Question Concerning Operating Costs?
Question Concerning Operating Costs?
I am helping a university student prepare a paper concerning the Airbus A380. The particular airline he has chosen for his case study is experiencing many technical faults resulting in some pretty costly delays. As a BA employee, I was always told that an aeroplane sitting on a pier-served stand at Heathrow cost in the region of £300 for every minute it sat beyond its scheduled departure time.
(I have a suspicion that was just a figure lucked at random to impress on one the importance of "doing yer bit" to ensure on time departure.)
Related to this A380 topic, would anyone out there have an approximate idea of the likely average costs per minute of a delay?
The other fact of interest would be in aeroplane manufacturers' procedures. Nearly all new aeroplanes, and in particular aeroplanes of a new design, will develop a few teething troubles in its early days. Do the airlines accept that this will happen and they absorb the costs themselves, or do they prepare an invoice and claim the costs of consequential losses from the manufacturer - or do they simply negotiate some sort of contra agreement?
Some sort of definitive answers would probably gain my friend some kudos and higher marks!
Thank you for your help.