Originally Posted by
second row
Looking at BA 251 LHR-SCL is showing as departed 14 Hrs late.I am just a simple soul but cannot understand why a flight emanating from a home base could be subject to such a long delay when spare aircraft/crew should be available outside the peak season.
I am due to fly this route in February so hence the enquiry.
Thanks in advance to those who can explain.
It’s called a night stop, where the flight is rescheduled for the next day rather than cancelling the service. This is very common on the 787 aircraft where there are no spare aircraft at all. Its also fairly common on evening flights that develop an issue. At the time of night technical fixes eat into the night jet ban at LHR and BA are only allowed so many throughout the year. Also crew hours especially on that flight are very tight. Generally speaking if the flight isnt going to push by 00:30am It’s usually nightstopped. There are no standby crew over night and not that many that late anyway for a full recrew.