Originally Posted by jtsastre

There are so many factors that can contribute to why the crew had to cancel the flight due to crew flight requirements. As an airline pilot, we want to complete every flight we are scheduled to fly. This was most likely the case for this crew. But there could have been many contributing factors on their return flight from their round trip that (after unscheduled delays) could have pushed their duty time to a limit that wasn't worth completing the first of the round trip flight (i.e. getting stuck at the outstation, the company needed the plane for other scheduled flights, it would have delayed flights for the next day, any other operational reason). So, although they set out to complete the flight, after 20-30 minutes of departure delays, several issues could have come into play as a reason to cancel the flight.

I sometimes get aggravated that passengers think we're up the there ready to delay or cancel a flight as a bonus to us and to screw the passenger. If you look into the FAA regulations, you'll understand that there are literally thousands of things we must abide by and make sure we comply with that sometimes might inconvenient the passenger. But a lot of the times our license/career are at stake and that just isn't worth the risk. As a passenger today, one must accept the risk of a delay or cancellation as apart of modern air travel.

Jtsastre