Qantas on-time performance

[Evan]

I would vote for the sky slope any day of the week as better but thats just me, i think its a great seat and i am sure version 2 will be even better.

As for BA club wordl, nice seat, nothing wrong with it. I like it but as i said if i had a choice i would always choose the QF seat.

E

 

[luckydog]

Sorry for making a confusing statement.
I was comparing British Airways J (Club World Mk2) to the current Qantas J on the 747-400 (the Skybed).
While I found the BA 'flat' bed was still not truly flat and was (I think) slightly narrower than the Skybed, I preferred the whole design and slept better.

 

[JohnK]

Why criticise someone for having a preference? There is nothing special about the QF skybed. I find them very uncomfortable to sit in for any length of time.

FWIW when Finnair upgraded the business cabin of the old MD-11s I think the seats were on par with, if not better than, the QF skybed....

 

[Dave Noble]

Why criticise someone for having a preference? There is nothing special about the QF skybed. I find them very uncomfortable to sit in for any length of time.

It is hardly surpising to question the suggestion that BA ECONOMY is better than QF BUSINESS

Dave

 

[Evan]

<..>
FWIW when Finnair upgraded the business cabin of the old MD-11s I think the seats were on par with, if not better than, the QF skybed....

I will second that, i found them good also
For some reason i always just sleep better on the QF seats, BA club world version 1 was way way to short for me to find a comfortable way to sleep except as a very reclined seat.

E

 

[JohnK]

Do anyone seriously think luckydog was comparing BA Economy to QF business? Don't believe everything you read, mistakes do happen. The first time I read the post I missed BA World Traveller but saw QF Skybed and automatically assumed he was comparing the business class product of BA and QF....

 

[crazydave98]

Not sure what to make of the DJ on-tme performance figures either. As Friday is the day I am interested in flying then lets look at yesterday 22/8/2008.

DJ236 BNE-SYD departed 14:00 arrived 16:00, 30 minutes late
DJ242 BNE-SYD departed 15:45 arrived 17:25, 55 minutes late
DJ246 BNE-SYD departed 17:05 arrived 18:30, 60 minutes late
DJ254 BNE-SYD departed 18:45 arrived 20:25, 85 minutes late

These figures are from the DJ website and I ran out of time to get the remainder of the flights for the night. I think you get the general idea how late DJ flights to SYD were on Friday night.

Not disputing that it was a poor performance but a sample size of 1 afternoon? Pretty easy to pick a day to "prove" your point. The BTRE stats compare a month - and let you compare airlines route-by-route which is a better indication.

 

[JohnK]

Not disputing that it was a poor performance but a sample size of 1 afternoon? Pretty easy to pick a day to "prove" your point. The BTRE stats compare a month - and let you compare airlines route-by-route which is a better indication.

Dave it is not just one afternoon. It happens quite a often. Maybe it happens more on the SYD, MEL, BNE routes. Maybe every BNE-MKY flight is on time but every 2nd BNE-SYD flight is delayed. Statistics mean absolutely nothing to me. Experience is what counts.

My father has never been to Brisbane and visited me twice last month. All DJ flights and one trip was with me and the other trip on his own. These were also his first ever domestic flights.

First up we bought a very expensive ticket, QF was even dearer, at the last minute and arriving at SYD airport we were given a seat on an earlier flight. When returning from BNE on a Friday evening the flight was delayed. The delay was enough to allow us to visit both QF and DJ lounges. Towards the of July he flew up to BNE on a Thursday lunch time and returned back to SYD on a Tuesday lunch time. Both of these flights were delayed between 20 and 30 minutes. That may be acceptable to most people but not to me.

After experiencing these delays for himself his expectation is that all flights are delayed/late. This is not a good image to portray, I am including both DJ and QF here, to a very infrequent flyer especially one who may now fly more often since there is a reason to get away from SYD for a few days.

 

[dajop]

Both of these flights were delayed between 20 and 30 minutes.

For infrequent flyer 20-30 minute delay may indeed unacceptable, as they wouldn't know any better.

But would a frequent flyer - on any airline - plan trips without allowing at least 30 minutes for some sort of delay? Unless there is no other alternative (such as low frequency routes) I usually assume I will be arriving half an hour late. It only takes a thunderstorm or strong easterly/westerly winds in SYD and it can cause ripples across the entire country. With the tightness in turnaround times, it is very difficult to catch these up even over the course of a day. I have also had enough warning lamps, FTB's with luggage and ATC delays to know there are many many factors can cause tardiness.

The other option - which has already happened to a certain extent - is to blow out flight times so that delays can easily be caught up. When I first flew MEL-SYD it was 1:10 in both directions, now is its 1:20 for NE & 1:30 for SW flights.

 

[JohnK]

For infrequent flyer 20-30 minute delay may indeed unacceptable, as they wouldn't know any better.

But would a frequent flyer - on any airline - plan trips without allowing at least 30 minutes for some sort of delay?

I would leave at least an hour, if not 90 minutes, for domestic connections. I still feel that 20-30 minute delays are unacceptable. Now if it was just one or 2 flights OK but we are talking almost every destination.

Even as a frequent flyer why do I feel that 20-30 minute delays are unacceptable? Because airlines want everything their way.

On Sunday I got to the airport with checked luggage 45 minutes before my 17:35 departure. There was about 10 people in the business class/premium lane. When I got to the front of the queue I heard them calling for anyone on my flight not in the front of a queue to go to check in row 7. Since I was in the front of the queue I waited. When I got called up the check-in agent said that the flight was closed. This was not more than 2 minutes after the call. Anyway after pointing this out she called a supervisor and got the flight re-opened and checked me in for the flight.

The flight boarded on time and again we sit there waiting. Why are we waiting? Finally I see 3 people board the flight with the boarding passes that are printed at the customer service desks near the gate. A business class passenger and 2 economy class passengers in 4E and 5E, guess who was sitting in 4D. Why are they waiting and then allowing people on from later flights? Luckily they were able to make up the time and we arrived in BNE on time.

 

[straitman]

I'm currently sitting in the business lounge at Melbourne airport waiting for my 2000 flight to Perth. Latest guestimate is boarding at 2240. :evil:

They did ring me at 1730 and offer me a 1840 flight which I could not make.

 

[Flashback]

743 or an A332?

 

[straitman]

743 or an A332?

Was a 767 though I don't know any more. :shock:

 

[oz_mark]

I'm currently sitting in the business lounge at Melbourne airport waiting for my 2000 flight to Perth. Latest guestimate is boarding at 2240. :evil:

They did ring me at 1730 and offer me a 1840 flight which I could not make.

IME, departure time will creep toward midnight

 

[Flashback]

IME, departure time will creep toward midnight

Guess I won't be seeing you for breakfast tomorrow then straitman

 

[straitman]

IME, departure time will creep toward midnight

has already crept from an 2240 departure to a 2240 boarding. :evil:

 

[straitman]

Guess I won't be seeing you for breakfast tomorrow then straitman

Not unless you want to be in Kingsley at about 1000 :!:

 

[Flashback]

Not unless you want to be in Kingsley at about 1000 :!:

I'll be sipping a latté eating a piece of cake in my office

 

[straitman]

has already crept from an 2240 departure to a 2240 boarding. :evil:

Oops

Spoke too soon. Boarding has now slipped to 2305 :!: :shock::evil:

 

[Mal]

Spoke too soon. Boarding has now slipped to 2305 :!: :shock::evil:

Not good stats for leaving MEL tonight for a lot of people!

QF490 Sydney 20:00 21:02 Departed
QF653 Perth 20:00 23:25 Estimated
QF636 Brisbane 20:05 21:14 Departed
QF492 Sydney 20:30 Cancelled
JQ678 Darwin 21:35 22:13 Departed