Originally Posted by
nyknicks8
Just curious what do most people do when you get a text alert stating your flight is delayed for 2-3 hours . Do you still show up at the airport at the original time? I know there are experiences where the airline finds another plane to make the flight on time and in most cases never sends a text that the flight is now departing on time. That should never happen as planes dont appear out of nowhere in minutes - they would have hours advanced notice (hopefully they are not bringing a plane out of the graveyard).
But my problem is my time is valuable - I cannot be expected to wait at the airport for 2+ hours without being compensated. Just like if I do not show up at the airport on time, I have to pay a penalty, the airline should pay an hourly penalty for each passenger forced to wait for the airline not showing up on time.
My current instance is with southwest. I plan on going for the late departing time (not original).
I can't speak for SouthWest, But I would not recommend this with many airlines. While the departure can change, many airlines keep the schedule for real-time check-in (as opposed to online check-in) to the original time. If you show up after the fact (or if you have checked luggage), you could be SOL.
As for aircraft substitutions, often when they "find" another aircraft, it is usually one that had arrived earlier that has already been prepped and can carry a similar number of passengers. They swap them out and voila, instant aircraft.
Generally, I will arrive for the normal scheduled time. I make sure I can work remotely just in case there is a delay and I need to do something. Hence I avoid any unpleasant surprises (such as a car accident occurring after I should have arrived). I never rely on delayed inbound aircraft as the situation can change at any time.