luggage and want to run I can get the 0615 which is on final boarding call. I agree and she calls ahead to see if they will let me on. Kudos to VA as I got the last J seat and still got my meal order taken first.
I was feeling pretty chuffed at this point but about an hour into my MEL lounge break I get another Flighty app message saying my CBR-MEL leg is delayed by 2hrs and will land over an hour after my MEL-ADL flight has departed which also happens to be last MEL-ADL flight for the day. Sure enough I get a message from VA notifying me that the only option was to put me on the earlier 1415 CBR-MEL flight which I chose begrudgingly but I just couldn’t be bothered staying overnight as I have appointments tomorrow. So in the end I had a whole 20 minutes at CBR and guested my parents into the lounge and explained to the lounge dragon the situation and she said they could stay after I had departed. We exchanged small talk, house keys and gifts and I left them in the lounge to have a snack. Oh and to top it off I got straight back on the same coughpy all Y aircraft that I had flown up there on so copped an involuntary downgrade. I‘ve well and truly retained Platinum so probably won’t even bother with claiming ORC but I’ll send some feedback in and that will most likely be the end of it.
After dozens of recent flights with them I guess it had to happen eventually but after seeing other reports on here and elsewhere I’m glad I left 6hrs between my ADL-MEL and MEL-BKK flight this week as a precaution

Had this exact headache on 17/2, and my first VA cancellation that actually caused a headache longer than an hour or two.

Apparent IT gremlins with Swissports systems at CBR caused many a delay and cancellation. Day trip for a birthday lunch turned into an overnight in Melbourne given the last flight out on a Sat for MEL-ADL is early. ADL-MEL-CBR was all good (and no 700!) but the return 315 turned into the 215 (after receiving the dreaded text which had pushed my to Sunday AM). Nearly booked CBR-SYD-ADL with QF but they finally called boarding and all was looking plum. But then a storm decided to pass by which delayed us another hour and missed the connection.

 

[jase05]

Had this exact headache on 17/2, and my first VA cancellation that actually caused a headache longer than an hour or two.

Apparent IT gremlins with Swissports systems at CBR caused many a delay and cancellation. Day trip for a birthday lunch turned into an overnight in Melbourne given the last flight out on a Sat for MEL-ADL is early. ADL-MEL-CBR was all good (and no 700!) but the return 315 turned into the 215 (after receiving the dreaded text which had pushed my to Sunday AM). Nearly booked CBR-SYD-ADL with QF but they finally called boarding and all was looking plum. But then a storm decided to pass by which delayed us another hour and missed the connection.

Oh and I almost forget that I also copped the dreaded Gate 15 of the MEL budget terminal with the whole third world experience of steps and the hike to the lounge
To add further excitement there was a fuel spill outside the lounge window so we got to watch the firey’s in action

 

[kamchatsky]

Looking to book return SYD-MEL for 4 in May to watch soccer. I have some VA travel credits to use.

Is the cancellation rate still very high? If so, what is the best way to check which service is most likely not cancelled?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Looking to book return SYD-MEL for 4 in May to watch soccer. I have some VA travel credits to use.

Is the cancellation rate still very high? If so, what is the best way to check which service is most likely not cancelled?

Last Monday - 18 March - just under 17% of flights from SYD to MEL were cancelled.

Smattering if usual suspects, like the 4pm service ex SYD, and the 7pm service ex MEL, and a few in the morning each way.

 

[Harrison_133]

Table 1: Total Industry On Time Performance for February 2024​

Reporting Airlines	Sectors Scheduled	Arrivals On Time %	Departures On Time %	Cancellations %
Bonza	809	81.7	81.7	2.5
Jetstar	6,806	76.1	74.3	2.6
Qantas - all QF designated services	19,058	72.7	74.2	5.8
Rex Airlines	5,501	72.1	76.3	2.1
Skytrans	391	73.9	76.1	4.9
Virgin Australia - all VA designated services	10,996	71.5	73.9	2.8
All Airlines	43,561	73.0	74.5	4.0
Individual operating entities
Qantas	7,328	69.9	71.7	4.3
QantasLink	11,730	74.5	75.8	6.8
Virgin Australia	10,709	71.5	74.1	2.8
Virgin Australia Regional Airlines	287	69.2	65.6	3.8

 

[kamchatsky]

Table 1: Total Industry On Time Performance for February 2024​

Reporting Airlines	Sectors Scheduled	Arrivals On Time %	Departures On Time %	Cancellations %
Bonza	809	81.7	81.7	2.5
Jetstar	6,806	76.1	74.3	2.6
Qantas - all QF designated services	19,058	72.7	74.2	5.8
Rex Airlines	5,501	72.1	76.3	2.1
Skytrans	391	73.9	76.1	4.9
Virgin Australia - all VA designated services	10,996	71.5	73.9	2.8
All Airlines	43,561	73.0	74.5	4.0
Individual operating entities
Qantas	7,328	69.9	71.7	4.3
QantasLink	11,730	74.5	75.8	6.8
Virgin Australia	10,709	71.5	74.1	2.8
Virgin Australia Regional Airlines	287	69.2	65.6	3.8

Reading the table above, it looks like VA is doing much better than before? Or is it just smokes and mirrors?

 

[eastwest101]

Reading the table above, it looks like VA is doing much better than before? Or is it just smokes and mirrors?

It certainly looks like VA have got their cancellation rates under control and on first glance the on-departure time performance for everyone seems to be converging around the 75% mark which is still pretty bad overall, but notable that nearly everyone from Virgin, Qantas, Jetstar and Rex seem to be so similar, so possibly reflective of generalized weather related (mostly SYD/MEL & BNE weather) and ATC restrictions affecting all relatively equally.

I can only think that Bonza proactively cancelled enough services that they were able to operate the few remaining scheduled services with their and Flair's/Our Airline capacity.

 

[Saab34]

They reached a deal with the Cabin Crew, so morale has likely improved, which means less people calling in sick.

I’ve not booked any VA flights for the second half of the year, nervous about Pilot strike action which will likely be long.

 

[twinaisle]

They reached a deal with the Cabin Crew, so morale has likely improved, which means less people calling in sick.

I’ve not booked any VA flights for the second half of the year, nervous about Pilot strike action which will likely be long.

We have reached a deal.

Waiting for the EBA to be implemented next week so we hopefully will see a lot of fatiguing and tiring duties removed.

Most the time this causes delays and removals. No one will extend after flying 4 flights for up to 12 hours for another flight or 2-3 more hours for basically no incentive.

ATC and weather problems are another ball game as it's not just our guests who are inconvenienced but also us.

 

[MooTime]

They reached a deal with the Cabin Crew, so morale has likely improved, which means less people calling in sick.

I’ve not booked any VA flights for the second half of the year, nervous about Pilot strike action which will likely be long.

We have reached a deal.

Waiting for the EBA to be implemented next week so we hopefully will see a lot of fatiguing and tiring duties removed.

So the VA improvement nothing to do with CCrew agreement settled at yet to implement changes as @twinaisle hear stated.

To not book with an airline cos there's a dispute over pay or the like is a little OTTop. I mean they not threatening strikes yet.

Anyhow a month a long time in airline industry at the stats indicate.
VA now basically half the cancellation rate of the green roo.

 

[Saab34]

You will find once an agreement is agreed upon the dust settles almost immediately. Whilst it’s not in place yet, the wheels are in motions, tensions have eased.

The Pilots EBA is going to be messy. You think QF plays hardball with negotiations, wait until you see how Private Equity play. The Pilots want the pay cut reversed. Apparently VA have said under no circumstances that will be happening. It’s going to get ugly.

 

[MooTime]

You will find once an agreement is agreed upon the dust settles almost immediately. Whilst it’s not in place yet, the wheels are in motions, tensions have eased.

The Pilots EBA is going to be messy. You think QF plays hardball with negotiations, wait until you see how Private Equity play. The Pilots want the pay cut reversed. Apparently VA have said under no circumstances that will be happening. It’s going to get ugly.

We've just seen how private equity play.... Cabin crew for VA are under PE.

Please don't be a drama queen.

 

[Must...Fly!]

You can't sell an airline under significant IR pressure for a good price.

 

[SeaWolf]

I think we see these numbers every month and then read a lot into small variations of a few percent up or down. Unless there's a consistent trend of a decent amount I don't really think there's any signficance to a change up or down of around 3%, for any of the airlines.

 

[ben95]

You think QF plays hardball with negotiations, wait until you see how Private Equity play.

I’d say the contrary. QF plays hardball because it’s got a share price to look after and a much larger airline with significantly higher cost base - this is not true for VA2 under Bain. Plus it’s already got a trashed reputation, it literally can’t get any lower

Bain will want to keep cost low but not at the expense of trashing reputation of the company, let the labor dispute get very public and attract the attention of the media or FairWorks. That’s an easy way to make VA a hot potato no one will take.

 

[encryptededdy]

My excellent gauntlet running skills of avoiding VA delays and cancellations came to a screeching halt today. We are heading OS in a couple of days and my parents are coming from the Snowy’s to house sit for about half the time we are away so I decided to take a flying visit and have lunch with them at CBR and give them keys and a gift.
[snip]

Speaking of day-trips & VA delays: Earlier this month I had a SYD-MEL-SYD same day return booked in J, where my 7am outbound was cancelled and I was rebooked on the 9:30am. Return was at 8pm.

Out of curiosity I asked the lounge agent in Sydney under what sort of delay would Virgin consider this trip a "trip in vain" and allow me to refund or retain the tickets for use at a later date - unfortunately they didn't know. Anyone here have any ideas what VA's policy is around this (if any)?

For context, I had an appointment that required driving some time from the airport, so a further delay of an hour or two would've made my trip truly useless (I couldn't get what I needed to do in Melbourne done before the flight back).

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Speaking of day-trips & VA delays: Earlier this month I had a SYD-MEL-SYD same day return booked in J, where my 7am outbound was cancelled and I was rebooked on the 9:30am. Return was at 8pm.

Out of curiosity I asked the lounge agent in Sydney under what sort of delay would Virgin consider this trip a "trip in vain" and allow me to refund or retain the tickets for use at a later date - unfortunately they didn't know. Anyone here have any ideas what VA's policy is around this (if any)?

For context, I had an appointment that required driving some time from the airport, so a further delay of an hour or two would've made my trip truly useless (I couldn't get what I needed to do in Melbourne done before the flight back).

You may be covered by australian consumer law. Consumer guarantees and refunds | Virgin Australia

In my case, a cancellation due to crew shortage (within VA’s control) and the next available flight being 4 hours later = full refund.

Their policy is pretty vague. Mine was easy because it was clearly within their control. Weather or ATC might have produced a different outcome.

 

[TheInsider]

Out of curiosity I asked the lounge agent in Sydney under what sort of delay would Virgin consider this trip a "trip in vain" and allow me to refund or retain the tickets for use at a later date - unfortunately they didn't know. Anyone here have any ideas what VA's policy is around this (if any)?

Generally, any cancellation should allow you to get a refund.

 

[buggy00]

Hello AFF brain trust.

VA562 from Perth to Sydney was cancelled yesterday, while on the tarmac we were in a sauna of a plane for half an hour before we headed back to the gate. They then put the Plat and Gold members on VA471 Perth to Brisbane arriving at 1:40am and subsequent connections in the morning, meaning some of us are sleeping in the terminal for hours with no food.

First they cook us in there Perth sun in a tin can, then they make us deal with the chaos of re-checking in for a flight that departs 15mins after we deboarded the original flight, and not offering accommodation and it being too late to book any accomm for the night or some sort of compensation when we land in Brissy.

Is there anyway as a someone who's plat and flown with Virgin many times for work and recreation to get any compensation? Has any one had any experience in clawing something from Virgin like credit or something?

Sorry to sound pretentious, second time dealing with a virgin cancellation, got cancelled in Tokyo and still going through the travel insurance claim on that. Thanks for the help y'all.

 

[Must...Fly!]

I have in the long distant past received a relatively minor travel bank credit for some inconvenience. Your experience does not sound great to be honest. If you have expenses such as food you can keep the receipts and be reimbursed through contacting VA.