Originally Posted by
flyingstudent
Just a question. All these irregular ops really add to the cost of operating an airline. I'd imagine an extra stopover/significant delay would probably eat up the entire revenue of that particular flight.
Delays and diversions are not as expensive as people might think, especially when compared to the overall cost of operations. In our case, over 45% of our DOCs (Direct Operating Costs) came from fuel costs. These are disproportionately high in Africa (costs were between 45% and 125% more than purchasing the same fuel in Europe) and are actually down from the 2008 peak at almost 60% of DOCs. Our airport costs (landing, handling, etc..) in comparison were barely 9% of DOC and inflight costs (crew, catering, etc..) were about 10% of DOC. Aircraft lease costs were around 18%, maintenance costs around 12%, insurance around 2% and the rest (< 2%)was budgeted contingencies that include delay costs, mishandled baggage costs, etc... The knock-on effect of delays however can't be easily quantified as passenger profiles can vary significantly by season and route. A flight with lots of business connections that delays can be a lot more expensive than a vacation flight with lots of kids.
The diversion to Luton described in this report cost us less than $10,000 extra all-in, including the extra fuel burned and passenger accomodation (meals/hotels). Compare that to the $15,000 that you can spend de-icing a single aircraft on a particularly heavy snow day. Ghardaia on the other hand cost well in excess of $100,000 once all the dust was settled.