[village dreamer]

how can an air line cancel a flights just hours befor take off ?? yes pilots get sick, airplanes break down , but not hundreds of flights. why do they book so many flights if they cant fly all the flights. i feel sorry if you have to fly now days.

[billethkid]

It is impressive how this industry has grown over the years, generating continuous advancement of so many related technologies.....growing airports.....adding fleets of various aircraft....reliable transportation.

And now all of a sudden the industry has become crippled...unable to conduct it's primary business of transportation....EFFECTIVELY.

An excellent bad example of America losing it's leadership edge in the world. And we are being trained to accept mediocrity and lack of reliability.

I am glad I came through life when I did......when being number one was a priority!! (I am tempted to say when we were great but do not want to provide the cannon's fodder )

[Michael G.]

Originally Posted by village dreamer

how can an air line cancel a flights just hours befor take off ?? yes pilots get sick, airplanes break down , but not hundreds of flights. why do they book so many flights if they cant fly all the flights. i feel sorry if you have to fly now days.

A friend had a late flight out of Orlando for business and was cancelled until morning.
They said it was a malfunction on the plane.

He took a cab to a motel and he told the cab driver what happen.

The cab driver laugh and said many times pilots show up drunk or on drugs and they tell people there's trouble with the plan.

What a world we live in.

[Stu from NYC]

For many years one could not trust the excuse the airline gave. They operate on a shoestring so if one thing goes wrong they are unable to recover and just cancel flights.

Unfortunately in most cases they are able to get away with shoddy service.

[Calisport]

Lack of ground crew can also be a factor.

[asianthree]

Our family of 6 flew last week arrived different areas, to TV 5 flights arrived early, both ways. The sixth flight to Minnesota was moved up 2 hours, and was 15 minutes late. Three fly weekly, find the flights are full, with some slight overbooked seats. Airports have many people waiting for flights that were canceled. Our kids are all still using vouchers from canceled flight during the pandemic.

[biker1]

Doubtful. There are FAA limits on how long a crew can work and flights can be cancelled if they don't have a replacement crew. There are lots of reasons that flights don't go. I have flown about 2 million miles and have pretty much seen it all.

Originally Posted by Michael G.

A friend had a late flight out of Orlando for business and was cancelled until morning.
They said it was a malfunction on the plane.

He took a cab to a motel and he told the cab driver what happen.

The cab driver laugh and said many times pilots show up drunk or on drugs and they tell people there's trouble with the plan.

What a world we live in.

[Keefelane66]

Airlines gave out EARLY RETIREMENT incentives and extensive layoffs during Pandemic. Getting restarted to full capacity isn’t like hiring a clerk for a 7-11.

[MartinSE]

Sounds to me like a business opportunity - safe, reliable airline.

One of the reasons, I think America has fallen out of first place in so many ways is people would rather see problems and complain, then see opportunities and improve.

[biker1]

Safety is not an issue. Airlines are the safest way to travel. Regarding reliability, it generally ranges from about 75-90% on-time arrivals (arriving within 15 mins of scheduled arrival time). The list of things that can cause delays is very long and many have nothing to do with the individual airline. The cancellations get attention on the news. Notice that they never talk about all the flights that arrive on time.

Originally Posted by MartinSE

Sounds to me like a business opportunity - safe, reliable airline.

One of the reasons, I think America has fallen out of first place in so many ways is people would rather see problems and complain, then see opportunities and improve.

[Babubhat]

There are no backup planes or personnel. One delay causes a chain reaction. The new reality

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by biker1

Safety is not an issue. Airlines are the safest way to travel. Regarding reliability, it generally ranges from about 75-90% on-time arrivals (arriving within 15 mins of scheduled arrival time). The list of things that can cause delays is very long and many have nothing to do with the individual airline. The cancellations get attention on the news. Notice that they never talk about all the flights that arrive on time.

Very true but the on time rate is not really accurate. Some years ago they added some time to the schedule in order to help the on time rate look better.

Once upon a time when we flew to the port to take a cruise we would be ok with flying in same day as cruise. Now always get there a day ahead of time.

[kkingston57]

Originally Posted by Michael G.

A friend had a late flight out of Orlando for business and was cancelled until morning.
They said it was a malfunction on the plane.

He took a cab to a motel and he told the cab driver what happen.

The cab driver laugh and said many times pilots show up drunk or on drugs and they tell people there's trouble with the plan.

What a world we live in.

Do you believe the cab driver?

We travel out of MCO 5-6 times a year and park our car at a local hotel which provides van service to the airport. Van almost always has at least one pilot on it. Bet these pilots hardly ever, if ever, use a cab.

[biker1]

Yes, it is accurate - it is tracked. However, yes, the flight times are padded a bit, presumably to improve the on-time rate. However, it doesn't really matter as you need to allow for layover time for connections. Padding the flight times only helps. I want to know when the flight is likely to arrive - how long they say the flight is doesn't matter to me. I generally allow a couple of hours, more in the summer. We have occasionally, in the past, traveled the day of departure when we were renting sailboats or going on a cruise. I agree that traveling the day before is now prudent, always.

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

Very true but the on time rate is not really accurate. Some years ago they added some time to the schedule in order to help the on time rate look better.

Once upon a time when we flew to the port to take a cruise we would be ok with flying in same day as cruise. Now always get there a day ahead of time.

[RedChariot]

Originally Posted by village dreamer

how can an air line cancel a flights just hours befor take off ?? yes pilots get sick, airplanes break down , but not hundreds of flights. why do they book so many flights if they cant fly all the flights. i feel sorry if you have to fly now days.

Hours before you ask???? Are you kidding me! 3 days before Last Thanksgiving after waiting in the TSA line for an hour and a half, making it to the gate, and sitting down, Spirit Airlines cancelled our flight minutes before boarding!!! No seats available until Thanksgiving evening. I don't think I will ever fly out of Orlando again just before Thanksgiving or Christmas again. That day was a nightmare. Thank goodness Creative Concierge was able to come back and get us.