As you could all imagine I am sure, the title of this lecture embraces a subject which is very close to the airline operator's heart. One of the prime objectives of any airline is to operate on time all the time.

The word ‘delay’ of course can encompass a wide range of problems. As the second oldest airline in the world—after KLM—and the operator of the world's longest average passenger journey length we do not mind admitting that we have had our share of delays over the years. I know this is a very serious subject but I could not resist having a brief look through our records recently to pluck out a few of the more extreme reasons for delays that you run into in the airline business.