Originally Posted by
C17PSGR
Whether that works better than the UA/DL approach, I can't say. We only hear anecdotes from those with bad experiences. As a friend of mine trying to fly to JFK on Friday commented, why did they cancel my flight and not the one before or after mine? She's unhappy (but was rebooked) but those on the half the flights that went to JFK are happy.
I think AA is overly aggressive in cancelling its flights, but there's some downside to being overly aggressive in operating them as well. I have a friend who was booked into IAH the morning Hurricane Harvey made landfall and United insisted that everything was normal (no travel waiver or anything) right up to the point the flight had to divert to Dallas. If they'd cancelled the flight in advance, people could have been rebooked on alternative routings or made other plans versus being stranded in a place where United doesn't have a lot of options for them. (I'm sure other people were diverted more annoying places to get out of than DFW.)