We are booked LAX-SYD later this month. How often does Qantas have to substitute a 744 for the A380?

So far it has been running to schedule, with a couple of addition MEL-LAX-SYD legs thrown in on [Tue/Wed] from now.

Exceptionally reliable, according to my information - AFAIK, it hasn't missed a scheduled flight (yet).

Dave

100% reliability from what I have seen as well!

From what I've read the 380 has had the smoothest entry into service - forget about delivery!- of any plane in recent memory. Airbus have, i believe, been touting that even SQ were delighted, a rare occurrence in aviation circles

Yet SQ's Bird 1 is always breaking down as I have personally experienced.

While I'm very happy to hear the whalejet has been reliable (I'm on QF94 a week from today), SQ was treating theirs like a newborn child at first. They pulled it from service and gave it a full check when a pilot cut a taxiway corner short and accidentally put some of the rear wheels on the grass. Granted I should bite my tounge. Based on current record, if anyone was going to do something injurious to a 380 on the ground (other than an airbus crew leaving a toolbox in the avionics bay) it will be QF. Also, if it was Air India and PIA, rather than SQ and QF, being the first in service, I would be far more impressed with the A/C's resilience.

So I can assume then that nobody in EK or SQ would do such a thing? And I suppose SQ would never try to take off from the wrong runway (in TPE) - but that wasn't a 380.

Yes if it was a 777/744 or a QF bird they would have just towed her back to gate, loaded her up and let her take off wouldn't they

If you mean based on the media bashing of QF on an almost daily basis then yes QF does come up more. I am glad that the new CEO has had a few words to say about this ^

Of course I am excluding the last two Qantas incidents, and while the final report is not in for both of these, it APPEARS that QF was not a fault.

Anyways back to topic, EK had a problem with their A380 the other day

"Engineers at Emirates are investigating the cause of the glitch aboard the 489-seat superjumbo, in which passengers were left without reading lights and the digital entertainment system. �This disruption led to a compromised level of passenger comfort and as a result, a decision was made for the aircraft to return to Dubai,� an Emirates spokeswoman said."

http://www.thenational.ae/article/20...835/0/NATIONAL

I only need to look at your programs to say "Oh my God......"

They did have a plane flying around during the delay, so they had plenty of time to work on any kinks.

I think this may be a slight exaggeration. I know several management pilots at SQ, including those on the A380 fleet, and as of a recent visit they are still very happy with the reliability of the new aeroplanes. Of course there are occasional out-of-service problems, but so far, after more than 12 months in-service and with six aircraft now operating, they are indeed pleased with a/c reliability. As mentioned above, the A380 has had a very smooth introduction to service compared with most new a/c types.

And of course SQ checked the aeroplane out fully after it put some wheels on the grass, as any safety-conscious airline would.

And as to speculation about what QF would do (although they don't seem to have had much choice in this case...):

http://www.theage.com.au/travel/anot...1209-6ua2.html

Oops

Didn't EK engineers accidentally put their first A380 out of service for a week or so?
Oh QF should be replacing an engine soon, no airline likes to have all the engines on the same number of hours / cycles.

Hopefully Etihad do not get a new A380

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=388164

The EK 380 was out of service due tot he toolbox being left in the avionics bay by Airbus techs and causing massive amounts of FOD.

Lonely flyer, what about my programs causes such shock?