Flight Delays
 

Hello, all.

My favorite thread in the CX forum is this:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/catha...ht-delays.html

It is a great place for FTers to comment and seek advice wrt delays. However, since that thread is specific to CX/KA, I thought it would be a good idea to start a new thread, which is generally applicable to all flights in China. I discussed such with cxfan1960, and he is in agreement.

He even suggested that we make it a sticky because it is such an important topic. While I agree with this in principle, I kind of like the fact that this forum has such a limited number of stickies. As such, I suggest that we:

1. Start with posting freely about our experiences
2. I incorporate feedback into this OP
3. Consider making a Wikipost
4. Then, we can discuss whether or not this thread is sticky-worthy
(if posts are frequent enough, we might not need to go this route at all)

For the time being, let's focus on #1:
e.g.
-tell us about your delay (date, time of day, carrier are all important variables)
-how was the weather
-what steps did you take to make things better?
-how did you pass the time?

I also must point out that one of the reasons the delay thread in the CX forum is currently under review is because the discussion started to get a bit heated in the more recent pages. I believe we can avoid such here.

Not surprised that the thread has been closed. Amazing BS.

That thread was closed, but I hope we can keep this new thread open. I suggest that we adhere to the same manner of restraint we've employed in the visa free transit thread.

For example, we are almost guaranteed to see posts from people that missed their pek-hkg-lhr connections because they thought 3 hours was good enough. Instead of harking on the shear stupidity of attempting such a connection, let's just add it to the "not a good idea" column in our data table.

I also anticipate arguments about airline X is less delay prone than airline Y. This is quite relevant, but let's make it a habit of asking for actual data when this issue arises.

Beijing Airports Closed for Three hours on 3 Sept
 

PEK & NAY will be closed 0930-1230 on 3 September:
English: http://news.yahoo.com/china-close-be...041522413.html
Chinese: http://news.sohu.com/20150801/n417987909.shtml

More delays expected that day. Fortunately that is a Thursday.

This is a good idea. I've been in Shanghai eight months now and have been taking the opportunity to see things in the area. I've had only one flight leave on time and that was a first of the day flight to Haikou. Even my international flights to FRA and EWR have been delayed though not as bad as the others.

However, it does seem, based on my observations while being delayed myself, that flights to Guangdong and Hainan get delayed the most frequently regardless of airline (of course, most of my flights have been to and from those regions).

My biggest frustration is that there usually is no information at PVG about a delay. It just says delay. Seems less common at the out stations. I've also missed a delayed flight when I didn't hear any announcements about boarding and had my back to the gate (never do that again).

I've been delayed on:
PVG-SZX (5 hours) - Shenzhen Airlines
SZX-PVG (3 hours) - Shenzhen Airlines
PVG-HAK (Between 1-5 hours) - Hainan Airlines, Beijing Capital Airlines
HAK-PVG (Between 1-3 hours) - Hainan Airlines, China Southern
SHA-CAN (2 hours) - Shanghai Airlines (switch from China Southern due to a potential missed connection)
CAN-PVG (5 hours) - China Southern

Allow me to give some perspective on these matters:
-read the first several pages of the other flight delays thread in order to get up to speed on summer time flying
-for the first part of this summer, every single one of my flight delays (i.e. ALL flights) had plausible weather related excuses
e.g. see here: http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel...jing/30774143/
-but, yesterday, the weather was fine in Shenzhen, Shanghai, and all points in between... and, I still got hit with a 2.5 hour delay

While I was roasting on the tarmac in Shenzhen, I checked out the Shanghai airport website, and noticed that all flights to/from the south and west were basically on hold... while everything else was not.

This leads me to suspect (and, only suspect because I have no proof) that the Nanjing PLA has started to perform its annual summer training exercises, now that the weather is nice.

For data purposes:
-9C8918, August 2
-SZX-SHA
-1025a departure; 250p (actual) arrival
-boarding was delayed by 1.5 hours
-+1 hour on the tarmac
-I'm really glad that they didn't subject us to the entire 2.5 hours on the tarmac, btw

Flight Delays
 

1.5 hour delay HKG-PVG today on KA. Was clear and fine in both cities, but for me a 1.5 hour delay is a win on that route.

Two weeks ago I missed my PVG-HKG-FRA connection due to an 8 hour delay on the PVG-HKG flight. I thought I'd given myself enough time with a 6 hour connection but I was wrong. I've now resolved to give up on using CX for my international travels and just fly the PVG-US or PVG-EU sector direct from PVG rather than transfer thru HKG. I like CX better than the EU, Mainland or US carriers but it's not worth the aggravation. The long haul nonstop are generally not badly delayed unless there is a full group stop at PVG.

In January I had a DL TPAC from ICN delayed by about nine hours, which was announced when I did OLCI in Singapore. The cause was that the 747 aircraft had experienced a twelve hour delay at PEK (departing TPAC) due to weather (IIRC fog/smog) and ATC. The aircraft was struggling to catch up with its schedule.

+1

Probably goes without saying, but should I avoid going into and out of China on Oct. 1st?

More on this today:

http://www.scmp.com/print/news/hong-...-china-flights

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/polic...s-it-doles-out

http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-...stly-explained

I've been lucky the last few times from PVG to BKK with no delays. Same with PVG to PUS.

http://downloads.cathaypacific.com/c...31b.pdf#page=3

Depressing, particularly the quote from the PLA guy about the drills only becoming bigger and more frequent. In the US, we reserve large portions of wasteland in Nevada for such. It would be nice if China followed this example...but, this is really about the PLA purposefully flexing its muscle.

It's just a complete joke now. A drain on their economy and a massive waste of time and fuel. Nothing will change, however, as long as the PLA has the final say. The decision makers in the PLA are probably more interested in grifting enough to buy another lambo for their son or mistress or a house in Palo Alto than any pain travelers feel no matter how bad the situation gets. When you have absolute authority with absolutely no accountability this is what happens.