medhead

This week I was on Virgin Blue again on Monday morning. Their priority boarding worked a treat. I was pretty happy and I also liked that the first 2 or 3 rows in Y had empty middle seats. The crew were also really friendly, helpful and professional. But they seem to be that way on most of my flights on all airlines.

However, I didn't really want to talk about the things that work well. I wanted to mention the something that is really becoming routine. A 30 minute delay for the flight. This has happen the last 4 or 5 times I've got DJ 401. These delays have been attributed to a Sydney air traffic control delay or weather in Sydney. This week it was weather in the lounge and then the pilot described in detail how the hold up was caused by Air traffic control. The mis-communication was a bit disappointing, but meh!

What strikes me is the consistency of this 30 minute delay due to ATC in Sydney. When this has been happening I've made sure to check on QF730. It always seems to get better treatment, almost always getting away on time. Yes, it was delayed last week but it still got in 20 minutes before the DJ flight.

It just makes me wonder if there is a systematic disadvantage for DJ coming from the ATC "gods"? Does Virgin Blue need to do something to make the situation more balanced? Sure, maybe I'm being a bit harsh on ATC, but there is a pattern. Perhaps I wouldn't ask these questions if the difference between the airlines wasn't so stark.