mondo

Am I just unlucky or does this plane have a poor reliability record? Three hour delay leaving JNB last night, entertainment system unusable during the entire flight, for the whole plane. Now have an additional 3 hour delay in CDG due to maintenance issue on the next A380 flight.
It is a comfy, quiet plane, but if this is common, it is worth avoiding.

mfkne

What does the aeroplane have to do with the installed IFE?

carnarvon

Same as between the house and home appliances chosen by the buyer.

mondo

I guess one has to be ultra-precise in these postings, I didn't think it was a debate club . .Do people have issues with the operational availability of the A380, as configured by Air France? .I am sure most passengers would not care if the delay is due to engine control systems, or coffee makers. Leaving JNB, we encountered a 3 hour delay on departure as they addressed what they described as a "technical issue", and then the gate agent proceeded to tell us how sophisticated the A380 was and how long it took to reset it's computer systems after maintenance. .It then happened, in-flight, that the entertainment system failed. I have no idea if the IFE problem was the cause of the delay. .Upon zipping through CDG to catch our next flight, the departure screens posted a 3 hour delay on my connecting flight, also on an A380, again "for technical reasons" as we were told at the gate.
. With two flights in a row delayed by 3 hours, either this is very unlikely and we were very unlucky, or each individual flight has a high likelihood of delay. .

orbitmic

Are you sure it wasn't simply the same plane? AF does not have that many A380s so it's perfectly possible that your first A380 was to operate the second flight too but because of late arrival (and need to fix IFEs etc) the delay may simply have rolled over. If the seats or configuration were different then of course that would not be the issue.

By and large, the A380 is a reliable plane and delays are not really unusually high except on a specific flight (JFK-CDG) where traffic conjunction at JFK associated with length of disembarking/embarking large numbers of passengers can cumulate into relatively lengthy delays at times.

nicolas75

Time of maintenance operations may also be linked with the type of equipment at the airport.

ulxima

You better be my friend, I have been nearly crucified for having described the arrival hall in Carthage as chaotic

Back to your question: you have been unlucky

Ciao
Ulxima