It strikes me odd that a culture like Japan, where a train delay of a few seconds would require apology, would have an airline whose flights are so chronically delayed. If one checks the flight status for several of ANA's transpacific flights, one quickly notices how bad their on time performance is, not only for Japan standards, but also for worldwide standards. I've flown them several times in the past, and there's always some 20-40 minute delay on arrival. Part of the reason is that their schedules are timed extremely aggressively, so a day with unfavorable winds could cause a flight to land half an hour late. For most U.S. destinations, they also only time a 1 hr 45 min turnaround, so things can easily go wrong. Recently, some ORD-NRT flights (NH 11) scheduled for 13 hr 20 min are clocking in near 14 hours, causing the next flight NRT-LAX to be delayed. Although that flight (NH 176) is timed for 9 hr 40 min, it's often taking over 10 hours. When you consider they only schedule 1 hr 40 ground time between each of these flights, we can easily see that unfavorable winds on a single leg causes 3/4 flights to be delayed on a HND-ORD-NRT-LAX-NRT rotation.
This isn't a recent or isolated issue. In my experience, the block times on intra-Asia flights are also similarly bad. The question is, if the problem is so obvious, why don't they do anything to address it? These problems can be mitigated by 1.) offering 2-2.5 hour turnaround times 2.) padding 20 minutes on schedules 3.) flying faster. Of course, that comes at a price of lower aircraft utilization. But given the Japanese high expectations for punctuality, are they really willing to run such a risky schedule in exchange for an uncharacteristically bad on-time performance?
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Re: ANA International Flights - Bad Punctuality?
ANA has consistently won awards for being one of the most punctual airlines globally.
For 2016 they were in the top-10 of most punctual in the world with 85.5% rate.
https://www.flightstats.com/company/med ... ce-awards/
ANA also published monthly ontime statistics. Ontime departure rate for September 2017 was 86.0% international and 88.3% domestic
https://www.ana.co.jp/group/en/pr/pdf/20171102-2.pdf
For 2016 they were in the top-10 of most punctual in the world with 85.5% rate.
https://www.flightstats.com/company/med ... ce-awards/
ANA also published monthly ontime statistics. Ontime departure rate for September 2017 was 86.0% international and 88.3% domestic
https://www.ana.co.jp/group/en/pr/pdf/20171102-2.pdf
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- spacecadet
- Posts: 3678
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Re: ANA International Flights - Bad Punctuality?
I can see there potentially being a problem route or two, but I fly them a lot both internationally and domestically within Japan and while my flight has left a bit late once or twice (less than I'd expect, though), I don't think I've ever once arrived late. They will "make it up in the air".
Some of their flights would be a real problem if they were chronically late. Flight 109 from JFK is scheduled in to Haneda at 9:10PM, and after going through immigration, customs, etc. you're lucky to be out by 10, if not 10:30. That's if it's on time. In Tokyo, public transport starts shutting down at around midnight, so even if you're *on time* it can be dicey if you need to make a couple transfers and get close to the edge of the city. The first time I took this flight, I was really worried because I had to go to T-CAT, the bus terminal, and the last bus leaves at 12:15AM. (Hey, my home airport's JFK - being 2 hours late is not that unusual.) And the reason that's when the last bus leaves is because it gets there right before the last train leaves. So if you miss the bus, you've missed the train too, even if you take a taxi.
I had nothing to worry about; we've gotten there on time every time I've taken this flight (three or four times since then).
One thing I've noticed leaving JFK too is that they will usually leave on time come hell or high water, unless there's a mechanical issue or something else really out of their control. But they don't wait for missing passengers, they don't wait for people to be out of the bathroom, they don't even wait for everybody to be sitting down. They close that door and go.
Again, doesn't mean they don't have some problem routes.
Some of their flights would be a real problem if they were chronically late. Flight 109 from JFK is scheduled in to Haneda at 9:10PM, and after going through immigration, customs, etc. you're lucky to be out by 10, if not 10:30. That's if it's on time. In Tokyo, public transport starts shutting down at around midnight, so even if you're *on time* it can be dicey if you need to make a couple transfers and get close to the edge of the city. The first time I took this flight, I was really worried because I had to go to T-CAT, the bus terminal, and the last bus leaves at 12:15AM. (Hey, my home airport's JFK - being 2 hours late is not that unusual.) And the reason that's when the last bus leaves is because it gets there right before the last train leaves. So if you miss the bus, you've missed the train too, even if you take a taxi.
I had nothing to worry about; we've gotten there on time every time I've taken this flight (three or four times since then).
One thing I've noticed leaving JFK too is that they will usually leave on time come hell or high water, unless there's a mechanical issue or something else really out of their control. But they don't wait for missing passengers, they don't wait for people to be out of the bathroom, they don't even wait for everybody to be sitting down. They close that door and go.
Again, doesn't mean they don't have some problem routes.
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- theasianguy
- Posts: 208
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Re: ANA International Flights - Bad Punctuality?
spacecadet wrote:I can see there potentially being a problem route or two, but I fly them a lot both internationally and domestically within Japan and while my flight has left a bit late once or twice (less than I'd expect, though), I don't think I've ever once arrived late. They will "make it up in the air".
Again, doesn't mean they don't have some problem routes.
Maybe... their domestic operation is a well-oiled machine. Haneda is as smooth as can be. Their overall on-time performance is respectable because about 80% of their frequencies are domestic. Their international network has an OTP closer to 70%.
I guess it's just my bad luck that I keep getting caught on problem routes transiting through NRT. For example, SFO/LAX-NRT have been perennially bad since at least 2013. As some of NH's first international routes, they haven't changed the timings much since inception. These flights require more block time as air traffic congestion has increased significantly at all three airports. Also, planes fly slower today vs 15 years ago to save fuel.
Additionally, headwinds/tailwinds cause significant time differences. Between April-mid-June, most of ANA's intra-Asia flights ex-NRT (PVG, PEK, TPE, HKG, SGN, BKK, KUL, SIN, CGK) get delayed 20-40 minutes on arrival, even with on-time departures. Flights from Asia into NRT then arrive 20-40 min early. By mid-July-August, the reverse happens, where inbound NRT flights arrive late and departing NRT flights arrive on-time or early. So they''re definitely not making up time in air.
I just think allowing longer block times and turnaround times, especially during seasons with strong headwinds, will greatly improve OTP.
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