Why is my flight delayed?

February 25, 2007 11:50 AM

Why is my American Airlines flight (Sun Feb 25 at 7:50p) from Atlanta to NY-Laguardia cancelled? And why is the next available flight Tuesday morning at 6:50a?

Now I know there's weather hitting New England, and it might be icy for a while. But a 36-hour gap between the originally scheduled flight and the next available one? Obivously this question could be perceived as a sarcastic or a place to complain about the general ailments of the US airline industry. But I really want to know the logistics of this situation. Somehow I feel it will help me not scratch my eyes out.

posted by dhanlon to travel & transportation (16 comments total)

There's really not much of a mystery there... The airline has a choice of transporting passengers during inclimate weather, putting it at legal risk, or simply waiting until such time as they think they can safely transport you, which only results in a few whiny passengers.
posted by Willie0248 at 12:01 PM on February 25, 2007

Now I know there's weather hitting New England, and it might be icy for a while.

It's bright and sunny here in Boston with current temp at 40^oF.

Current weather conditions at Laguardia: Mostly Cloudy 36^oF.

According to Laguardia flight tracker many airlines are arriving and are scheduled to land.

The only delays at Laguardia currently being reported by the FAA are: "Traffic is experiencing gate hold and taxi delays lasting 15 minutes or less; Arrival traffic is experiencing airborne delays of 15 minutes or less."

However, there might be weather delays expected later in NY, since the FAA is reporting this: "Due to WEATHER/LO CIGS, departure traffic destined to Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, PA (PHL) is currently experiencing delays averaging 1 hour and 24 minutes."
posted by ericb at 12:08 PM on February 25, 2007

In general terms, a plane that doesn't fly is a plane that isn't at the expected destination, either to fly back or to take another route. Having lots of planes that land somewhere they can't then take off from is a scheduling nightmare. The cancellation may, in fact, be a result of the plane for that flight not being able to leave an early destination, with no way of getting a replacement for that route.

Also, Monday is a busy day for business (and thus higher fares and more important customers, even in coach), so any flights on that day are likely booked or overbooked already. It would be nice if the victims of cancellations got to bump people already booked for the next flight. The airline industry isn't that nice.
posted by holgate at 12:11 PM on February 25, 2007

Ask in the AA forum on FlyerTalk and someone might look up the FLIFO for you. The weather problem may not be in ATL or NYC, but the flight that was supposed to get your plane to ATL from DFW or ORD, which have both been experiencing weather problems.

It would be nice if the victims of cancellations got to bump people already booked for the next flight.

It wouldn't be nice for people with confirmed reservations on those flights.
posted by grouse at 12:33 PM on February 25, 2007

I bet grouse is right. With flights currently being canceled in Chicago, Milwaukee and Minneapolis due to weather the aircraft you were scheduled to fly on is likely grounded elsewhere. Looks like the bad weather is heading east -- and set to hit tonight and tomorrow.
posted by ericb at 12:44 PM on February 25, 2007

Not sure that weather is the issue. I was in SFO yesterday, and heard numerous accounts of flights to Dallas, Portland, and LAX being canceled. None of these, as far as I'm aware, were under inclement weather at the time. Something's up with AA, it seems - looking at the Departures/Arrivals screens and seeing whole columns of flights marked "CANCELED" was a bit of a tip-off. Sorry I can't provide info as to -what- it was, though... I'm curious now, and might go looking into it.
posted by po at 12:50 PM on February 25, 2007

po: I assure you that anything that canceled whole banks of flights yesterday at AA would have had something to do with the fact that there were multiple cancellations at both of its primary hubs that day.

Remember, you need a plane to fly. If that plane is coming from Chicago, and Chicago is shut down, that means it doesn't matter whether the weather is sunny in San Francisco, Portland, or Timbuktu—you aren't going to be on that plane.
posted by grouse at 1:02 PM on February 25, 2007

Could this be why?
posted by tdischino at 1:10 PM on February 25, 2007

If it makes you feel any better, my bf's flight was cancelled during the ice storm (a Weds.), and the first flight they offered him was for the following Sunday. This was also American, so maybe they have more problems; I dunno.
posted by dame at 1:24 PM on February 25, 2007

Could this be why?

tdischino is onto the cause of yesterday's cancellations and delays -- a dust storm at DFW -- American Airlines' primary hub.
posted by ericb at 1:25 PM on February 25, 2007

a dust storm at DFW -- American Airlines' primary hub

AA has two primary hubs for North American domestic operations. And they both had serious weather issues yesterday, resulting in multiple cancellations.
posted by grouse at 1:42 PM on February 25, 2007

It's snowing up here in the Northeast. It's just going to get worse over the next few hours, and probably won't let up until early tomorrow. It's entirely possible that all their flights on Monday are full.
posted by oaf at 2:07 PM on February 25, 2007

For whatever it's worth, I'm about a mile from Laguardia and we still haven't gotten any precipitation yet.
posted by Remy at 3:59 PM on February 25, 2007

Last time I flew, United called me at midnight before my 8am flight to tell me my flight was canceled because of "weather" in Chicago. They said I could wait until the next day, or take another, longer route on another airline, leaving earlier, and changing planes at Newark. I did that.

The plane I had to get off of at Newark was going on to - Chicago! It landed within ten minutes of when my original flight was scheduled to. I got to spend another four hours in airplanes because of what I suspect was United's decision to cancel a partly-filled flight. In other words, I think they lied about their reason for canceling the flight.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 5:37 PM on February 25, 2007

Oh, and there hasn't been any rain or snow for days in MA.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 5:38 PM on February 25, 2007

I got to spend another four hours in airplanes because of what I suspect was United's decision to cancel a partly-filled flight. In other words, I think they lied about their reason for canceling the flight.

If UA called you at midnight to tell you, for example, that your Tuesday 8 a.m. Boston-Los Angeles flight was canceled due to the weather in one of their primary hubs, that very likely means that it was the weather on Monday that kept your airplane from getting to Boston. The weather the next day is totally immaterial.

U.S. carriers do not cancel flights because they don't have enough passengers. They will run completely empty flights if they possible because they need to get the planes from one airport to another according to their schedule. If they can't do that it screws up lots of other flights, and disturbs their flight crewing arrangements, costing them lots of money.
posted by grouse at 6:03 PM on February 25, 2007