Virgin Australia Delays/Cancellations

[Melburnian1]

Perth based AFFer mannej made the excellent suggestion that new threads should be commenced to discuss delays and cancellations affecting passengers of airlines other than QF.

With VA, the scheduled 1000 from MEL to CHC (VA150) has been delayed until 2215 this evening, thus turning it into an unplanned 'redeye' with an unpleasant arrival time of about 0330 in CBC given the time difference.

I hope that any higher status passengers were today accommodated on other NZ or VA flights across the ditch, as a businessman expecting to have spent the night in a Christchurch hotel for an 0900 meeting tomorrow might not be overly pleased at arriving at his hotel at 0430, only to have to rise at 0730.

The website 'VA Source' is silent about this (although that site is not updated). Has an aircraft gone 'tech'?

 

[Melburnian1]

VH-XFA could well spell 'A' for 'angry' or 'annoyed' this evening as VA691, the 1730 flight from MEL to PER departed the 'Mexican' capital at around 2215, but is forecast to pick up some time enroute and should arrive PER at about 0005 on Tuesday 1 July, four hours and 10 minutes late.

Earlier there may have been a VA aircraft that failed as the two PER arrivals I could see at Melbourne Airport - Flight Information, Shopping & Parking were both early (VA690 and VA694, the latter being 27 minutes early).

 

[Captain Halliday]

VA1354 DRW-SYD was 50 mins late departing today. In the lounge and on board PAX were told it was due to the late arrival of the inbound aircraft. Strange really. I saw the inbound aircraft VH-VOM arrive at 13:17CST. That's 93 minutes before the scheduled departure (1450CST) and more than 132 mins before the actual time of departure (1537CST). I don't buy their explanation.

 

[BD1959]

VA211 MEL-ADL delayed 90mins due fog in ADL; VA213 delayed 60mins. Departure boards showing "Flight Closed" 30mins before revised departure time of the 211.

Contrasts with correspnding flight: QF671 delayed 60mins, and QF675 currently looking to depart on time, though QF canx the intervening QF673.

JQ781 departed only 13mins late - fickle stuff this fog!!

Regards,

BD

 

[Must...Fly!]

VH-XFA could well spell 'A' for 'angry' or 'annoyed' this evening as VA691, the 1730 flight from MEL to PER departed the 'Mexican' capital at around 2215, but is forecast to pick up some time enroute and should arrive PER at about 0005 on Tuesday 1 July, four hours and 10 minutes late.

Earlier there may have been a VA aircraft that failed as the two PER arrivals I could see at Melbourne Airport - Flight Information, Shopping & Parking were both early (VA690 and VA694, the latter being 27 minutes early).

Try again on what happened to VA691....

 

[KCMil]

XFA broken again!!! Yet another set of aircraft downgrades... If you are doing a transcon flight today, check to see what a/c you are on.

 

[i_hate_the_tulla_freeway]

VH-XFA could well spell 'A' for 'angry' or 'annoyed' this evening as VA691, the 1730 flight from MEL to PER departed the 'Mexican' capital at around 2215, but is forecast to pick up some time enroute and should arrive PER at about 0005 on Tuesday 1 July, four hours and 10 minutes late.

Earlier there may have been a VA aircraft that failed as the two PER arrivals I could see at Melbourne Airport - Flight Information, Shopping & Parking were both early (VA690 and VA694, the latter being 27 minutes early).

That's really interesting cause when I left Perth last night at 5.45pm local time, so 7.45pm Melbourne time, over 2 hours after that flight was meant to leave Melbourne, the arrivals screen in the lounge was showing that flight getting in only 15 minutes late

 

[Justinf]

Williamstown Footy Club was due to fly out from MEL on the 5.30pm flight to PER on Monday but the flight was cancelled. They fronted up the next morning and the flight they were put on was delayed by over four hours. They eventually got to PER over 24 late for a Foxtel Cup game which started at 6.40pm Perth time. So instead of getting there a day early to prepare, they got there three hours before the game.
The winner of this game (against East Perth) gets to play for a $100,000 prizemoney, so it's not chicken feed.

 

[Melburnian1]

Due to fog in MEL, VA had a disastrous day punctuality wise today.

Tuesday is one of the three least busy days of a normal week, the others being Tuesday and Saturday (especially Saturday afternoon and evening).

Thet said, only six of 25 VA Melbourne to Sydney northbound flights that I could look at at just before 1900 tonight were on time.

Eight were cancelled, while 11 ran more than 15 minutes late. There were no northbound flights between VA819 (which departed MEL 57 minutes late at 0857) and VA841 departing MEL 55 minutes late at 1255. To add insult to injury the 1300 and 1400 hours flights from MEL to SYD also got the chop. Tonight is little better with three of the last five timetabled northbound trips tonight cancelled.

Oh for a high speed train link!

 

[Mogul]

Due to fog in MEL, VA had a disastrous day punctuality wise today.

Tuesday is one of the three least busy days of a normal week, the others being Tuesday and Saturday (especially Saturday afternoon and evening).

Thet said, only six of 25 VA Melbourne to Sydney northbound flights that I could look at at just before 1900 tonight were on time.

Eight were cancelled, while 11 ran more than 15 minutes late. There were no northbound flights between VA819 (which departed MEL 57 minutes late at 0857) and VA841 departing MEL 55 minutes late at 1255. To add insult to injury the 1300 and 1400 hours flights from MEL to SYD also got the chop. Tonight is little better with three of the last five timetabled northbound trips tonight cancelled.

Oh for a high speed train link!

I'm sure Va weren't the only ones!!!!!!

 

[Melburnian1]

VA746, the 1650 from OOL to MEL, normally in MEL at 1915 has just decided to divert to ADL after spending much time in a holding pattern over Bendigo.

Let's hope that there are hotel rooms available in the City of Churches for tired passengers and crew.

 

[mannej]

I thought things had been a bit quiet on this side of the thread. Here are some VA delays that were advised in advance.

[FONT=&amp]Virgin Australia Sydney-Los Angeles (VA1 & VA2) Flight Cancellations[/FONT] [FONT=&amp]Due to unscheduled maintenance requirements, Virgin Australia has needed to cancel two flights between Sydney and Los Angeles and change the departure time of four flights. Customers that have already booked on Virgin Australia operated services will be re-accommodated onto alternative flight options.[/FONT] [FONT=&amp]The following Virgin Australia flights will be cancelled:[/FONT] [TABLE="class: ecxMsoNormalTable, width: 420"]
[TR]
[TD] [FONT=&amp]

[/FONT][/TD]
[TD="width: 543"] [FONT=&amp]VA001 SYD-LAX Thu 07 Aug 1340/1025[/FONT][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 17"] [FONT=&amp]

[/FONT][/TD]
[TD="width: 543"] [FONT=&amp]VA002 LAX-SYD Sat 09 Aug 2215/0620+2[/FONT][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[FONT=&amp]The following Virgin Australia flights will be rescheduled:[/FONT] [TABLE="class: ecxMsoNormalTable, width: 420"]
[TR]
[TD] [FONT=&amp]

[/FONT][/TD]
[TD="width: 543"] [FONT=&amp]VA002 LAX-SYD Thu 07 Aug 2215/0620+2 to VA9552 Fri 08 Aug 0830/1635+1 (Delayed 10hrs 15min)[/FONT][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 17"] [FONT=&amp]

[/FONT][/TD]
[TD="width: 543"] [FONT=&amp]VA001 SYD-LAX Sat 09 Aug 1340/1025 to VA9551 Sat 09 Aug 1835/1520 (Delayed 4hrs 55min)[/FONT]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 17"] [FONT=&amp]

[/FONT][/TD]
[TD="width: 543"] [FONT=&amp]VA008 LAX-BNE Fri 08 Aug 2350/0700+2 to VA9558 Sat 09 Aug 1030/1740+1 (Delayed 10hrs 40min)[/FONT][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 17"] [FONT=&amp]

[/FONT][/TD]
[TD="width: 543"] [FONT=&amp]VA007 BNE-LAX Sun 10 Aug 1015/0630 to VA9557 Sun 10 Aug 1940/1555 (Delayed 9hrs 25min)[/FONT][/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[Melburnian1]

With the fog in MEL this morning, all domestic airlines have had a lot of late running.

VA761 (operated by B738 VH-VUJ) is timetabled to arrive OOL ex MEL at 2215 but is running more than an hour late and is estimated to touch down at 2315.

OOL as far as I know has a 2300 hours curfew so has 'Mr Delegate' been at work this evening authorising this flight to break curfew?

 

[mannej]

An interesting flight here that has been mentioned by a few other members. A PER-SYD run the other day taking over 6 hours.
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/VOZ556/history/20140829/0200Z/YPPH/YSSY

 

[OzEire]

Ok, I will start by saying that I was in the wrong, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm annoyed.

Lots of traffic on the road from Melb to Tulla today and my colleague and I arrived at the airport cutting close to our flight times. I walked briskly into the MEL VA lounge about 3 mins late to check in (with HLO) for VA279 to CBR. Yes, I was late, but only by a small margin and still 27 mins before departure. Not surprised I was denied and told to take a later flight.

With my new BP and 2.5 hrs to kill in the Lounge, I relaxed with a drink and an snack (no meal available). On the flight status board VA279 was listed as "Go To Gate", it hadn't even started boarding ! Quick check of FlightAware showed that departure time had been revised 10 mins late and eventually settled at 17 mins late. A few mins later, the board changed to boarding and boarding was announced in Lounge.

In short, I could have easily made that flight if VA empowered staff to do the right by customers where possible. I wouldnt want to delay other pax on a flight if I was late, but where the whole thing is already delayed, why not allow a status pax to sneak in a couple of mins late while the other delay is sorted out.

Incidentally, my colleague in the same delayed taxi from the city was booked on a QF to CBR departing 5 mins earlier than me (the 1650, not sure of the number). I rang him when I was denied check-in and he sounded out of breath. QF had allowed him to check in if he ran to the gate.

 

[Melburnian1]

Disappointingly inflexible.

The VA checkin guidelines state that you SHOULD be checked in 30 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time, not that you MUST.

Another case of poor English by the airline that stupidly has called or calls us 'guests' or 'customers.' I'm not in Woolworths nor am I staying at a relative's home when I fly with VA.

All that I can see the staff's actions have led to is an inability for someone other than yourself to board (assuming the next flight in 2.5 hours was almost full) that next flight given that you were denied boarding for the earlier flight, and no one else would be likely to take your seat on the first flight.

Times change, but if I recall, many Ansett passengers who only had hand luggage obtained boarding passes and boarded flights with 15 minutes to go before timetabled departure.

 

[anat0l]

Ok, I will start by saying that I was in the wrong, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm annoyed.

Lots of traffic on the road from Melb to Tulla today and my colleague and I arrived at the airport cutting close to our flight times. I walked briskly into the MEL VA lounge about 3 mins late to check in (with HLO) for VA279 to CBR. Yes, I was late, but only by a small margin and still 27 mins before departure. Not surprised I was denied and told to take a later flight.

With my new BP and 2.5 hrs to kill in the Lounge, I relaxed with a drink and an snack (no meal available). On the flight status board VA279 was listed as "Go To Gate", it hadn't even started boarding ! Quick check of FlightAware showed that departure time had been revised 10 mins late and eventually settled at 17 mins late. A few mins later, the board changed to boarding and boarding was announced in Lounge.

In short, I could have easily made that flight if VA empowered staff to do the right by customers where possible. I wouldnt want to delay other pax on a flight if I was late, but where the whole thing is already delayed, why not allow a status pax to sneak in a couple of mins late while the other delay is sorted out.

Incidentally, my colleague in the same delayed taxi from the city was booked on a QF to CBR departing 5 mins earlier than me (the 1650, not sure of the number). I rang him when I was denied check-in and he sounded out of breath. QF had allowed him to check in if he ran to the gate.

If you had a mobile phone connected to data, you could have checked in online to make the cut off; especially useful if you're just HLO. But anyway, that's the past now, plus VA OLCI closes 40 minutes before departure.

QF customers that are on domestic flights with HLO have a bit more time on their side - 15 minutes before scheduled departure is their checkin cutoff (AFAIK, however, after T-45 mins, this checkin must be done at the airport).

 

[OzEire]

If you had a mobile phone connected to data, you could have checked in online to make the cut off; especially useful if you're just HLO. But anyway, that's the past now, plus VA OLCI closes 40 minutes before departure.

Yes (painfully) aware that I had missed this opportunity when the lounge refused to budge, and it was too late by then.

The flip-side is that, if doing OLCI and then no-show for the flight, I would be worse off. That is just a matter of timing & luck when stuck in heavy traffic approaching the airport... But your main point is right.

 

[Melburnian1]

VA331, the 1400 hours yesterday's MEL to BNE and VA1328, yesterday's 1630 to HBA are both shown as having departed MEL at 0658 this morning (Tuesday 28 October 2014).

If correct, these long overnight delays must be due to the hangover from yesterday's storms in MEL.

Doubtless they won't be a record for the longest delay ever on an Oz domestic flight, but they must be fairly close.

Were pax accommodated in MEL CBD hotels? Were locals given taxi vouchers to go home yesterday arvo and come back to the airport early this morning?

 

[Deleted member 29185]

The flip-side is that, if doing OLCI and then no-show for the flight, I would be worse off.

I agree with this statement. If I'm stuck in traffic, I choose to check in at the airport as if I miss it after checking in, it's a case of buying another ticket where as VA often allow status pax to "fly behind" despite it not being a written benefit.

I find the lounge staffs refusal to check you in to be odd. Once they close off the flight they cannot check you in, but closing off a flight is usually done only 10 or 15 minutes before departure, not 27 mins! They have (often) allowed me to check in within the 30min prior window, just as long as they haven't closed off the flight and as you went straight to the lounge, I assume you had HLO.

One flight I was only slightly miffed over was a ROK-BNE. I was held up by road works but I was listening to the news in the car and I heard VA had a fire in their BNE terminal somewhere. I thought that would work in my favour as the VA terminal had been evacuated which would have to mean delays all day. There was and I arrived at ROK before the plane arrived, loped up to the check-in counter only to be told they had closed off that flight! Closed off a flight, even before the plane landed (it didn't arrive for about another 1/2 an hour). I don't know if that was standard practice for VA or if it was a regulatory requirement, but I thought it was a bit silly to close off a flight before it had even arrived. There's usually at least a 1/2 hour turn around so what's the point? I was only slightly miffed because I was hoping for a fly ahead to the early afternoon 737 and the next flight was an ATR.......so I waited until the evening E-Jet. I missed the fly ahead by only about 5 minutes, but it meant about a 4 1/2 hour delay. (I loathe the VA ATRs)