Being a bit of a nerdy type and always having had a minor interest in how timetabling trains/planes work and with a new found interest in the Qantas fleet and changes (and hopefully route expansion) I thought this would be a great place to discuss and learn how the airlines manage their fleets so as to allow for maintenance and ensure they always make their scheduled flights. It's also interesting learning how they deal with plane troubles/interruptions etc. How much latent capacity does an airline need, what sort of regular maintenance downtime is there etc. I figured since they only have 12 of them the Qantas A380 fleet is a good start.
I've learned reading this forum in the last 6 months what seems obvious when it's pointed out. A daily return flight to most Asian Ports is a very efficient use of an aircraft, daily return to the US has lots of latent downtime at LAX etc.
Now looking at the A380 fleet I've made the following assumptions.
SYD-LHR - 3 planes are needed to operate this route as it is a 3-day cycle, 24 hours of flying, 10-14 hours on ground, then 24 more hours returning and 10-14 on the ground.
MEL-LHR - 3 planes also needed for this route.
The aircraft spends 10-14 hours on the ground at either end. I presume this is longer than required for routine cleaning/daily maintenance?
That's 6 of the 12 in the fleet used in 4 flight numbers.
SYD-LAX - 2 planes operate on a 2 day cycle
MEL-LAX - 2 planes operate on a 2 day cycle
Both planes sit for 6-14 hours or thereabouts at either end. So that's 4 of the remaining six used for 4 flight numbers.
SYD-HKG - Will be operating 5 days a week to HKG and return (currently 4?).
What does the plane do on the other 3 days?
That's 11 planes. I assume the 12th plane sits out as the maintenance/backup plane? Assuming the regular maintenance takes a week then all of the planes would take 1 week off in every 12? Or assuming it takes two weeks, then they take two weeks off in every 24. Is that how it works?
Cheers
I've learned reading this forum in the last 6 months what seems obvious when it's pointed out. A daily return flight to most Asian Ports is a very efficient use of an aircraft, daily return to the US has lots of latent downtime at LAX etc.
Now looking at the A380 fleet I've made the following assumptions.
SYD-LHR - 3 planes are needed to operate this route as it is a 3-day cycle, 24 hours of flying, 10-14 hours on ground, then 24 more hours returning and 10-14 on the ground.
MEL-LHR - 3 planes also needed for this route.
The aircraft spends 10-14 hours on the ground at either end. I presume this is longer than required for routine cleaning/daily maintenance?
That's 6 of the 12 in the fleet used in 4 flight numbers.
SYD-LAX - 2 planes operate on a 2 day cycle
MEL-LAX - 2 planes operate on a 2 day cycle
Both planes sit for 6-14 hours or thereabouts at either end. So that's 4 of the remaining six used for 4 flight numbers.
SYD-HKG - Will be operating 5 days a week to HKG and return (currently 4?).
What does the plane do on the other 3 days?
That's 11 planes. I assume the 12th plane sits out as the maintenance/backup plane? Assuming the regular maintenance takes a week then all of the planes would take 1 week off in every 12? Or assuming it takes two weeks, then they take two weeks off in every 24. Is that how it works?
Cheers
