Flight Delays – A Captain’s Advice

If passenger comments were audible in airline cockpits, pilots might never speak bad news into a microphone. A few negative words from the captain can send an entire cabin into a fury of monumental proportions, leaving the hapless flight attendants to deal with a virtual mutiny. Perhaps that’s why many of my fellow pilots seem tongue-tied when flight delays occur.

In their defense, I will admit that issues affecting on-time operations can be complex, and that piloting duties often make in-depth explanations impossible. The captain may, for company policy, or for his or her own good reasons, decide that the less said, the better. (One understandable reason could be aversion to being featured on YouTube!) Although, correctly, pilot communications skills are not deemed nearly as important as technical expertise (consider this old Air Force training mantra: “Aviate, Navigate, Communicate – in that order!”), I’ve always felt that my charges deserve to be informed.

That’s just me. Still, know that delays are almost never the crew’s fault, whether or not they are properly explained, and that the captain’s ability to mitigate them is usually extremely limited. Please don’t shoot the messenger. That said, I humbly offer a few suggestions for savvy travelers seeking strategies for staying on time and on track.

Voilá the Big Three – the three most common flight-impeding culprits – poor weather, air traffic congestion, and mechanical issues. While passengers are unfortunate victims of these evils, they are not powerless when it comes to planning a delay-free trip.

To begin with, fly early. Typically, morning flights depart before congestion delays have a chance to develop, and, as far as severe summer weather is concerned, mornings are calmer. Air traffic systems can become gridlocked by afternoon, owing to a sort of “domino effect”. And, most large airlines use the sparsely-flown post-midnight hours to tinker with the upcoming schedule, based on weather predictions and known problems, often favoring earlier flights. As usual, the early bird gets the worm, and the earlier, the better.

Maintenance delays, frustrating as they may be, are inevitable. Airplanes are just machines, and machines break. No commercial plane has ever escaped repair during its service life, no matter how well manufactured or maintained. Why? The government imposes high standards – for good reason. All significant and many minor malfunctions are on the “must fix” list; harsh penalties are levied for failure to repair required equipment. The captain may require even more repairs. This is a good thing. Whether crewing a jet or simply riding on it, I am always glad that the time is being taken to fix it, instead of the obviously frightening alternative. My advice for dealing with possible mechanical delays? Firstly, leave yourself some “wiggle room”.

Don’t schedule a flight arriving two hours before the departure of your non-refundable ocean cruise, or minutes before that overseas connection. And, odd as it may sound, choose flights from a sizeable “hub” airport, on a large, well-resourced airline. While doing so might mean exposure to congestion delays, it can actually be advantageous. Large airlines often have spares for planes undergoing repair, and more flights operate into large hubs, increasing the likelihood of obtaining alternate transportation. Smaller, under-resourced airlines can leave passengers high and dry after cancellations, especially if their tickets are not valid on other flights or airlines, which is often the case. Similarly, those small, “easy” airports offer travelers less recourse when things go awry.

Lastly, be prepared. Know your specific flight numbers, download or print your airline’s schedule, (and perhaps even that of its competition), sign up for e-mail flight updates, and pre-program your airline’s reservation number on your cell phone. You may be able to bypass long lines and gain the advantage during operational delays by being proactive.

One final note: the new U.S. Passenger Bill of Rights will undoubtedly cause significantly more cancellations. While it will improve the problem of being “held hostage” onboard, it will, unfortunately, also cause more passengers to be stranded at the gate instead, as the fines for failure to depart within 3 hours of schedule are unprecedented.

If you’d like to check your airline’s on-time performance during the last year, visit: http://www.bts.gov/xml/ontimesummarystatistics/src/index.xml. Until then, travel safe, and travel smart!