dlaue

I just looked at the statistics for my flight this Saturday from LAX to LAS. Holeee moleee!
Looks like I have a 1/3 chance of arriving on time balanced by a 1/3 chance of being cancelled!

Except for the first flight of the day, all the LAX to LAS flights have a dismal on-time record.

sltlyamusd

WN definitely pads its schedule. In October, only 74% of WN flights departed within 15 min of schedule (industry speak for "on-time"), but 79% arrived within 15 min. That's pretty clear evidence of schedule padding. In comparison, on Delta, 92% of flights departed <15 min and 91% arrived <15 min.

Some other interesting stats for WN. At PHX, only 66% of WN flights departed on-time. In comparison, 91% of US flights out of PHX during the same month departed on-time.
At LAS, 67% of WN flights departed on-time. In comparison 92% of US flights departed on-time. So, WN can't claim its due to the airport conditions...

Pi7473000

They do have a huge issue with being ontime! My past three flight have all been late. At least they have given a free drink on one of them, but this issue seems to be getting worse!

dlaue

Our SJC - LAX flight yesterday was delayed more than an hour, but there was one leaving only a bit late at the next gate. The gate agent let us take that flight without any additional fare. She said "your plane is more than 20 minutes late, so I can waive the additional fare."

So, new rule ----> delay > 20 minutes = "free" seat on earlier flight.

If my memory serves me correctly, the old rule was delay > 60 minutes.

ursine1

The "rule" as far as I know has always been 15 minutes, but is often subject to the whim of the agent.

steved5480

This.

The "New Rule" is operationally identical to the "Old Rule" -- it is whatever the Agents say it is.

gogreyhound

Here's a couple more reasons to chew on. The load factors are 15-20 points higher than a few years ago, so marching people on and off takes longer. In addition, bags fly free means people who check luggage are more likely to take WN than other carriers. At least that's how GK justifies bff to Wall Street. But this results in more loading time, compounded by the higher load factors.

smmrfld

There is no consistent old rule, new rule, or golden rule. As stated elsewhere in this thread, it's whatever the GA says it is at the time, and I've had it range from 15 to 20 to 30 to 60, both within a short period of time and over a period of many years.

AA_EXP09

That is not longhaul-to me, that would be any of the following.
TPAC
TATL
Asia-Australia
Australia-Africa
Europe-Africa
N America-S America*
*(Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay only.)

flyventure

As others have said, it is the agents call in most cases - and how nice the person is. I check with an old roommate who is in CS and they said if you call in its still 60 minutes or they'll charge the fare difference.

SLCAMS

Anecdotally based on my own experiences I can't say I'm surprised they are so low in the ranking. Early morning flights are generally OK but anything later in the day is getting to be consistently delayed. 60-90 minute delay (or more) on my Friday evening SLC PHX trip is becoming the norm.

After nearly 6 years flying the route and over 400 flights there is a noticeable change at WN, nowhere near as reliable, an interior "upgrade" for the worse, a flight schedule that wanders all over the place each month and all for much higher fares. I expect prices to go up over 6 years but I now average $0.28/mile WGA fares booked over a month ahead on this route over the past year, hardly a low fare carrier anymore. I am burning through 450,000 RR points due to the looming redemption devaluation and then I'm pretty much done with WN, the recent pathetically poor reliabilty was the final straw for me. I'd rather pay the same fare to DL and have the option of paying a few extra bucks for economy comfort and a one in a million chance of an upgrade.

hazelrah

I just flew on Southwest for the first-time in about 10 years. Our arriving flight was an hour late.

WN's poor on-time performance is a significant issue that is almost entirely under management control. Fix -it Southwest!

kettle1

Over 2 hours on WN is torture. I like the free bags on WN. That's it.

Compare prices anymore, WN is not the lowest. How the government call's WN a LCC anymore is like a dream from 1992. Many flts are much higher on WN since there fuel hedge funds ran out. WN is a cattle car for kettles. If under two hours, I join the crowd - and am proud to be a kettle.

Over 2 hours, peanuts don't cut it. I'll fly anyone with an assigned seat and FC. Call me a snob, but I'll bring my bag on in Zone 1 and be happy with a Bloody Mary before Y gets loaded.

Happy New Year.

jchasewilliams

The past few weeks have been TERRIBLE for on-time departures. Sat next to a FA on my HOU-BNA flight last night - she was constantly apologizing, explaining that ops refuses to listen to them about turn-around time, boarding struggles w/ sold out flights, etc. Sounds like WN needs to listen to the people on the ground & stop calling the shots from HQ.

AA_EXP09

Almost all US airlines must do this IMO...