Big Surprise (NOT)!

Jan. 14, 2015
I recently saw the following not-surprising news headline: “Most Travelers Want Airports To Warn Them About Delays.”

Well, big surprise. This is a no-brainer. As I remember it, pax have been fussing about this for decades. The only big surprise here is that pax now want the airport—not the airlines—to notify them of delays. The airlines brought this on themselves by failing to supply their customers—repeat, customers—with honest and reliable notifications over the years.

I am personally convinced that Airline “A” will not tell you that your flight will be delayed for a long time (or even canceled) until the competing flight on Airline “B” has left the gate. I have also watched a flight on an early winter morning delayed for a short time, then for a long time and finally, (after all of the competing flights left), canceled. By that time, our only reasonable option was to take Airline “A’s” two-hour-later flight.

Here’s the rub. The delay and the cancellation were announced to be for “mechanical” reasons. I personally sat there and watched that airplane sitting on the ramp during this entire process. No person—mechanic or otherwise—went near that airplane the entire time. Then—just before our two-hour-later flight was ready to depart—pilots went to that very same airplane, cranked it, taxied to the gate and we boarded. There was obviously nothing wrong with it except that there were not enough pax booked on the earlier flight to make it profitable.

Yes, I would rather the airport itself provide delay info because I simply don’t trust the airlines. They have not earned my trust.