[Escape Artist]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

Some planes went out of Orlando, but some were supposed to go to airports that were shut down due to the "climate change that doesn't exist" - not existing again in the north. So those planes couldn't leave Orlando.

What “climate change that doesn’t exist”? It’s winter, so there are blizzards and severe cold and snow. Not all areas were affected by this latest storm. Mainly the Midwest, Rocky Mountains, and eastern seaboard.

Unfortunately, that affected cross country flights. The SW CEO admitted they have infrastructure problems aka out-dated software and technology. But there are also personnel problems. For instance, many of the ground crew in Denver called in fake sick because they didn’t want to work in such conditions without weather-proof equipment and protective clothing which they didn’t have. That caused a chain reaction that badly screwed things up along with all the other things that were going on simultaneously.

[Babubhat]

If you were not personally impacted why does it matter? It’s the state of air travel. Adapt to the circumstances and move forward. It will happen again,

It’s incomprehensible people don’t put an AirTag in there luggage. Make it easy to find

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Escape Artist

What “climate change that doesn’t exist”? It’s winter, so there are blizzards and severe cold and snow. Not all areas were affected by this latest storm. Mainly the Midwest, Rocky Mountains, and eastern seaboard.

Unfortunately, that affected cross country flights. The SW CEO admitted they have infrastructure problems aka out-dated software and technology. But there are also personnel problems. For instance, many of the ground crew in Denver called in fake sick because they didn’t want to work in such conditions without weather-proof equipment and protective clothing which they didn’t have. That caused a chain reaction that badly screwed things up along with all the other things that were going on simultaneously.

The "weather event" (if that's the term you prefer) spanned most of the entire country, from the Pacific Northwest to the east coast. Parts of Texas had no power.

I'm not reading any actual reports of fake sick-calls in Denver. Only that there were more callouts than usual.

[Stu from NYC]

25 or so years ago we had reliable air travel. Could fly from NY to Florida same day for cruise.

Now would not even think about same day travel. Sad.

[tuccillo]

Average on-time arrival rates (within 15 minutes of scheduled time) have been bouncing around between 75 and 80% for the last 25 years. A bit of "inflation" on the flight times has presumably helped the statistics. If you absolutely have to be there at a specific time then going in the day before has always been the rule. Other steps to mitigate the risk is never take the last flight of the day, avoid connections if at all possible, and when you do have a connection, allow 3 hours, if at all possible. Also, the major airlines appear to be a bit better at dealing with problems than the discount airlines. For example, Delta vs. Frontier. When I traveled almost weekly for work, most of the issues I saw were mechanical problems. In that case, flying a major airline to and from their hubs will help.

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

25 or so years ago we had reliable air travel. Could fly from NY to Florida same day for cruise.

Now would not even think about same day travel. Sad.