MD11 problems continue, multiple delays again
KLM's MD11 woes do not seem to come to an end. The 10-strong MD11 subfleet is already featuring the worst dispatch reliability rate in the entire KLM widebody fleet, but things continue to deteriorate.
Just yesterday, KLM was forced to delay overnight KL871/872 DEL after first delaying it for 10 hours. The aircraft made a first attempt to leave around 12 noon, an hour behind schedule, and returned to the gate, after which the flight was delayed while waiting for a spare aircraft. As no spare became available - it was also broke -, the original MD11 was scheduled again for a 20.00 departure, but the aircraft returned once again after 40 minutes of taxiing and what's likely to have been a scenis tour of SPL. KLM delayed the flight until today and cancelled today's KL871/872 rotation.
Still yesterday, KL589/590 to ACC left AMS over 6 hours late and the return portion reached AMS this morning about 4 hours late. KL671 and KL681 to YUL and YVR respectively went out almost 2 hours late. All these delays were the result of technical issues with the MD11 aircraft.
Earlier this week, on Sunday, an MD11 originating in CUR and bound for AMS as KL736 was forced to make an unscheduled refueling stop at SNN, and the same aircraft was later grounded for several hours at AMS before being allowed to leave for YUL as KL671, delayed by 5 hours. On Monday, KL681 to YVR was delayed by almost 6 hours for yet another technical issue with the assigned MD11 aircraft.
KLM has been very well aware of the declining dispatch reliability (currently below 92%, which is very low for international standards of widebody dispatch reliability) of its MD11 fleet, and while I am not saying that the airline is the sole responsible, very little corrective action to assure a more stable and on time operation seems to have been taken by the airline. This summer, the MD11 fleet has been scheduled with a higher average utilization than ever before, and it is clear that plenty of delays, cancellations and other irregularities will be inevitable.
I believe that the new mission of the MD11 fleet, which is to serve mainly holiday and lower yielding markets - hence the very small WBC cabin - has been specifically designed because the airline is aware of the MD11 troubles and somehow seems to believe that it can get away with these issues easier on these lower yielding routes than on those routes that attract a higher rate of delay-sensitive business traffic.
This summer, the MD11 is deployed on the following KLM longhaul routes:
AMS EWR (April and May only)
AMS YUL
AMS YVR
AMS CUR
AMS SXM AUA
AMS BON AUA
AMS AUA
AMS BON GYE UIO
AMS ACC
AMS LOS (selected flights only)
AMS NBO (April only)
AMS JRO DAR
AMS DEL
AMS HYD
The MD11 is expected to stay in the KLM fleet at least until 2012 and retirement of the aircraft is expected to be completed by 2015 at the latest.