Big Mess Out West Today

Old Mar 2, 2013, 10:52 am
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: May 2006
Programs: AC 75K
Posts: 255
Big Mess Out West Today

Hi Folks

Sitting in YYJ, supposed to be en route to YXE but might get there Tuesday! Weather delays this morning in YQR and YYC have led to a backlog. Oh well.
So I have lots of time on my hands and just a few questions:

1. All the initial delays appear to be q400's. Coincidence, or are they much more susceptible to delays out West?
2. Capacity issues out West. All the flights to and from YXE to pretty much anywhere are PACKED. A colleague had to wait 5 days in YYZ recently after a flight cancellation. I am looking at Tuesday to get to YXE from YYC and there are a ton of flights daily, ditto WJ but they are also sold out. Now I know it is in AC's best interests to fly full planes BUT if there is no excess capacity at all in the system then surely they need to add a flight or two. The gate agent at YYJ says that flights are crazy full on a constant basis.

Just some musings to kill some time. Feel free to ignore but I am interested in more knowledgeable folks thoughts on points 1 and 2 above.

Happy trails, and good luck if you are trying to get around Western Canada in the next day or so

YXEG
YXEGeordie is offline  
Old Mar 2, 2013, 5:06 pm
  #2  
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Ontario, CAN
Posts: 5,813
Originally Posted by YXEGeordie
A colleague had to wait 5 days in YYZ recently after a flight cancellation.
Ummm, What!? A flt cancellation leads to 5 days in YYZ?!

Please share more specific details if you have them
CloudsBelow is offline  
Old Mar 2, 2013, 6:32 pm
  #3  
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: YYC - not the centre of the universe
Programs: AC*S100K 1MM, LH FTL, Hyatt Globalist, Accor Plat
Posts: 4,768
I was supposed to fly YYC-YEG-YYZ today because direct flights were Y-only (I'm on an M flight pass). However YEG-YYZ got 2.5 hours delayed and would arrive YYZ @ 2:15 am. I have a sold-out concert tomorrow at 3:00 pm so that was NOT a good option. Therefore I started looking for alternatives. There were none. All flights to YYZ zero'ed out. Finally we were able to get two Y seats direct to YYZ on the last flight, at 7:30 pm. Oh well.
jlisi984 is offline  
Old Mar 4, 2013, 8:26 am
  #4  
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: YQR
Programs: NEXUS; alas, no status anymore.
Posts: 1,181
CloudsBelow, a friend was stranded in DEN for 4 days last week due to the blizzard in Denver on February 23. He missed his outbound DEN-YQR flight by four minutes due to delays in PSP, and the next flight that wasn't ridiculously overbooked was the following Thursday. (UA/Skywest flies the route.)
PhotoJim is offline  
Old Mar 4, 2013, 8:46 am
  #5  
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: YEG
Programs: AC E50 MM, WJ Gold, Marriott Titanium Elite Lifetime
Posts: 3,080
Originally Posted by jlisi984
I was supposed to fly YYC-YEG-YYZ today because direct flights were Y-only (I'm on an M flight pass). However YEG-YYZ got 2.5 hours delayed and would arrive YYZ @ 2:15 am. I have a sold-out concert tomorrow at 3:00 pm so that was NOT a good option. Therefore I started looking for alternatives. There were none. All flights to YYZ zero'ed out. Finally we were able to get two Y seats direct to YYZ on the last flight, at 7:30 pm. Oh well.
Jus a small piece of advice I used last week. Wait till a day before and AC will usually declare free change fees ahead of any weather an you could have switched to direct YYC-YYZ at that point.

I used this on my pass last week getting back to YEG so I didn't have to connect through YOW from YYZ. May as well take advantage of weather delays when we can.
stinger is offline  
Old Mar 4, 2013, 9:15 am
  #6  
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: LGA
Programs: DL DM, UA Gold, Marriott Plat Prem., Hilton Gold, National Exec Elite.
Posts: 2,533
I'm sure Jan knew that, hehe, but your comments should be very useful for others
Tedgrrrr is offline  
Old Mar 4, 2013, 10:44 am
  #7  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: May 2006
Programs: AC 75K
Posts: 255
Clouds Below

A bit more info, so there may be a bit of hyperbole from my colleague BUT, all the flights for the following 5 days from YYZ to YXE were overbooked, not a seat to be had, that's 20 consecutive flights (3 E90s and 1 CRA a day) and all completely full.

So again, I ask my initial question. Is this:

a) Great load management by AC to have all these flights full?
b) A capacity problem?

I ended up overnighting in YYC, not because the weather was bad but the 3 remaining flights from YYC to YXE were oversold on Saturday. I got out on Sunday AM, but colleagues got stranded in YVR and will get back tonight, and others were diverted to YEG etc.

So, this is not a rant about how awful AC is, weather happens and I was treated with courtesy and sympathy (although no hotel room was offered as it was a weather delay). I am just wondering mostly about the capacity issue.

Bascially if YXE is THAT popular a destination they need to offer more flights because when something goes wrong (as it invariably does in Canada in winter) it takes days to fix!

WJ has just added 2 more to YYZ from YXE for the summer, but I really don't enjoy flying with them at all. If I want bad humour I will turn on the Comedy Network, or Prime Minister's Question Time.

Any thoughts from the experts?

YXEG
YXEGeordie is offline  
Old Mar 4, 2013, 11:27 am
  #8  
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: YHZ
Programs: meh
Posts: 524
Originally Posted by jlisi984
I was supposed to fly YYC-YEG-YYZ today because direct flights were Y-only (I'm on an M flight pass). However YEG-YYZ got 2.5 hours delayed and would arrive YYZ @ 2:15 am. I have a sold-out concert tomorrow at 3:00 pm so that was NOT a good option. Therefore I started looking for alternatives. There were none. All flights to YYZ zero'ed out. Finally we were able to get two Y seats direct to YYZ on the last flight, at 7:30 pm. Oh well.
Odd because I was on AC178 and there were 4 upgrades at the gate and it went out J2. Originally I was supposed to do YEG-YYC-YYZ but changed it to the direct to avoid the mess.
igloocoder is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.