Qantas Delays/Cancellations

[Melburnian1]

On Thursday 14 July, depending on turnaround times for inbound aircraft, there may be some delays to the morning A333 QFi scheduled departures for points in Asia as quite a few flights (see above) were well over an hour late departing on Wednesday 13. Some have become even later, with for instance the Wednesday night arrival time of QF19 (above shown as 2040 hours) now put back to around 2120 in MNL. Inevitably with the minimum observed turnaround times for A332/A333 aircraft on international flights being c. 65 minutes, there will still be extensive unpunctuality among the Thursday morning arrivals.

ATC is no doubt expert at dealing with out of sequence aircraft arrivals in SYD (which happens every day) but there is a mandated limit of 20 aircraft movements per quarter hour along with the much better known 80 movements. As we discussed many pages back, at times these two caps can in a sense 'contradict' one another in that (presumably lower priority departing, as opposed to higher cab off the rank arriving, aircraft) may have to wait for a particular quarter hour to tick over before being granted clearance for takeoff. The inefficiency of this rule must cost airlines (not just QF) quite a deal and its irrationality might be at least a minor cause of frustration for airline passengers and staff, including tech crew who would like to get on their way.

QF35 on 13 July departed MEL at 1433 hours, two hours and 48 minutes late with SIN arrival exactly two hours tardy at 1955. QF82 from SIN is expected to depart at 2125 hours, 70 minutes late for a Thursday 14 July SYD arrival at 0645, 35 minutes behind schedule.

 

[Melburnian1]

Following yesterday's spate of delayed departures ex SYD, QF118, the second redeye from HKG to SYD should arrive the latter at about 1000 on Thursday 14 July instead of 0900. VH-QPI is the A333.

QF20 did not depart MNL until 2232 hours on Wednesday evening so it is arriving in SYD on Thursday at 0800 rather than 0610 hours.

QF42 ex CGK departed at 2246 instead of 2005 for a Thursday morning SYD arrival suggested as 0830 rather than 0605. It is most unusual for this flight to be badly late as it has an excellent record of keeping to time, unlike some other Asian flights that QFi operates.

QF130 pushed back out of the PVG terminal at 2113 hours rather than 1955 on Wednesday evening so arrival is predicted for 0925 rather than the timetabled 0830 hours.

 

[Melburnian1]

QF81 (1020 SYD up to SIN) on 14 July (A333 VH-QPB) was in the sky at 1148 with a predicted arrival of 1734, 49 minutes late.

QF127 (B744 VH-OJS), the 1005 first of the mroning as regards QF from SYD to HKG was airborne at 1141. Arrival should be approximately 82 minutes late at 1842 this afternoon HKG time.

 

[Melburnian1]

Late on 14 July, QF1553 (1950 hours from BNE down to CBR, B717 VH-YQX) took off at 2144 so arrival should be at about 2307, 87 minutes late.

The West Australian intrastate flights have typically higher fares than east coast trips of similar length but from what is observed, these local WA flights are often punctual. QF1929 from BME to PER, the 1900 hours, is an exception with it taking off at 1951 and having an expected arrival at about 2210, half an hour late.

The PER - ZNE QF1356 has fared worse with takeoff at 1923 comparing to the 1715 hours pushback time. VH-VXM is the B738.

 

[Melburnian1]

Friday 15 July sees the 0730 hours SYD - MEL, QF411, the 1030 MEL - SYD (QF424) and QF1463 (0730 hours SYD down to CBR) cancelled.

While only a 15 minute delay, a 'ferry' flight, QF6033 (schduled to be an A333) has been delayed in departing SYD by 15 minutes to 0815 hours.

The 0810 hours from SYD to WGA, QF2221, is instead expected to depart at 0940 hours. QF2002 (0845 from SYD up to TMW) has been cancelled as has QF2003, the 1015 TMW - SYD.

 

[Melburnian1]

Later on Friday 15 July 2016, QF23 from SYD departed 42 minutes late at 1032 with arrival predicted at 1715, 35 minutes behind the timetable.

B744-operated QF63 was badly delayed, departing 132 minutes late at 1302 this afternoon instead of at 1050 hours this morning. It should be at its South African destination at 1810, an hour late, having picked up some time, but QF64 back will be unable to depart on time.

In the evening of 15 July, QF1938, the 1705 hours ASP - DRW, took off at 1845 and should arrive at 2034, 84 minutes late. Aircraft is B717 VH-NXH.

 

[Flyerqf]

Thursday evening QF128 from Hong Kong to Sydney was delayed to 1300 Friday. Now due to land after curfew at 2305 this evening.

 

[Melburnian1]

Thank you Flyerqf. On Friday 15 July 2016, B744 VH-OJS on the amended flight number QF128D from HKG is even later than Flyerqf said, with it approaching SYD via the south (as 'delegate approved' arrivals after 2300 are supposed to do) with it likely to touch down, at a guess, at about 2315 hours. Having to come in this way (rather than land from the north) probably adds about five - eight minutes to the flight but it placates residents.

Thursday 14 July's QF12 departed LAX 62 late at 2332 hours but is expected to gain time en route to SYD where its Saturday 16 July arrival should be 25 minutes tardy at 0655.

QF16 from LAX to BNE was comparatively worse off, with departure delayed to 0120 hours on Friday 15 (today) and therefore arrival in BNE on Saturday 16 suggested as 0725, 75 minutes late.

While not always the case, on this occasion QF94 to MEL was held in LAX, departing 76 minutes late at 2331 on Thursday for a Saturday 16 July on blocks in MEL of 0725, only 25 minutes late. This may however slightly delay the 0915 hours back to LAX, QF93, although observed turnaround times for an A388 have been as low as an hour and 38 minutes, which is a very good effort if it can be achieved due to the large number of disparate tasks to be undertaken, and unfortunately some passengers' habit of not being cooperative - turning up late at the gate when 'last call' has long been transmitted over the public address system is one transgression we often see, and it is not always due to a connecting flight being delayed or a similar valid excuse. One might only expect politicians to demonstrate how important they are by being last on board in a 'look at me' moment but this seems to be prevalent in quite a few strata of society.

 

[Melburnian1]

Updating my previous post (3328), QF93 on Saturday 17 July has indeed been delayed - from 0915 to 0950.

The 0800 hours from SYD across to ADL, QF739, departed at 0843 with arrival suggested as 1020, 50 minutes late. QF2047 was due out of SYD at the same time but left at 0834, arriving 47 minutes late at 0947.

QF508 (0805 hours from SYD up to BNE) departed at 0828 but arrival wil not be until an estimated 1015, 40 minutes tardy.

The 0910 SYD - OOL, QF860 departed 36 minutes late; arrival is predicted as 105, half an hour behind.

 

[Melburnian1]

QF75 (1700 hours SYD - YVR, B744 VH-OEI) was airborne at 1802 on Saturday 16 July, 56 minutes late. so arrival in western Canada should be same day at 1501, 56 minutes late.

 

[Melburnian1]

Saturday 16 July's B744-operated QF12, the 1810 hours evening JFK across to LAX departed at 1949 for a 79 minute late arrival at 2224 hours.

The onward A388 flight of QF12 (2230 hours LAX to SYD) is showing as departing at 2330 on Saturday evening but that was a quarter of an hour ago.

The 2320 hours B744 onward flight (QF16) from LAX looks like departing at least 70 minutes late (0030 on Sunday is predicted) for the long haul down to BNE. The Saturday night QF94 departed LAX at 2327, 72 minutes late but it is expected to improve on the timetable with MEL arrival suggested as Monday 18 July at 0730, half an hour late but still likely based on recent turnaround times to slightly delay the Monday 0915 hours MEL back to LAX.

UPDATE: QF94's MEL Monday 18 July arrival has been put back to 0750 hours.,

QF12 should arrive in SYD at 0730 on Monday 18 after departing 80 minutes late on Saturday 16 July. QF16 is now allegedly departing at 0115 hours on Sunday morning (by coincidence 115 minutes late) for a Monday 18 July BNE arrival at 0720, 70 minutews late.

 

[Melburnian1]

Monday 18 July 2016 has seen QF495, the 0615 hours early morning SYD to MEL and QF403, the 0645 hours departure both cancelled as have been QF419 and QF421, the 0900 and 0930 hours hours southbound, presumably due to the fog in Sydney.

With this many peak period flights cancelled from SYD to MEL on a Monday morning, there must be hundreds of businessmen and women, and others, badly delayed. Some may cancel their day return flights given the impossibility of morning appointments.

Compare this chaos to a reliable, competently operated high speed train that sadly we still lack between these two cities of almost five and 4.5 million residents. The recent CLARA proposal has many unanswered questions to it and with its apparent selection of maglev as opposed to the far more widespread worldwide conventional rail may not be the answer, but at least there is some movement at the station.

QF2012 (0655 hours SYD up to TMW), QF2040 (0815 hours SYD to DBO in western NSW) and QF2016 (0830 hours SYD to CFS) were Qantaslink flights that suffered the same fate.

QF1582, the 0620 hours HBA - SYD (B717 VH-NXJ) did not take off until 0844 so arrival should be at 1024, 134 minutes late.

QF1511, the 0620 hours SYD to CBR was badly late, departing at 0747. Arrival was 80 minutes late at 0840 hours. The following 0650 hours departure, QF1461, did so at 0740 with arrival being at 0834, 49 minutes late in another case of how a later scheduled flight beat an earlier scheduled flight on this route with its high weekday peak periods timetabled frequency. Another flight, QF1513, departed 39 minutes late at 0854 this morning with arrival predicted at 0955, 40 late into the national capital. QF1467, the next flight, is delayed from SYD by an expected 55 minutes until 0955.

QF405 (0530 hours SYD down to MEL) departed 21 minutes late at 0651 but lost a lot of time, arriving MEL at 0853, 48 minutes late. It has been windy in Melbourne this morning with recorded gusts between 0600 and 0900 hours varying between 47 and 57 kilometres an hour at Melbourne Airport.

The 0700 hours from SYD to CFS, QF2104 departed 68 minutes late. Arrival is forecast to be 63 minutes late at 0928.

The identically timed departure of QF409 down to MEL was delayed ex SYD by 78 minutes with arrival predicted as 0955, 80 minutes late.

QF508 (0806 hours SYD - BNE) departed 45 minutes late with arrival likely at 1015, 40 minutes tardy.

QF2221 (0810 hours SYD down to WGA) has one of the worst delays with departure delayed until an expected 0955, 105 minutes late.

The 0810 hours SYD across to PER, QF575 did not push back until 0856. Arrival should be 35 minutes late at 1155.

The identically timed 0820 hours departures from SYD of QF2020 to ARM and QF2205 to ABX have been delayed until a predicted 1030 in both cases. QF2164 (0830 SYD up to PQQ) should instead depart at 1010, so its anticipated tardiness is a little less than the other two.

QF417, the 0830 hours SYD down to MEL and QF510 (0835 hours SYD - BNE) are expected to depart at 1015. However the following QF461, the 0845 hours SYD - MEL is predicted to depart at 1000, ahead of QF417, while the following SYD - BNE flight, QF512 should depart at 0945 instead of 0905, again ahead of its predecessor. Perhaps on either route some travellers with HLO may be transferred from one to the other.

QF423, the 1000 SYD - MEL should instead depart at 1045 this morning.

The SYD - WTB fairly recently introduced Qantaslink flights have a pretty good timekeeping record but that is not the case this morning with QF2016, the 0845 hours from SYD not expected to depart until 1010 hours.

QF840, the 0915 hours SYD - DRW should instead depart at 1035 while QF1583, the 0920 SYD down to HBA has been retimed to 1100. This is a classic example of how peak period delays on the 'golden triangle' affect tourist and VFR-friendly timed longer distance flights on routes with much lower frequencies.

SYD - ADL does not have the number of flights as SYD - MEL, but this ADL route appears not to be suffering the same days. In an exception, QF1555, the timetabled 1130 ex SYD for the wine capital has been given the boot.

 

[Melburnian1]

Adding to the above fog-related delays in SYD, the Saturday 16 July QF8 from DFW to SYD was diverted to BNE where on Monday 18 July it spent from 0503 to 0546 with SYD arrival at 0746 instead of 0605.

QF12 was similarly diverted with its brief stop in BNE being from 0637 to 0743 on 18 July. Arrival in SYD was at 0913, 163 minutes behind schedule.

The B744-operated QF74 from SFO was also diverted to the Sunshine State with its BNE sojourn being from 0604 to 0706 and consequent SYD arrival at 0839, 99 minutes tardy.

Given that the Bureau of Meteorology has been discussing how the fog rolled in to Sydney from about 2100 hours on Sunday night the 17th of July, it shows the variable nature of such a weather pattern in how QF76 from YVR was able to be at the SYD terminal on 18 July at 0508, 27 minutes early, not having been diverted. Similarly the arriving QF2 from LHR and DXB was at the terminal in SYD at 0513, three minutes late, as it and the YVR flight (plus a BA and one other) have ongoing dispensation for six months of the year to touch down between 0600 hours and 0559 hours in recognition of the northern hemisphere summer schedules.

Anyone who has travelled to and from CBR in winter knows that it is usually 'safe' to book on the 'firsts' leaving CBR at say 0600 or 0630 but the 'second flights' out at say 0730 or 0900 can become fogbound. The SYD situation this morning varies in respect of the times but other than that it is a similar story in how the very early morning flights 'crept in' from overseas but the later ones had to be diverted.

 

[mannej]

My parents were supposed to be on QF777 tonight, which was downgraded to a 737 somewhere between 5 and 8. They have received a call so they have either been bumped or the flight has been cancelled.

 

[Melburnian1]

My parents were supposed to be on QF777 tonight, which was downgraded to a 737 somewhere between 5 and 8. They have received a call so they have either been bumped or the flight has been cancelled.

mannej, from what I can see QF777 is an afternoon flight, being scheduled to depart from MEL at 1445 and to arrive PER at 1700 hours. Have you the correct flight number?

The QF website suggests that QF777 is operating today. Perhaps there are so many changes that it has yet to be updated.

 

[mannej]

mannej, from what I can see QF777 is an afternoon flight, being scheduled to depart from MEL at 1445 and to arrive PER at 1700 hours. Have you the correct flight number?

The QF website suggests that QF777 is operating today. Perhaps there are so many changes that it has yet to be updated.

Why wouldn't the details be correct?

 

[Melburnian1]

mannej, the flight has not been cancelled as far as I can see. True, they may have been bumped.

 

[mannej]

mannej, the flight has not been cancelled as far as I can see. True, they may have been bumped.

They are back on 777 - seems as if the weather is creating some chaos with the flow on issues.

 

[Melburnian1]

While Monday 18 July's QF63 (1050 hours SYD - JNB longhaul) departed 47 minutes late at 1137, it is only expected to be 10 late arriving JNB same day at 1720.

QF127, the 'original' QF flight from SYD to HKG, departed 46 minutes late at 1051 but is forecast to only be 20 down arriving in HKG this afternoon at 1740 hours.

There is a QF6033 operating today (SYD - SIN) - maintenance or repainting? It departed 40 minutes late at 1000. QF often shows these flights online: I assume that they almost never carry passengers but are empty workings ('ferry flights').

QF19 (1210 hours SYD up to MNL) has been delayed in its departure by an expected 40 minutes.

Compared to the domestic delays, QFi delays ex SYD today despite the earlier fog are not widespread but QFi turnaround times that have a margin built in assist with maintaining punctuality. In particular it was a good effort to only have three longhaul flights that were diverted this morning to BNE only on the ground for 45 to approaching 70 minutes. This may be usual for what I gather is called a 'splash and dash' but nonetheless it is quite impressive.

If the fog started to roll in as suggested by the BOM at about 2100 over Sydney (not necessarily Sydney Airport) last night (Sunday 17) would the airmen on board flights from the USA, UK and other locations have had prior notice or would this be relayed to them at a later stage due to what might be the relatively unpredictability of the density, duration and geographic coverage of the fog?

 

[Quickstatus]

QF422 MEL-SYD arrived in SYD touchdown at 1224 about 1.5 hours late. Captain said due to late inbound from SYD, then single runway ops in MEL (but doesn't MEL always have single runway ops, but I think he meant the east west), then a patchup job required on a non closing overhead locker then an ATC "stay on ground" directive to avoid congestion around SYD. Currently waiting for gate

Pax connecting to SFO and DFW may miss their transpac flight.

Big issue with inflight catering which I will start in the Qantas frequent flyer thread unless someone beats me to it!!!