Re: General Qantas Delays/Cancellations/etc. Discussion
With the third day of flooding in NSW and heavy rain in SYD including at the airport, the delays continue.
QF23 to BKK departed SYD three and a half hours late at 1319, meaning that QF24 tonight back from BKK will be delayed.
QF11, the 0950 hours from SYD to LAX did not depart until 1302 this afternoon. QF127 to HKG was off blocks exactly two hours late at 1205. QF81, the 1020 to SIN did not depart until 1258. QF19, the 1210 from SYD to MNL departed not long ago at 1450. QF145 from SYD to AKL departed at 1227 in lieu of the normal 1010. The normally reliable QF27 to SCL departed 106 minutes late at 1311. Another flight that is normally punctual, QF41 to CGK also departed not long ago at 1458, 68 minutes late. QF7 to DFW was 77 minutes late in departing at 1417. Some of these planes will form late departures from foreign cities tonight, so in turn there may be delayed departures tomorrow morning depending on allowed turnaround times that greatly vary between routes.
The delays in passengers accessing the airport by road due to flooding or heavy rain would not help as some would be unable to arrive at the airport three hours prior as many normally like to, meaning pressure on check in staff.
While QF has a larger fleet than any other domestic airline, it seems to be coping less well than VA is today, which during such times is not always the case. For instance the A330 (VH-EBS) on QF429, the 1130 from SYD to MEL departed more than two hours late at 1344 and is due in MEL 135 minutes late at 1520. The normally preceding QF427 (1100 ex SYD) and the 1300 hours timetabled departure, QF435 were both cancelled while QF437, the 1330 ex SYD was expected to depart at 1420 but is not yet shown as having done so.
In the other direction ex MEL, QF446 and QF448 (the 1600 and 1645 scheduled departures to SYD) have both been cancelled while QF438, the 1400 hours departure is delayed until a forecast 1550.
These at times long offpeak gaps between flights must prove hard for QF because even though it's a Wednesday and not a busier say Friday afternoon, there must be a shortage of seats unless some of these cancelled flights were going to be half full or less, which is pretty unlikely on a repeated basis.
A properly built high speed rail network largely on concrete piers and hence elevated outside of SYD and MEL would be unlikely to suffer these sorts of delays in such weather conditions. Unfortunately in 2015 we lack the spirit of innovation that characterised Australia's construction of the Snowy Mountains hydroelectric scheme, so high speed rail built by people such as the Japanese who know what they are doing has not become a reality. QF and other airlines cannot control the weather, but sadly the airlines are not as reliable in harsh weather conditions as would be well built high speed rail.
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