Originally Posted by
findark
I'm actually curious if any of the knowledgable UA employees know -- when a flight at the gate takes a delay (MX or otherwise), who keys in the new estimated departure time? Is it the gate agent?
I don't know.
I think the zone controller can do it. There's also a FLIFO desk at Willis but I don't know how that works. We can send Expected OUT/OFF/ON/IN times through ACARS though it's only proceduralized at certain points in the long-tarmac-delay process. I send them more often than that specifically so the app data can be updated when things are early or later than planned.
Automated updates happen with each ACARS event OUT/OFF/ON/IN. There are also automated updates while enroute but I haven't figured out what triggers them.