Can We Trust Airlines? The Truth About Flight Cancellations

[KamaAina]

https://www.yahoo.com/travel/can-we-trust-airlines-the-truth-about-flight-127607007077.html

On a recent Delta flight from New York to Nebraska — after two supposedly weather related flight cancellations (without a storm in sight), a total breakdown in communication, and unexpected and exhausting need for a rental car and an extra three hour drive — I felt like something was really awry. I felt like I was being lied to, and I’m starting to think my instincts were right....

“When an airline cancels a flight because of something like a mechanical issue, they will usually they offer some kind of compensation to passengers…it’s in the contract of carriage” says Elliott. “So, it’s in the airlines best interest to label the delay as beyond their control. If an airline claims a delay is caused by weather, the carrier can save tens of thousands of dollars in hotel and meal expenses.”...

“Let’s say you’re flying out of a city like Orlando where there is a rain shower every afternoon,” he explains. “You encounter a 20-minute delay, but then the crew times out and there’s no crew. So what started out as a weather delay, turns into a crew issue.”

Currently, airlines only have to put the first reason for the delay in the computer. So even if the flight was eventually cancelled due to the crew, they can avoid admitting that. “The FAA only cares about the first reason for the delay,” says Elliot. “So the airline can just walk away, blame it on the weather, and they don’t have to accommodate passengers.”

[Roland99]

1. Squeaky wheels get the grease, though. So do Medallion members

I was a "victim" of several of those weather delays at MCO that cost me overnights in subsequent connecting cities. Being, at the time, top tier Diamond Medallion status, helped with being accommodated on the next flight and/or compensation (usually SkyMiles)

Esp. when one *was* originally mechanical then fed into a 2hr ground halt during a storm that stopped over the airport. They *technically* had closed the door and pulled the jetway back on time but we couldn't be pushed back until the ground halt was lifted.

[joeybee12]

2. I used to work for the airlines...

Yeah, they lie, and they lie a lot about the reason for the delays.

[frazzled]

3. I know you can't

Going back maybe 5 years ago, we got to the airport for a flight only to read (at the gate) it was cancelled. (It wasn't listed as cancelled before we left home.) They told us the plane hadn't been able to come in because of bad weather in New York. I immediately googled the weather in New York, and discovered it was clear as a bell. Then I read that the flight not only had left LGA but had already landed at our airport. I showed the personnel the information on my iPhone and said, "You can't get away with lying to customers anymore. If it was cancelled because there weren't enough passengers or because of some other reason, fine. Just tell us the truth." They were unmoved. We had to wait three hours to get a different flight.

[SheilaT]

4. I likewise used to work for the airlines.

Flights are not cancelled just because there's not enough passengers. Sometimes there's one plane, and the decision as to which flight to have it on will be determined by the passenger loads. Which is really quite different.

Sometimes the gate or ticket agents are not correctly informed by operations or dispatch. One time when I was working the gate, a flight was being delayed because the inbound equipment was held up in another city. I finally gave my passengers meal vouchers and sent them off to eat dinner. Maybe ten minutes later the plane, which supposedly had not yet left the originating city, landed. I was furious, because I'd been misinformed, so I'd misinformed my passengers, and now I had to try to get them all right back to the gate so they could leave as soon as possible.

Sometimes, no matter what the delay is, they just don't know when the plane will be ready, or when the weather will lift, or whatever is really going on.

I agree. Passengers should be told the truth about what's going on, but unfortunately the ones who make some of those decisions are never face to face with the passengers.

[mnhtnbb]

5. Airlines lie about everything: equipment, personnel, weather, you name it.

I can't tell you the number of times we've been screwed by lies from gate agents.
Yes, maybe they aren't given the correct info, and maybe they just are doing
what they're told.

The best example of that one time was when we were waiting in Miami for a flight to Peru.
More excuses than you could imagine for why the plane wasn't ready...equipment...fixing it...
moving it out...bringing another plane...one excuse after another.

My husband--a general aviation pilot and psychiatrist--eventually sidled up to the pilot and
co-pilot waiting in the area with us. He engaged them in conversation and got the real story--
which did not match any of the reasons the gate agents had offered as to why we were delayed.

Bullshit. Always bullshit from the airlines.

[hifiguy]

6. They are huge, oligopolistic American corporations,

they treat their customers like shit. But I am being redundant.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

7. When our corporate masters own our "elected" politicians they also own the regulators

they can fuck us without consequence and unless we can get out the vote the fucking will continue. The people need to wake the fuck up and that won't happen until we the people stop depending on corporate media for our world view. Unfortunatly, citizens united is just too lucrative for the media to do anything but continue to lie to us. Thus the Bernie blackout. His solutions would cost them billions.

[madinmaryland]

8. Since we are all giving anecdotal evidence, here is mine...

Over the last 15 years, I have flown exclusively on Southwest. Other than my wife missing a flight out of BWI due to a freak storm in April screwing everything up, I have never had any problems flying with them.

Even back when I lived in NY, the only problem was trying to land in LGA or Newark was actually getting a slot to land at the airport. I remember circling around Newark for over an hour just waiting to land. I did get a couple of free cocktails to help settle my nerves!

[PasadenaTrudy]

10. Same here

Never any problems with Southwest. JetBlue has been dependable too.

[KamaAina]

11. I jokingly refer to jetBlue as "Aeroflot"

they're the only way to get from San Jose to NYC without changing somewhere in Tornado Alley. Thing is, the plane flies out in the evening Eastern time and arrives here around 10, then turns around and leaves at 11. Supposedly. One time it didn't even land until after midnight. We took off around AM. Small consolation that they had to pay a fine for violating the San Jose airport's midnight curfew.

[PasadenaTrudy]

12. I love the

LAX to JFK flights. Best experience ever. I bought the "extra space" seat and was so comfy. All the free snacks you can eat, too

[davidpdx]

9. K&R

I just read this one on Yahoo. What a bunch of bullshit. It seems like they can manipulate the reasons for the cancellations to suit their own needs. We need to rally for a customer bill of rights on air travel.

[SwissTony]

13. Many years ago, in Australia, we tried to check in early.

You know, get rid of our bags.

We were told our flight had been cancelled. But there was an earlier flight just about to leave but we'd have to run, run, run. So, we did.

We got on the plane and had to endure the angry glares of the other passengers because we appeared to be the dickheads who turned up late and were holding up the plane. Sorry, good people, we were just early.

We actually landed on time, but I could sympathize with the passengers on the plane.

I guess it was just the airline trying to rationalize the passenger numbers.