Unless it’s due to the weather, if there’s a flight delay or cancellation, passengers are entitled to some kind of refund, unless of course it’s due to the weather, but are flight delays as due to the weather as often as airlines say they are? And how would you go about proving otherwise? Well, as a fascinating interview posted over at airline blog Elliot.org informs us, you could always hire the services of a forensic meteorologist.
delays
United Cancels More Flights—Staffing Issues To Blame?
By 1.2.08
Today United Airlines canceled almost 60 flights at airports around the country, bringing the airline’s total cancellations since December 23rd over 1,100 flights—far more than any of its rivals. United’s official excuse is weather, but according to the Reuters, pilots are saying United’s decision to scale back staffing has lead to the scheduling disaster.
Worst Times To Fly Into The Top 10 Most Delayed Airports
By 12.21.07
Here are the worst times to fly into the top ten most delayed airports in America. If your flight plans bring you through one of these airports at one of these times, you may want to consider changing your itinerary.
Icelandair Overbooks Flight, Delays Return By 43 Hours, Forgets To Compensate Passengers
By 12.21.07
A reader just sent us a description of her flight back from London to Minneapolis that reads like a synopsis of a particularly unpleasant episode of “The Amazing Race.” The return flight, on Iceland air, was supposed to go from Heathrow in London to Keflavik in Reykjavik, then from there to Minneapolis. The initial flight is delayed for 2 1/2 hours—but not to worry, Icelandair tells the passengers, because the other flight is being held. When they arrive in Iceland, however, there’s no plane waiting for them—it’s been overbooked, so the airline has sent it ahead and left the passengers stranded overnight.
Government Will Limit Flights Per Hour At JFK
By 12.19.07
An argument can be made that the irresponsibly overworked New York City airports are causing a bottleneck in air travel that can be felt system-wide. The blame for the area’s poor performance gets passed around between the FAA, the airlines, the airports themselves, the weather and God.
American Airlines Avoids Fines For Chronically Late Flights
By 12.10.07
The Associated Press is taking the Transportation Department to task over data that seems to contradict its own findings. American Airlines operated two flights that have been late over 70% of the time for 3 consecutive quarters, making AA eligible for a total of $50,000 in fines, says the AP, but the DOT has failed to act.
By 11.21.07
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Winter storms are causing delays of 34 minutes in Atlanta and Chicago, 1 hour 35 at Laguardia, 1 hour 52 minutes at Newark, 44 minutes at Boston Logan, Good luck out there, brave Thanksgiving travelers. [FAA]
39 Million People Are Traveling Today
By 11.21.07
If you’re traveling today, you’ll have some company: 39 million other people, according to USAToday:
Stupid iPhone "Pilot" Commercial Leads To Possibly Apocryphal Flight Delay Story
By 11.20.07
Some commercials are stupid. The iPhone commercial that shows a pilot telling the tale of the time he saved the day by checking the weather with his iPhone is one of them.
Holiday Travel Season Off To A Rough Start
By 11.19.07
Technical problems, fog, rain and other weather issues are already causing delays at several airports says USAToday.
130 Diverted American Airlines Flights Tracked On A Legal Pad
By 11.17.07
When a storm forced American Airlines to divert 130 planes from Dallas-Fort Worth last year, the airline tracked the diverted planes not with an advanced computer system, but with a legal pad.
Lacking any automated system for keeping track of all those diverted planes, Mr. Dillman and his colleagues furiously scribbled down details of where they had gone, how long they had sat there, and whether pilots had enough time left on their daily work limits to keep flying when the weather cleared.
Missing Slip Of Paper Almost Stopped US Airways/America West Merger
By 11.16.07
We always appreciate the oddly forthcoming US Airways emails they’ve been sending to out to customers to keep them apprised of developments during their merger with America West. Turns out the merger almost didn’t happen:
…on September 26th we officially handed over the America West operating certificate to the FAA and formally merged into one airline. Yes, there really was a handover ceremony, and for a few weeks we couldn’t find the original America West certificate. Turns out it was in use as part of a company heritage display. No certificate, no merger. Wouldn’t that have been embarrassing?
Aw, that’s almost cute. Can’t find the operating certificate…passengers stranded on the tarmac for hours….anyone else seeing a correlation?
Class-Action Suit Filed Against Systemax (aka TigerDirect) Over Unfulfilled Rebates
By 10.25.07
Last Thursday, a Texan filed a class-action suit against Systemax Inc. in federal court, alleging the company and its subsidiaries TigerDirect and OnRebate conspire to delay or reject rebates in order to sweeten profits. Systemax says no way, we pay our rebates on time; according to its chief financial officer, “All consumers who properly complete the rebate application and submit the required paperwork have their rebates paid, period.” But that’s not what the Texan says happened to him.
Tomato Juice Spill Causes Massive Delays At LaGuardia
By 10.22.07
Lines the length of city blocks filled New York’s LaGuardia airport Saturday morning after a careless worker spilled tomato juice onto one of the five x-ray machines in the American Airlines terminal. A TSA spokesman cast the tomato juice’s victory over the machines as a failure of science, saying: “That’s the risk you take when you deal with technology.” Passengers were understandably pissed.
When CBS 2 HD told one woman the reason for the delays, she asked if we were “kidding,” but it was no joke. The Transportation Safety Administration confirmed the spill knocked out one of the five units that screen thousands of passengers here each day.
Next Summer: Fewer Flight Delays, But Higher Prices
By 10.16.07
Here are the results of those secret meetings we told you about last week: flight delays may be cut by as much as 25% by next summer, but the consequence will be fewer flight times to choose from, and higher ticket prices. The airlines are suggesting cutting the number of flights out of the three hubs most responsible for the nation’s delays—JFK, La Guardia, and Newark. “About three-fourths of chronic delays around the country can be traced back to congestion at these three airports,” reports Kiplinger’s.
Southwest Gate Agent Entertains Passengers With Ukelele
By 10.12.07
Plug in your work headphones and get ready to rock out classic-easy-listening-style.
The Worst Times And Places To Fly: Stay The $%# Away From Orlando Airport At 10pm
By 10.4.07
Attention World: Stay the $%#@ away from Orlando International Airport at 10pm! According to the brand new numbers from the Department of Transportation’s Air Travel Consumer Report, flights scheduled to depart from 10pm-11pm at Orlando’s airport are on-time only 33.3% of the time. Yes, if you leave Orlando International Airport from 10-11pm, you have a 2 out 3 chance of being late. Don’t risk it.
AT&T To Blame For Memphis Air Traffic Control Snafu
By 9.30.07
AT&T manages the phone line that went out at a Memphis air traffic control center Tuesday, causing massive delays nationwide.
