I booked one of my guys on the 1130a KA flight today (well, yesterday) to PVG, and it seems he changed to CX360. Since I bought the ticket, I've been privy to email updates from CX:
CX360 on 24 Jul from HKG will depart at 15:30 (1h 30m late).
CX360 on 24 Jul from HKG will depart at 21:30 (7h 30m late).
CX360 on 24 Jul from HKG will depart at 1:00, 25Jul (11 hour(s) late).
At around 3p, he skyped me and told me was calling it quits, and returning to Wanchai. I replied that there are 20+ flights per day between HKG and SHA, and he should simply ask those people in the Cabin to put him on the next one that was actually flying. He's since gone dark on me, presumably because he's pissed off, but we needed him in Shanghai this evening, and I'm pretty sure that if I had been in his shoes, I would have figured out a way to make it happen. If if turns out that I was mistaken (i.e. KA didn't send any planes to Shanghai and/or the flights that made it were packed to the gills), I suppose I owe him an apology. Otherwise, I'm forced to conclude that his negotiation skills with the Cabin staff simply sucked and/or he wanted to spend an extra night in Hong Kong.
I would appreciate insights from those of you that were also flying on high frequency routes. I don't know whether to be apologetic or angry at this stage.
ETA: A mutual friend just skyped me and told me that my boy did spend 7 hours in the airport before calling it quits. I suppose he deserves some props for that. But, if it were me, I would have either gotten rebooked on a flight that was actually leaving, or given up 5 hours earlier. I guess I take for granted the experiential benefits (wisdom) of flying a lot.