hugolover

The stated connection time for my typical EDI-KRK hovers around 1 hour. On a recent trip we arrived 25 mins late into FRA and I faced very long queues at security, many pax with a SHOCON and a departure from a high-numbered A gate which meant maximum distance from arriving from EDI to departing to KRK. I ran through the tunnel and I could hear the flight closing announcement when I made it to the A gates. I was the last pax to board and the GA told me they would have waited 1 further minute.

I was wondering from a rebooking and compensation point of view where the obligation lies for a pax to run to make the connection. It wasn't my fault the flight arrived 25 mins late or that LH (but of course they all do this) sell connections that are very tight for competitive reasons. If it were my mother, an unfit friend or my elderly grandfather there would be no chance I could have made this connection- would we be SOL? If the GA saw I was a sweating fat man, they would understand, but a fit chap I am asked why I didn’t run…?

The MCT is 45 mins, so if a connection drops below that and with an on-time departure does that automatically obligate a free rebooking/accommodation and perhaps compensation?

It would get very finicky if we start to discuss why some pax make it and others don’t. Fitness, familiarity with the airport, class of travel giving rise to priority access, proximity to exits at disembarkation-pax in Row 1 and others at 33. In future, I don’t want to have this stress, I want to move at a walking pace and push the obligation to the carrier to get me to my destination if they fail to arrive into the hub on time.

The gist of my question is what element of this is based on rules and facts vs the judgement of a GA.

fassy

Nobody will blame you if you walk in normal speed from the arriving gate to the departure gate. No need to run. Never heard LH had stranded pax because they didn't rush through the terminal.

most people will hurry anyway since they WANT to be on that flight and not rebooked and perhaps delayed by a day.

Grog

I look forward to this thread's development, because I've experienced this identical situation time and time again, most recently in AMS while flying KLM from DUB.

KLM talks out both sides of their mouths, having published two different policies. One version on my passenger receipt said they never take responsibility for security-related passenger delays, but on their website they state (for transferring, not originating), if you do not make your next flight because of a lack of time, you will automatically be booked on another flight. Fortunately, I've not been confronted with a closed flight as of yet, on KLM or LH.

SK AAR

The late incoming flight makes a difference. You will be/should be rebooked (for free) without fuss (and may even claim EU Reg. 261/04 care and compensation) if LH or KLM is able to see that your incoming flight was late (and consequently your real transfer time is < MCT). If in time/no significant delay, you may face the argument that it was your obligation to be at even the remote gate in time (and it was possible for you to reach such gate due to MCT being adhered to), i.e. LH/KLM may not be prepared to rebook you for free and EU Reg. 261/04 may not kick in.

Obviously, we are talking flights on 1 ticket here (not separate tickets which would change the game completely).

ltfly

Same for me, a one-hour transfer time is announced, your first flight arrives late at Munich or Frankfurt, you run like hell, and you generally end up catching your flight, panting and sweating. How can we do, as we book, to have enough connection time (let's say around 2 hours, to be safe), as we buy a single ticket?

hugolover

This is a bit silly if say, a FRA MCT of 45 mins drops to 40 mins, it essentially means the arriving flight must either be early or bang on time . But I say again, its the carriers fault for selling these connections and I am sure compensation is costed.

awestphal

Late incoming flights indeed make the difference. Intra-Schengen, I never missed a flight yet in either FRA/MUC/ZRH. With extra Schengen to Schengen, I have managed to miss connecting flights (one each so far) in both FRA and MUC & was rebooked without a hassle on the next flight to TXL.

BobBHX

I require a wheelchair in transit so the MCT is irrelevant. I have to wait until all the other passengers have deplaned then, usually, wait several more minutes for the wheelchair service.

In FRA, arriving from the UK, I have to go through security so I work to a MCT of 90 mins. Also, most of my arrivals from the UK into FRA park at remote stands. A special bus then takes the PRMs to wheelchair lounges in the basement of B or halfway along the Z pier. A few weeks ago, although my final destination was FRA, I had to wait 40 minutes for someone to take me from the wheelchair lounge to landside.

I usually try and transit in MUC as there is no transit security required. However, the wheelchair service is very slow in arriving at the aircraft. Also, my last two arrivals into MUC (both on A320s) have parked on remote stands when the shiny new satellite (and the main terminal) had plenty of airbridges available.

fligher

Don't they have to move checked bags to the new plane too? And my bag could be the last one buried all the way in the back of the arriving plane. How long does unloading, moving, reloading take? Can they manage in 1/2 hour?

I've often seen people in a mad scramble out of a plane to try and get a connection, but I've always assumed that was unnecessary. If my bag can make it to the new plane in time without feverish haste, then I can as well. Am I wrong?

Do boarding agents see that passengers are coming from a connection which is late? And since those pax haven't been rebooked, will the second flight wait a few minutes to allow them to make the transfer in reasonable time?

Key8

I always presumed that bags of connecting flights are loaded last / offloaded first exactly for that reason...

oliver2002

Transfer bags are loaded into separate containers and unloaded first. Gate agents see how many transit pax from which flights to expect. The OCC also issues instructions to the gate depending on the availability of flights. So if a party of 20 is coming in on the delayed LHR flight, they will wait for them.

ChinaShrek

Not to start a fight, but the consumer should also know that buying tickets with shorts connections run the risk of huffing and puffing to the new gate.

nollbit

I disagree. "short" depends entirely on the airport and customers can't be expected to know that a 30 min at a certain smaller airport where remote stands are unlikely (ARN perhaps) is perfectly doable, whereas such a connection at FRA is unlikely to work.

Grog

If an airline is selling it as a usable connection, it shouldn't be left to the customer to make up for the airline's and airport's failure to keep it as a usable connection.

^. And the amplification of an already bleak situation comes when you're parked at a remote stand and you receive the added bonus of the stairs and buses arriving late at the parked aircraft.