Is there any way to find out ahead of time if a flight is weight restricted?
Sep 26, 2013, 8:24 am
#1
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Join Date: Mar 2008
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Is there any way to find out ahead of time if a flight is weight restricted?
I fly standby out of OGG. When UA uses a 757-2 sometimes they have a weight restriction thus if they show 20 open seats and 10 standbys and the flight is weight restricted no standbys get on. Is there any way to find out ahead of time if a flight is weight restricted prior to going to the airport?
Last edited by FlyinHawaiian; Sep 26, 2013 at 8:55 pm Reason: thread title not good
Sep 26, 2013, 9:09 am
#4
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WX conditions, including heat, wind direction, wind speed can make a difference. It's entirely possible to have a non-restricted flight planned which becomes weight-restricted shortly before departure.
Sep 26, 2013, 12:36 pm
#6
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Join Date: Mar 2008
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Lax or Sfo......the one time i had a problem there was 0 wind....both lax and sfo flts were effected they pulled 30 paying pax of the sfo flt and moved them to a much later flt.
Sep 26, 2013, 1:29 pm
#7
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When you say "0 wind" do you mean zero wind on the ground? If so that can be entirely different than winds at FL35/36/37 ect. Given both SFO and LAX were affected I would speculate winds aloft were very strong.
Sep 26, 2013, 1:33 pm
#8
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Final decisions on weight restrictions are often not made until the last minute.
In my NRSA days as a UA employee I learned to NEVER leave the gate area until the plane actually pulled away, no matter how dire the GA made my chances of getting on sound, whether for weight, passenger load, etc. It paid off many times as more senior NRSAs (and even revenue standbys) gave up and left the area.
ETA: In other words, OP, I would never trust info about a flight being weight restricted a few hours ahead of departure. So many variables can change at the last minute. And sometimes they can accommodate some, but not all, standbys with a weight restriction.
In my NRSA days as a UA employee I learned to NEVER leave the gate area until the plane actually pulled away, no matter how dire the GA made my chances of getting on sound, whether for weight, passenger load, etc. It paid off many times as more senior NRSAs (and even revenue standbys) gave up and left the area.
ETA: In other words, OP, I would never trust info about a flight being weight restricted a few hours ahead of departure. So many variables can change at the last minute. And sometimes they can accommodate some, but not all, standbys with a weight restriction.
Sep 26, 2013, 4:03 pm
#10
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Join Date: Mar 2008
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no wind on the ground and was hot and muggy. OGG runway length is the issue thats why UA will fly a 777 inbd OGG but it has to fly OGG-KON and fuel up in KON. Guess the 757-2 doesn't have the takeoff power as a 757-4. OGG has plans to lengthen the runway someday.
Sep 26, 2013, 8:52 pm
#11
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cargo out of OGG? Doesn't really exist. weight restrictions out of OGG all fall on runway restrictions 99% of the time. As for knowing ahead of time, 4 hours is about how much notice you'll ge twhen the flight plan is done.
May 8, 2014, 5:22 pm
#12
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I'm on EWR-BOM tomorrow evening. The website and phone agent say it's sold out, but there are a ton of empty middle seats left. My upgrade didn't clear, so I'm really hoping to at least keep my empty middle seat. Does anyone know if this flight is frequently weight restricted, and if so will they stop selling seats in advance to avoid DBs?
May 8, 2014, 5:39 pm
#13
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Agree. Not much cargo originates at OGG. Have been to cargo shed half a dozen times and sometimes the heaviest piece might be a black lab. Kidding aside, there aren't usually thousands of pounds of cargo waiting.
May 8, 2014, 6:30 pm
#14
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I'm on EWR-BOM tomorrow evening. The website and phone agent say it's sold out, but there are a ton of empty middle seats left. My upgrade didn't clear, so I'm really hoping to at least keep my empty middle seat. Does anyone know if this flight is frequently weight restricted, and if so will they stop selling seats in advance to avoid DBs?
Since UA.com isnt selling any tkts its Full and probably Oversold BF is 50/50 as well doesnt look good for a GPU, doubt any seat will be empty unless there are tons of misconnects
May 8, 2014, 6:41 pm
#15
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I'm on EWR-BOM tomorrow evening. The website and phone agent say it's sold out, but there are a ton of empty middle seats left. My upgrade didn't clear, so I'm really hoping to at least keep my empty middle seat. Does anyone know if this flight is frequently weight restricted, and if so will they stop selling seats in advance to avoid DBs?