Originally Posted by
shadabing
They are much more communicative and they compensate.
Sometimes. (Says my over 1 million miles flown over last 10 years on American carriers.)
Originally Posted by
shadabing
They also have a rep standing outside the jetway to direct you where to go when there is a problem.
Sometimes, only when you are lucky. (Says my over 1 million miles flown over last 10 years on American carriers.)
Originally Posted by
shadabing
You know, i know, the airline knows EXACTLY what was going to happen. If you fly a route every day for years you've missed the departure windows before and know passengers won't make it. Come on! Don't be silly.
Stop deluding yourself and learn from those with a deeper understanding of how flight operations work than you have shown you have. An airline DOES NOT know the arrival time of a flight until Air Traffic Control approves a flight plan with an assigned take off time. This does not happen until the doors are closed and all passengers seated, ready for departure. Depending on other planes, weather, and other variables the route and take off time will vary and is not known until after the plane is ready to go. The flight plan cannot be approved until the plane is actually ready to go.
It is very common for a plane to leave 15 and 30 minutes late but still arrive on time. This is because the schedules are created for an early arrival if all conditions are favorable, with extra time built in for many variables that may or may not be favorable.