Procedure when flight is cancelled for mechanical problems?
 

I'm sitting on the tarmac at YYC. Pilot says there is a mechanical problem and they are "looking for a spare part." Doesn't sound too promising.

What's the procedure in case the flight is cancelled? The pilot said they would try to get another plane but I'm worried about how long that would take. Also, we're on a B767, which is larger than the usual A320s that fly YYC-YYZ. What are the chances they can find another large plane on short notice?

My sympathies for your plight. Based on my own experience I can tell you this:. They will not under any circumstances disrupt any other flights to fix yours. IF they can round up another aircraft within a few hours they might, but only if they don't need it somewhere else. If it is smaller than yours, there will be a scramble to sort out who goes and who doesn't. I haven't seen any evidence of a rational procedure or priority in this circumstance.

The most likely outcome is they will cancel outright and rebook you on later flights if and when there's room. Again, priority seems to go to those who get to an agent first, either in person or on the phone.

Some will say that the rebooking is "automatic" and that status matters, but again, my experience is that this is at best a crap shoot.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

Procedure when flight is cancelled for mechanical problems?
 

Thanks. I see there are flights available later today. If I book one, would AC refund me the cost of my current outbound flight? Also, I have checked baggage - don't know if that makes a difference.

You will not get a refund. Not a nickel. They are still getting you from a to b. If you complain via email you will be lucky to get a 5% discount code for future travel.

Contact your credit card company or travel insurance assuming you have coverage and go have a nice dinner on them. :)

Most cc insurance kicks in after 4 hr delay and Amex travel insurance kicks in after any delay (best $250 I ever spent)!

Procedure when flight is cancelled for mechanical problems?
 

Nice to know. Guess I'm stuck on this flight. On the bright side, sounds like they've fixed the problem so hopefully we'll be on our way soon.

Huh? If the flight the OP is on now is delayed 2+ hr or cancelled, doesn't AC offer refund of the flight?

Therefore, if OP buys another ticket now and his/her current flight gets cancelled, OP has a ticket on the newly booked flight. However, if the newly booked flight costs more, OP is paying for the more expensive flight (OP gets price of original ticket refunded though). And if the current flight leaves, OP can cancel the newly booked flight via the 24 hr rule. To me, it seems OP is doing the exact same as AC does when they rebook people.

I was once on a flight that went mechanical in Calgary. It was an A320 going to YYZ. They took an A319 off a YVR route for us and put those pax on the earlier and later flights to YVR (We were told this onboard, but could hear AC announcing it in the terminal, and calling pax to get new BPs).

Likewise. We were on the last YVR-SFO flight of the day. The YVR-Vegas flight was already badly delayed because of a mechanical problem. They took our plane and sent it to Vegas. We had to wait for a plane arriving even later and ended up at SFO at 1 am.

Many years ago when they still flew YYC-ORD, our plane went mechanical. They took the plane supposed to do ORD-YYZ and put it on the YYC route. Being easier to deal with pax going to YYZ from ORD.

OP does not say if he is flying to YYZ. But it sounds like he is, on 1150, which left 1 hour and 54 minutes late. a 763.

Procedure when flight is cancelled for mechanical problems?
 

Thanks everyone. Yes, was on AC 1150, landed about 1/2 hour ago. Thankfully the flight did leave (eventually). Glad to be at my destination.

Today only....there was a 763 positioning YVR-YYZ. It was delayed leaving YVR. I suspect to cover 1150 in case the OP's flight needed to be replaced.

AFAIK the rebook needs to be done by AC. The OP was still on the plane. If he deplaned and went to customer service they would rebook him on the next available flight at his request.

Wow - AC1150 seems to have bad luck with mechanical issues. I took 1150 about 3 weeks ago, and had a mechanical - spent 2 hours on tarmac before they canceled the flight and brought in an E90 replacement. It was a mess redoing the seat assignments, and we finally left 4.5 hours after originally scheduled. A coworker took 1150 a few days later and they were delayed 2 hours due to mechanical.

Sounds like the 3rd mechanical on that flight in 3 weeks - not a good streak!