London Airports experiencing significant delays

[bryanjones]

Looks like some ATC equipment has broken down (ba.com/heathrow.com) causing many flights to be delayed or cancelled. Make sure you check before you go to the airport, and understand the EU compensation rules to know your entitlements.

 

[RooFlyer]

Started this Saturday morning UK time and has continued all day. Some issue with phones and ATC transfer over from night ops to daytime ops. Lots of cancelled flights.

Gawd, if travelers don't have to put up with enough.

Said to be fixed by 7pm tonight (that's still a couple of hours away from when this is posted).

Doing AZB-LHR-BKK-SYD tomorrow and hoping things aren't knocking on till then.

 

[Mal]

Yep a software upgrade went wrong.... No rollback possible and they were still diagnosing the issue last I heard. Heathrow copping the worst of the delays.
What a mess.

 

[ReLoad]

I heard it was Mitchell Johnson's fault, after all he has destroyed England a couple of times in the last few weeks already

 

[Mal]

Well the media has now changed their articles. Blame is now pointing to problems with a phone switching issue. Supposedly resolved but delays are ongoing.
(Earlier reports pointed to a software upgrade that failed. Software on phones? Who knows. )

 

[RooFlyer]

To be fair, BBC radio was reporting a 'phone issue' to blame from about noon local.

 

[bryanjones]

Looks like some ATC equipment has broken down (ba.com/heathrow.com) causing many flights to be delayed or cancelled. Make sure you check before you go to the airport, and understand the EU compensation rules to know your entitlements.

And to make it even more fun when i got to another route via FRA SQ025 was cancelled this morning, meaning lots of carnage on 325 this evening

 

[777]

I heard it was Mitchell Johnson's fault, after all he has destroyed England a couple of times in the last few weeks already

Maybe they're shipping the Air traffic controllers to Adelaide: they're only people in England who can follow and object moving at 150mph?

 

[pagingjoan]

QF 9 currently delayed 2'15", now scheduled for 18.30pm departure.
Premium line under pressure, understandably.

 

[Melburnian1]

pagingjoan, the cancellation of QF94 from LAX to MEL on Friday night (normally due into MEL on Sunday morning) may be a contributing factor.

The scheduled Friday night QF10 from LHR departed at 0122 on Saturday morning (three hours and seven minutes late) but picked up a lot of time on the slack timetable to arrive Melbourne only 97 minutes late at 0902 this morning. It normally forms QF93 which managed to be off blocks only 13" late at 1133.

So by my reading, QF may be one A380 short in MEL as we speak. Perhaps it is deadheading one down from SYD?

By the way, an 1830 hours departure for QF9 is a delay of 135 minutes, not 165 as it is normally due out at 1615 from MEL to DXB. The QF computer claims that it should arrive LHR only 90 minutes late (assuming an 1830 hours departure is achieved, which none of us yet know) which again shows how slack these schedules are given normal wind and other operating conditions. This extra fat in timetables allows airlines to claim a much better 'on time performance' than would be the case if the timetables were accurate.

 

[bertflyer]

QF9 now delayed to 19:30. I have an 8 hour layover in DBX so won't affect my connections except the hotel room I booked and the sleep I was hoping for

 

[pagingjoan]

Could be time for a sleep before departure.
Aircraft coming from BNE, according to the MEL staff.

And yes, Melburnian1, a typo on my part earlier. Should have read 2'15". But now needs to read 3'15"+?
Pj

 

[pagingjoan]

Lax-bne-mel

 

[pagingjoan]

Wheel change now being completed. ETD - perhaps - 20.00pm.

 

[RooFlyer]

Sky news UK reporting this morning that disruptions may last for days! Although BA website says their services returning to normal at all London airports.

Will give an on the ground report from LHR later today ( if I get that far!)

 

[mannej]

Why am I not surprised there is more expertise and how much slack there is in airline schedules. I would suggest that the timings come from a number of factors and may not be as inaccurate as you suggest.

As others have stated, there are a lot of factors to suggest why airlines can pick up time when delayed, but it all may come unstuck at the same time.

As you can see when things go wrong there actually isn't a lot of slack in the A380 schedules regarding service recovery.

 

[Ansett]

So do we take it they have held the F lounge open for all the F and WP pax etc?

 

[Deleted member]

Wheel change now being completed. ETD - perhaps - 20.00pm.

Soaking it up in the F Lounge then ?

 

[pagingjoan]

Soaking it up in the F Lounge then ?

Just gently!
And we did have the cricket!
Hoping to depart "very shortly".
Maybe.
Pj

 

[Mal]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/1...d_by_fault_in_frequentis_touch_screen_system/