Mess in AMS today - up to March 2022

Old Jun 19, 2019, 1:41 pm
  #436  
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We got delayed on the tarmac by a storm that came up so quick it looked like a tornado. This was on KL1433(WA) AMS-BHX.



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Old Jun 19, 2019, 2:56 pm
  #437  
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That's some dark clouds for sure!
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Old Jun 19, 2019, 3:39 pm
  #438  
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Originally Posted by Concerto
Looks like it's still going on. I'm sitting just now in GVA with a lengthy delay on the KL1930.
I'm sure you will be please to learn that the earlier KL1928 arrived only 13 minutes late. Not that I was on board, but I was due to fly on the same aircraft, so watched it arrive at the gate.

As we were waiting on board (while the screens had been showing "now boarding" for half an hour) , the captain (who was also waiting at the gate) made an announcement: we would board only slightly late, but had been saddled with a 40 minute slot delay by ATC. The weather at AMS was perfectly fine, but the delay was allegedly due to thunderstorms over the northeastern parts of the country. Really weird, because as it happened I was whiling away the time looking at realtime radar images and could see that these storms (no lightning) were just crossing into Germany, and thus out of our flightpath. We ended up departing an addtional six minutes late, and enjoyed a smooth flight in splendid weather.

The AMS departure board at around noon was a complete mess. I had a hard time spotting a flight that was not late.


AMS now sucks 24/7

Johan
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Old Jun 19, 2019, 3:41 pm
  #439  
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Originally Posted by BobTL
limited airspace in Germany.
Did it suddenly shrink?


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Old Jun 19, 2019, 9:57 pm
  #440  
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That happens a lot when it gets cold, shrinkage is normal.
Boturham and Maestro Ramen like this.
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Old Jun 20, 2019, 3:04 pm
  #441  
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Originally Posted by caliform
That happens a lot when it gets cold, shrinkage is normal.
That explains it.

Given that it is summer in Germany, it is probably best to blame Global Warming.

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Old Jun 20, 2019, 4:13 pm
  #442  
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So what actually is the problem at AMS then? Apart from tornadoes and storms with black clouds. Because it never used to be like this.
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Old Jun 20, 2019, 4:53 pm
  #443  
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Perhaps ATC is still trying to get to grips with its fancy new software?

When we finally took off Wednesday afternoon from runway 09, I noticed that the runway was being used for both departures and arrivals, which at least in my experience is really unusual at AMS. Once in the air I had grandstand views of the airport for several minutes. Aircraft were taking off from 18L, landing on 18R, and 09 was still being used for both. 18C/26C and 06/24 were not in use.

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Old Jun 22, 2019, 2:36 pm
  #444  
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Not sure what was going on this afternoon, but about half of KL's departing flights were delayed. This morning it was about one fourth.

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Old Jun 23, 2019, 3:44 am
  #445  
 
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As puzzled as you, Johan. On Sat 22 I had the Aeroflot 2551 ready to go 10 min before scheduled departure. Waiting well over one hour after the 13.15 scheduled departure at the gate before pushback. Polderbaan take off of course (20 min taxi for the cautious Russion pilot). Soaks up all slack with my connection in Moscow and connection to BKK missed. Sunday BKK dinner meeting in tatters, only by an epic rerouting via Seoul I could ensure my Monday 9 am meeting could go on. I thought initially SVO was the problem, but the crew said Amsterdam. Why are they not able to work according to schedule on a day with nothing special in terms of weather, strikes, etc.? Worrysome.
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Old Jun 23, 2019, 1:48 pm
  #446  
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Originally Posted by atflyer
Why are they not able to work according to schedule on a day with nothing special in terms of weather, strikes, etc.? Worrysome.
My guess is restricted capacity while ATC plays around with its fancy new software.

What else could it be?

A quick count shows that some 50 departing KL flights were delayed this afternoon (between 12 noon and 6 p.m.). That's more than a fourth.

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Old Jun 24, 2019, 9:09 am
  #447  
 
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iirc someone on these threads mentioned that Klm (or was it Schiphol) has made the operational decision to stretch capacity to 100% so there is no room for slack and the first insignificant delay brings the (delft) house of cards down.

If you have a Japan-like level of planning and execution, 100% capacity might work. But here... I must say my last two flights ex AMS were both delayed roughly an hour. Hope it doesnt become the new norm.
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Old Jun 24, 2019, 9:34 am
  #448  
 
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Originally Posted by Maestro Ramen
iirc someone on these threads mentioned that Klm (or was it Schiphol) has made the operational decision to stretch capacity to 100% so there is no room for slack and the first insignificant delay brings the (delft) house of cards down.

If you have a Japan-like level of planning and execution, 100% capacity might work. But here... I must say my last two flights ex AMS were both delayed roughly an hour. Hope it doesnt become the new norm.
Interesting. They always said the 500k flights per annum was a political maximum. If it is a technical maximum, Schiphol is in dire straits. I really wonder how this can be possible with 5 runways available, where Heatrow has 480k flights with just 2 runways (and 80 million passengers due to having bigger aircraft).
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Old Jun 24, 2019, 3:01 pm
  #449  
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Originally Posted by atflyer
I really wonder how this can be possible with 5 runways available, where Heatrow has 480k flights with just 2 runways (and 80 million passengers due to having bigger aircraft).
Six, actually. The Oostbaan is shorter than the rest, but I've landed on it a number times, once in a 747.

The number or runways may be large, but they are subject to a host of restrictions that limit their usefulness.

This makes interesting reading, especially the section on Current Capacity Contraints, where AMS ticks just about all the boxes.

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Old Jun 26, 2019, 4:24 am
  #450  
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I had a totally smooth trip through yesterday, on BHX-AMS-HAJ. I had a one hour layover and managed to clear passport control and have 10 minutes for a coffee in the Schengen Lounge (allowing for the fact that the HAJ flight was a bus gate). The first flight had a 10 minutes delay, the second one 5 minutes. All pretty good, I thought. Nice flights too.
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