FlyWorld

A few folks are using the "long international" flight as an example justified for holding.

I'd argue that is yet another self centered viewpoint that fails to account for the overall systemic effects of delaying flights.

If you are taking a 1 hour flight to connect to a 14 hour flight and then, you're at your destination with no further commitments, then for you, it feels rational to hold the 14 hour flight.

But, if you're starting with the 14 hour flight then running to a business meeting or making another connection then another connection, suddenly the delay on that 14 hour flight becomes a very big deal.

The only thing that's fair is to honor the integrity of the schedule. We all buy our tickets with the expectation that our flight leaves when stated, and that should be honored except where it can't be honored for reasons beyond the airline's control.

Now, I have no problem letting you get on the plane if the plane is there anyway (i.e. the door closing scenario).

But, if the plane is scheduled to leave, it needs to leave on schedule. Period.

Suggesting that everyone else's connections and commitments are less important than the person who is running late, to me, represents the ultimate in selfishness and narcissism.

Anyone who purchases a ticket with a 30 minute connection deserves the consequences.

Common sense dictates that if someone wants to have a reliable journey, they'd book a ticket with a reasonable connection time.

For me, the minimum is 45 minutes, and I usually go for 1-1.5 hours. Plus more if special circumstances such as changing airlines, customs, immigration, etc.

wdrg

See the "No help at IAH tonight" thread for a recent, similar story.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...h-tonight.html

bpe

Most long international international flights have padded schedules and can easily make up 10 minutes in flight. Of course you don't want to delay their flight, but if the flight is going to get in half an hour early, delaying it won't 'hurt' anyone.

Again, it's situational, but more often than not long haul flights are more forgiving when it comes to delays.

rankourabu

There is way more padding on short regional flights.

You see 45 minute flights out of EWR 'scheduled' for 1.5 hours.

FlyWorld

Unless you have trouble getting out of the airport.

Unless you get headwinds.

Unless you have trouble getting a landing slot at the destination.

Unless you burn 15 minutes waiting for a gate.

Unless you land in the middle of the tarmac and have to wait another 20 minutes for a bus driver to show up.

Yes. Generally, what you say is true. But, it sucks for the 500-600 pax who actually showed up on time, when one of those circumstances causes them to miss their connection at the destination because of a decision to hold a flight for a late arrival.

I think those people have a voice too.

And, "making up more time" means "burning more fuel" which means "spending more money" and if you know anything about COdbaUA under $mi$ek, you know that is not an option.

LASUA1K

I agree but if UA makes a 30 min legal via IAH or ORD and close the door at 15 they need to accept that the plane has arrived and passengers are on there way. The gate agent knows the plane has landed, they should not give away seats at T-15. If they know the airplane is in the air still then yes but if the plane has landed give the people until T-5 to get there. T-15 is another dumb policy that airlines have brought us. Southwest boards at T-15 and dont close the door until scheduled departure.

bpe

You're right. But I wasn't comparing them.

It's much easier to make up 10 minutes on a 10 hour flight than on a 45 minute flight.

Any of these things can also apply to any domestic flight.
And I'm not saying that you should in general delay international flights, just that there is generally more flexibility in delaying the departure of international flights without impacting the arrival time than domestic ones.

5khours

No one expects them to hold the plane for any significant length of time.

FlyWorld

No one?

How do you know that.

I guarantee that if we had a policy that said "we will hold a plane for not more than 5 minutes" then, within days of that policy going into effect, someone would start a new thread complaining that they showed up 6 minutes late and the GA wouldn't make a lousy 1 minute exception for them.

It never ends.

Agreed. If UA sells that as a legal ticket, then UA ought not to make a policy which puts the person who purchased that ticket in jeopardy.

Still, I will not shed a single tear for someone who flies through ORD with a 30 minute connection time and misses the connection.

northsideguy

There is another reason, why a domestic flight which is not the last of the day, should not be held for late mis-connects. So let's say that there are passengers, who through no fault of their own, have tight connections. Think of the cascade effect if the plane was held for those passengers, and they didn't show up? Now you are holding a plane with 150 passengers for what? Now as others say, this would create problems for those passengers and the plane's continuing flight. Who is to say if a late connecting passenger was told their plane was being held, decided to take their time to get to the gate, ie: stop at the washroom, get a something to eat, ...... Now multiply this with all the daily flights, and this would be chaos!


There are rules and procedure which are created to keep a company/organization running smoothly. If passengers except an airline to follow those rules, they have no ground for a complaint when the airline won't bend those rules/procedures for you. Yes, it is nice if the airline can accommodate you; I am no exception. Just my two cents. Safe Travels!

FlyWorld

Sorry, I don't buy this.

The cascade effect of those who showed up on time is more important than the cascade effect of those who are late.

And, as I've said earlier, one needs to take personal responsibility for one's choices. If one chooses a tight connection, then the price of that choice is a higher probability of misconnect.

halls120

^^ A sure recipe for disaster, no matter if that connection is "legal."

wdrg

[QUOTE=mitchmu;20304156]He was agreeing with you.

Michael D

If what the FA said was true (they knew you were coming) and they reassigned your seats instead of the seats you finally flew out on, the GA could have began reissuing those seats first.

Is this possible? Does the GA really have that information (whose coming from which connecting flight;has it landed; how long ago did it land; ...)?

Bear96

Not really.

Most of UA's longest flights are bumping right up against maximum crew duty time limitations. In many cases those times can be extended a bit only in situations that are beyond UA's control. Holding for connecting passengers is not a situation that falls into that category. Then there has to be an additional cushion for additional unplanned delays that truly are beyond the airline's control.