One thought that comes to mind (and unfortunately it's too late to help your friend) is that we should always check our flight status before heading to the airport. Even if the weather looks fine, there could be any of 134 +/- reasons why a flight might be delayed/cancelled. At the very least it would give one an hour or two head start on finding alternative plans.
He isn't a FF'er so wasn't aware. Trust me I know when my flight time is even changed by 5 minutes
