UA 840 cancelled.....again!

[Montague S]

mumma mia...

how many times a month does this happen with a UA flight in & out of Sydney? :confused:

[Andrew M]

There is a good thread on flyertalk.com which mentions pretty much every delay and cancellation of this flight. Though I did have to add today's in :)

A quick look at the sydneyairport.com.au flight arrivals and departures information shows that the flight didn't arrive into SYD on the 16th

I will say the usual speil here, delays and cancellations happen with every airline, yes even EK and SQ.

I keep a close eye on the AC flights in/out of SYD since the non-stop flights to YVR have been running since Mid Dec. So far 3 cancellations so one per month and with only 1 flight in/out of SYD per month.

UA has 2 flights in and 2 flights out, rising to 3 in DEC/JAN period.

So yes, yet another cancellation, and I can imagine that UA handled it in an OK manner!

[Andrew M]

Oh as for your questions how many times a month, well usually not more than 1 full cancellation per month, but you can read that other thread and count yourself :D

[D Chan]

Oh as for your questions how many times a month, well usually not more than 1 full cancellation per month, but you can read that other thread and count yourself :D

I recall last year in around August / September, it got pretty bad and I think it was a pretty bad 2 weeks. During this period there were 3 cancellations and 2 significant delays within a fortnight. It was only the 840 / 870 as well, no 3rd flights.

e.g. late cancellations: flight cancelled after pax went through customs (so they have to come back out) x2
inbound flight (normally arrives around 6:10am in the morning) arrived Syd at 10pm (UA839) due a/c went Tech in LAX, crew ran out of hours. UA839 MEL-bound pax had to overnight at Sydney.

[Andrew M]

Yes your correct there, but I tend to average out the delays/cancellations over a longer period :)

That being said I will NEVER fly UA out of Australia!

[Montague S]

is there a link to the FT thread?

[Montague S]

no matter..I found it, the reason why I included again in the title is due to the fact that its becoming very regular now....

[Andrew M]

Well not that regular really, I don't usually defend UA as you would know, but heck even AC with brand new 777's have had 3 full cancellations in 4 months with only 1 flight per day. Added to that several delays of hours etc etc.

[Montague S]

here is the incomplete list...

04SEP07 D02h SYD-SFO #037
08SEP07 D16h LAX-SYD #025
09SEP07 Canc SFO-SYD #027
09SEP07 D14h LAX-SYD #030
10SEP07 Canc SYD-SFO #030
19SEP07 Canc SYD-SFO #047 (became 20SEP07, see that date)
20SEP07 Canc SYD-SFO #047 (from 19SEP07, see that date)
??SEP07 D04h LAX-SYD 0000 (separate thread)
02OCT07 D13h LAX-SYD #282
26OCT07 D04h SFO-SYD #108
06NOV07 VHNL SYD-SFO #068 & #079
08NOV07 Canc SYD-SFO #067
17NOV07 D01h SFO-SYD #106
22NOV07 D??h LAX-SYD #091
24NOV07 D02h SYD-LAX #158
26NOV07 Canc SFO-SYD #131 (became 27 NOV07, see that date)
27NOV07 Canc SFO-SYD #117 (became 28NOV07, see that date)
28NOV07 D02h SFO-SYD #120 (from 26 & 27NOV07, see those dates)
28NOV07 Canc SYD-SFO #109
01DEC07 D??h LAX-SYD #139
11DEC07 D03h LAX-SYD #151
19DEC07 Canc LAX-SYD #163
20DEC07 D??h LAX-SYD #205 (delay assumed, flight was cancelled then reinstated)
21DEC07 D03h LAX-SYD #208
21DEC07 Canc SYD-LAX #166
22DEC07 Canc SYD-LAX #183 (different flight to below)
22DEC07 D01h SYD-LAX #213 (different flight to above)
28DEC07 D01h LAX-SYD #253
29DEC07 Canc SFO-SYD #234
31DEC07 Canc SYD-SFO #234
31DEC07 D01h LAX-SYD 0000 (different flight to below, from flight stats)
31DEC07 D02h LAX-SYD 0000 (different flight to above, from flight stats)
31DEC07 D01h SFO-SYD 0000 (from flight stats)
01JAN08 D03h SYD-SFO #286
01JAN08 D01h SYD-LAX 0000 (from flight stats)
04JAN08 D03h SYD-SFO #304
04JAN08 VLAX SYD-SFO #318 (rerouted through LAX)
04JAN08 D02h LAX-SYD #315
06JAN08 D01h SYD-SFO #323
14JAN08 D14h SFO-SYD #368
14JAN08 Canc LAX-SYD #389
16JAN08 Canc SYD-LAX #367
16JAN08 Canc SYD-SFO #370
16JAN08 VHNL SFO-SYD #395 (rerouted through HNL, arrive D03h)
17JAN08 D01h SYD-SFO #410
18FEB08 D02h SYD-SFO #426
27FEB08 D01h LAX-SYD #444
03MAR08 D01h LAX-SYD #440
07MAR08 D22h LAX-SYD #445

16 so far that I've counted which have been cancelled...add to that this months and the remainder of last months.

[D Chan]

here is the incomplete list...



16 so far that I've counted which have been cancelled...add to that this months and the remainder of last months.

very nice list compilation there Montague. The 'horror' 2 weeks that I mentioned was probably the early September ones. Note the late inbound LAX flight on the 8th Sep.

When the flight is cancelled late it's a nightmare for everyone involved. Some pax are very understanding (but some are not). Factor in the number of delays and how many hotel / taxi vouchers need to be given out for each cancellations, and these expense will pile up. Nevermind how much money / revenue they make on the route - delays / cancellations cost them dearly!

[Grant Smith]

Nevermind how much money / revenue they make on the route - delays / cancellations cost them dearly!

Especially when hotels are near capacity and therefore charging rack rates to fill those last remaining rooms, you can easily be looking at a $50,000 hotel bill...

[Mike Scott]

Not to worry...Our crews love it...an extra day in Sydney !!!!

MS

[Andrew M]

The crew that sits at the very front and is not customer faciing love the delays you mean ;)

[D Chan]

The crew that sits at the very front and is not customer faciing love the delays you mean ;)

The F/A are lucky they don't really have to 'face the music' - even better is an 'early cancellation' - they get notified in the hotel! Some pax are very understanding though and they know it's not the check-in persons fault.

I think 1K and GS members get rebooked if possible.

[Andrew M]

Well yes its the check-in agents that cop it !

[Mike Scott]

The gate agents do cop it...especially if its one of those "notifications as you check in after standing in line" The FA's do get flak from the passengers when they do finally get on board...the only safe area is up front with us....we are tucked away before pax board then either head for the door as soon as we shut down or stooge around until everyone is gone theh hit the crew line thru immigation etc....either way its not someting that I would wish on anybody,,,not a fun part of the job.

MS