PERTH 6/12
 

So we have a little weather in Perth and the whole QF operation comes to a standstill!
VB etc seem to still operate?
PA says airport is closed yet VB still operate?
WTF is going on? thank christ it doesnt snow in Perth!
How do they operate a service out of DRW in the wet if they have to shut the place down in a storm?
Not a good look QF!
:ugh:

To be fair, it's not just QF. It appears that the whole airport was shut down due to storms. Reports of people sitting on landed aircraft for up to 8 hours, which, if true is just ridiculous, IMO.

Surely there were long enough breaks between lightning activity to allow ground handling?

Maybe I need to be a little more obvious for you.
the only aircaft holding and delayed were QF and Jetstar. VB etc were getting away!

Okay, maybe I misunderstood you. I didn't realise you were referring to departures, my error. I am referring to arrivals :-)

Similar thing happened in MEL recently on a flight I was on.All pax boarded,doors shut then we just sat there for 3-4 hours before pushing back.I felt for the passengers just arrived after long flights stuck on aircraft on taxiways for hours.All to do with OH&S I believe.No workers outside while lightning around.Problem was a line of storms kept arriving so no time between storms to get things moving again.

What is your beef RU/16?

Cant help bad weather
 

RU 16:-

Delays hapen in Darwin too because of storms.

Ever heard of a 5 mile warning?

It seems QF ground staff have far more restrictive requirements than the likes of Aerocare when it comes to being safe. Minimum 15 aircraft lined up? Ridiculous, when other operators found windows to service their aircraft.

RU
Get a grip, it's weather, it happens. You want to be the person to tell someone

their son or husband got cooked by lightning on the tarmac?

And just for balance video from ABC news,
oldpinger, I'm sorry, but I simply don't believe that there were no lightning clear periods available for ground handlers to accept aircraft and allow their unloading at air bridges, alleviating having to sit on a plane for longer than your flight.

I totally accept the need to 'be safe', but surely this is going overboard. It simply smacks of the Safety Police going totally OTT.

A flight I was on recently got stuck waiting at the gate for about an hour at SY because ML had only just reopened after being closed due wx, and a huge amount of traffic from SY and elsewhere was already enroute.

These weather ground holds all started after a guy was struck by lightning at SYD during a storm. Ever since then it's been taken very seriously. Can't speak specifically for PER, but as far as I understand, ALL operators should be held to the same standards. Lights on = nobody on the ramp. However some ground staff don't seem to care or notice... VA/QF or any other operator shouldn't be encouraging their staff to disregard the airport warnings. :ugh:

Ah, no.

Virgin did cancel at least one flight to Port Hedland today due weather.

Thunderbolts and lightning
 

Lightning is just one issue. The flow on effect from the initial delays compounded the problem. And don't forget on top of that is the fact that Perth international airport is a chicken**** outfit, not long ago it was rated 8th worst international airport in the world!
Now, where are those mining profits again, a squirt of that money could go a long way........

Oh for sure,

Yeah that's what they mentioned as the reason for the hold. This was compounded by some bloke leaving the aircraft to go home in the short period they boarded the remaining passengers on our flight. They then had to find his bags. Would have helped if he had told the crew at the time that was leaving! Having spent 12 hours now at the airport-waiting for bags to get through the mess caused by all the aircraft- i'm getting more philosophical about it all.

Wouldn't be surprised to see the mining companies get jack of PH, and build their own airport for FIFO.

Didn't one of the mining bosses offer to bring some of his heavy equipment to PH and build a second runway for free?

SimonBl, out of interest, how much do you know about airlines and schedules?

Let me lay it out for you. Let's say the bays are full- not an unusual prospect in Perth- when the 5nm alert occurs. The alert lasts for 40 min- not unusual either. In the mean time, five aircraft arrive for those bays that were scheduled to be vacated by then. So aircraft 1-5 are now up to 40 min late as are the arriving flights. Those arriving flights all arrive on bay at the same time 40 min late. Half an hour later the ramp goes off due T/S again for half an hour. These aircraft are now more than an hour late departing and in the meantime, another bunch of arrivals are more than an hour arriving at the gate- with the next arrivals landing as they park.

In short, when you're operating a terminal at virtually full capacity- as most Qantas terminals do- then it doesn't take many thunderstorms before there are going to be multiple hours of delays to arriving and departing aircraft.

Why doesn't this affect DJ to the same extent? They're probably not operating at terminal capacity like Qantas is at Perth. They have more bays available and a lower flight frequency thus not compounding the problem as quickly.

The longest delay I've heard recorded thus far was Newman- Perth. 1:35 flight time, 8:24 to get from touchdown to blox.

For you heros that like dodging lightning bolts, I was told one strike today was 60m from a parked aircraft and another hit a nearby building and took out the PA system.

I suppose, RU/16, you play golf under a thunderstorm? :cool:

There's a claim in this article that an SAA A340 was struck by lightning at 1330

Thousands stranded at Perth Airport - The West Australian