Eventually (hopefully … and soon) there will be a tipping point. The sheer number of delayed and cancelled Express flights isn't good for any mainline carrier's business.
Does anybody know if there is a breakdown of cancelled & delayed flights along the lines of Mainline vs Express flights with a further breakdown by the various express carriers? I'd be curious to see if there is any correlation between the number of cancelled & delayed flights on a particular express carrier and how much the crews are paid. I realize there are a lot of variables (# of planes & flights operated by the Exs, etc) and I'm not a statistician so it could be complicated. Pretty sure it would be impossible to pinpoint the actual (real) reason for any delays or cancellations. We all know the excuses change by the minute. Late crew arrival; maintenance; customer service; air traffic control; weather; etc were all used during one recent flight delay.
On a related note, I think that (correct me if I'm wrong) the Ex carriers get paid a flat rate ($xx,000) for each flight they operate whether its on time or hours late. No penalty for lateness. However, they don't get paid if the fight is cancelled. Not sure what the parameters are. There is a way around this pesky detail. One of my friends is a pilot with a major US carrier. One night he was commuting from the east coast to DTW. The Ex flight had rolling delays. Eventually the agent said the flight was cancelled and sent the pax to another carrier. The pilots told my friend to stand by. After the other carrier's flight had departed the original flight was reinstated. My friend had the cabin to himself. The pilots told him that because the flight did operate the company would still be paid (whether or not there were pax).