isaacchambers

So ZO on expert flyer is clearly a MX delay code.

Sigwx

It refers to ‘Operational’ which encompasses an awful lot of delay codes. Expert flyer is now very limited on delay information from BA and receives zero information about cancellations.

A delay due to late baggage loading would be ZO on EF as would crew running out of hours. I.T. Meltdown are ZO as well and weather induced carnage , plus the obvious tech issues.


BA287 of the 17th is now on its way and the delay code of worth is TM with 344 minutes attributed to it. The estimated arrival time based on a 10:20 flight time puts it over 3 and under 4 hours late. TM = Scheduled Maintenance.

BearX220

I'm departing LHR on the 297 in a few weeks and Flightstats reports it operates on time in only 25% of cases -- runs "very late" or with "excessive" delays half the time -- ouch.

Sigwx

It would appear that the 297 is a regular tow movement hence protracted delays. Anything below wing apart from catering = delays since the declaration ‘we are ready for business’.

Longhaul mid afternoon deps have a tendency to be planned as reentries into service of longhaul frames that have just spent the past 24 hours in the maintenance base. The theory works, the lack of staff sends the plan to the shredder. BA thinks the problem is people being told the truth as opposed to fixing their staffing woes. That said the first casualty of any war is the truth and no plan ever survives first contact with the enemy.
One day it’ll all start working again properly and I do have faith in that, today is not that day though. The evening deps that have frames residing over at the eastern end of the airfield do tend to have a better ‘ready for service’ performance than those previously alluded to.

dwugson

Given the problems with the 380 how have the recent flights to JNB been affected? Due to fly in two weeks time (on the later flight 057)
.

BearX220

That is very interesting and useful insight; thanks very much.

GlasgowBlue

I’m on BA0297 in just over a couple of weeks.

I’m hoping to complete my Global Entry approval/application by taking advantage of enrolment on arrival at ORD. BA0297 is scheduled to land at 19:20 and enrolment on arrival is manned until 20:00 at ORD T5 arrivals.

I’ve been checking the flight periodically on the BA app over recent weeks and it does seem to be delayed an awful lot.

This thread has prompted to check the Flightstats website. Average delay of 51 mins!

https://www.flightstats.com/v2/fligh...ing/BA/297/LHR

Meanwhile the AA flight from T3 to ORD (code share BA1544) which leaves 3 hours earlier, is on time 78% of the time. 12% of flights “late” or "excessively late” compared to 49% with BA0297:

https://www.flightstats.com/v2/fligh...ng/BA/1544/LHR

A delay of an hour or two won’t make or break a trip I’m really looking forward to. I’ve got an appointment for final approval of my Global
Entry application in downtown Chicago the day after I arrive as a back up.

However, that’s pretty dismal on time performance for the BA flight, especially when compared to the AA flight leaving from the same airport just a few hours before.

Edit: Just read Sigwx very informative explanation.

chriswiles

Just looked at BA 0295 to ORD and the graph is almost identical!

Red L

I am on BA 55 to JNB as I type. The plane arrived on time the morning of the 17th from DFW, but early in the day the JNB flight was listed as an hour delay, to 19:20.

By the time I was in the lounge, the delays started piling on. The screens indicated everyone should go to the gate around 19:00. There was very little seating, so most of us stood there for about 90 minutes with not even one announcement about what was going on. Finally they said they were waiting on a supervisor to start boarding, and they called for pre-boards around 20:30.

I was in the Group 1 scrum, and after finishing my first glass of champagne on board, the captain said the delays were because of late inbound aircraft (which wasn’t true - that plane arrived at 10:00 that morning) and maintenance that had to be done on the plane that the engineers started late because they were delayed with other problems.

Finally the doors closed and we all got situated, and then sat and sat and sat. The captain came on to say the upper jet bridge could not be disconnected from the plane. That requires a Heathrow Airport engineer, so we waited until s/he got there and was able to move the jetty.

We finally took off at 21:15 and are about to land in JNB 2.5 hours late, at 11:00.

The captain implied that the 380s regularly need some sort of (often lengthy) maintenance after EVERY flight. That is appalling.

enzian

Our flight 287 to SFO on the 17th started boarding sometime after 1800 but we did not take off until 1900 or later as they had to wait for another pilot.

is that 344 minute code TM delay mentioned by sigwx the official delay time?

Once we were underway, the flight was uneventful, but it was explained that some of the crew would time out and have to rest, so there would be only the first meal service, nothing later. That’s OK, as it would have been in the middle of the night when we were asleep. We landed at SFO sometime around 23:00 local time,and are now in our hotel room at the airport, kind of puzzled by the Peloton exercise bike in our room. Maybe tomorrow. . .

GratefulSmile

Hmm the BA108 was cancelled today from Dubai to London. Anyone know why?
I'm on it tomorrow and that's been delayed to 5pm already. And I'll miss my connection to GRU.

BA235

To echo Red L above. The earlier JNB, the BA55, is invariably delayed on departure, often making up (some) time en route. My flight two weeks ago was showing a 40 minute departure delay mid-afternoon. In the end we left about 90 mins late and landed 70 or so behind schedule. On this occasion the Captain stated the initial delay was caused by the plane being towed late from the maintenance hanger.

Conversely, the later BA57 seems to enjoy much better timekeeping.

corporate-wage-slave

There will be a hotel manager there who thought it would be a good idea to have a few rooms marked something like "Activ Life Room" where the customer would appreciate such a device available. The Parc 55 Hilton in San Francisco is one such hotel with a fitness centre in the room. Essentially it's a somewhat desperate attempt at market segmentation.

Sigwx

Yes, officially it is all down to the tech issues which are the root cause of everything else. I would imagine if one extra pilot was carried as opposed to a replacement the intent was to 'burn the heavy'. It was likely a case of that or cancel. A full replacement crew would have led to a cancellation due to 1, a lack there of and 2, CBP closes in SFO at 0700z.

A lack of flight crew. FCRY is the cancellation code

BearX220

That AA service is performed by a 787 on a tight turn. No maintenance, no tow, they barely shut the engines off.

I wonder if Waterside in hindsight wishes it hadn't been so quick to scrap all the 744s. Older they may have been, but they answered the bell better.