Originally Posted by GeneDoc

Mrs GeneDoc (1K) was scheduled to fly IAH LAX today (Tuesday 1/9) on a 737 MAX 9 at 9:35am. I obsessively checked her flight status for the last few days hoping to see equipment substitutions and looking at alternatives (other flights, SNA, etc). I was also hoping to see MAX 9 inspections that would allow the planes to return to the air. As Monday (1/8) progressed with no changes to her flight or its scheduled equipment, I used the UA web site to add her to the standby list of an earlier departure (7:20am) on 1/9 then scheduled on a 757-200. I noted that the first 1/9 departure to LAX (5:22am) had switched to a 767-400 but both it and the 7:20am showed fully booked. I called the 1K line and had a nice conversation, but the agent really had little to offer as all flights on 1/9 showed fully booked to both LAX and SNA.

UA finally canceled her flight Monday night about 8pm shortly after I got off the phone with the 1K line. By that point there was no evidence of any attempt by UA to rebook her, and she received no pushed information (text or email) regarding the cancelation. The web site offered no alternatives, presumably because all flights were full, and they were canceling several IAH-LAX flights for 1/9. Thankfully Mrs GeneDoc was packed and ready to go anticipating an early morning trip to IAH. I called the 1K line again and was able to get her positive space on the last flight on Monday night 1/8 (9:59pm--on an A320). We jumped in the car and headed through the thunderstorms to the airport. She made it, although her departure was delayed by the messy weather. She finally arrived LAX at 2am PST. A bonus--she was upgraded with Plus Points! Good to know that she'll make it to her cruise ship before it sails. I'm glad she's not scrambling to find flights today.

Bottom line: I agree it usually pays to be attentive and proactive, but especially if you're scheduled on a MAX 9! It's a difficult situation for UA and it is good to see them trying to add larger aircraft to help handle the cancelations (today's 7:20am flight's equipment has now changed from a 757 to a 767--maybe her standby would have cleared). I'm disappointed that UA waited so long to cancel her flight and didn't offer information or alternatives for her, especially as a 1K. Maybe those would have arrived as the night progressed, but flying later in the week was not an option and today might have been difficult given how many very full flights were canceled. There just isn't any slack in the system.

Any advice from the experts here on what we could have expected or how I might have handled this better is always appreciated!