cpworld

SJC-OGG delayed by over two hours today - they said OGG was busy so they delayed our departure. Airport site said delays of 15 minutes or less. I rarely fly to OGG - is this common?

Got to gate almost an hour before scheduled boarding and was pleased to see plane already there, but once we hit the lounge the delay came in.

tonylop33

It is not unusual to wait upon arrival for 15 min or more for a gate at OGG. I have never had my flight departure from SJC delayed because of gate space issues at OGG.

imaflyertalkuserwow

This holiday season, it’s been normal at the length of time you’re describing. Be happy you’re in the terminal. 20 Dec I had a 30min boarding delay at LAX, 1hr departure delay at LAX after boarding, and still almost a 2hr tarmac delay at OGG before getting a gate to deplane. I’d rather have spent an extra 2hrs in the lounge.

anteater

5sjc/delay for ogg gating *0643*fcf8fa
3sjc/etd1240p 2.15l due late arrival *1110
4sjc/out1230p 2.05l off1242p *1443
2ogg/on 0351p in 0414p 2.10l *2016

🤙🏻🎉

cpworld

Wow - I do consider ourselves fortunate! Are there just too many planes, or are some of the carriers having crew issues which causes the planes to be at the gate longer?

mtofell

I flew into OGG +/- 20X last year and gate space is a super-common issue. I've personally waited an hour+ when arriving and once saw my arriving plane (that I was set to depart on) wait for over two hours. One quirk with Alaska is that, for whatever reason, they absolutely REFUSE to change a gate. Planes will sit on the runway for hours while other AS planes come and go from other gates. I suppose delaying departures is a (small) step in the right direction as I'd rather sit in an airport than on the runway after landing.

cpworld

Quite a few flights to OGG! We're returning to the mainland on Friday - any advice on how long to get through Precheck line?

mtofell

Usually a breeze... just went through tonight around 5PM and was 5th in line. The most I've ever waited is +/- 10 minutes but, of course, anything is possible. Busy hours are 10AM-2PM. One thing to note if you're not checking bags is that the Precheck recently moved so you can be dropped off past all the airline desks. It's only a couple minute walk from the airline desks so not a huge deal but the real benefit is being able to drive past the mob of people being dropped off and pulling over in the "sweet spot" between people dropping and being picked up. Overall, OGG is kind of crappy airport as far as lounges, restaurants, etc. but is pretty good for getting through security most times.

waddy

I've waited on the ground in OGG for a gate with Hawaiian Airlines almost every time last year. There has been times were we have spent the same amount of time on the ground as we did in the air from HNL

HangryDad

We had a two hour departure delay to OGG on 12/10. Delay was claimed to be mechanical.

djp98374

when you return from hawaii there are only a few “ flight windows”

1. Early am
2. Lunch time
3. red eye flights.

it’s similar for west- east coast flights. Direct flights can have a slightly different window.

if you fly west to east with connection then 6am-9am gets you to destination around 5 pm-7 pm. A lunch time departure gets you in late evening 9 pm-midnight. Then there is the red eye with 10 p-1230a and gets you there 7-19am next day.

applying thst to hawaii….

the flights from hawsii to western coast or hub cuties follow similar travel window. Early am are for those connecting elsewhere ( usually Chicago and west of Mississippi locations) The flights around lunch are late evening arrivals at the west coast/ vegas/ phx cities. They might have a late of day connection up/ down west coast.

the ones after 9 pm are west coast red eye flights. The ones going farther into the mainland will leave in a window between the lunch time flights and the redeye flights.

so a flight that departs around 12-2 pm can run into volume delays if there are any delays. Sometimes the lights get there faster without heavy jet stream winds but can easily get delayed 1-2 hrs if it’s flipping into the teeth of a pineapple 3xpress jet street that’s dip down to hawaii to west coast.

these 12-2 pm flights are usually out and back flown routes from west coast with a possible island hop

Many of the west coast cities have directs at this time of year on alaska, Hawaiian, and southwest. United, delta, and American have flights to/from their hub cities on the west coast.
WN—OAK, SJC, LAX, SAN, LAS, PHX, LGB
AS— SEA, PDX, Bay Area, LAX, SAN, and other secondary airports
Hawaiian runs directs from many of those citues mentioned above and some secondary airports

All of those routes ( most run daily) are taking off around the same time. Delayed flights coming in will cause more schedule crunches flying out.

There can be other delays indirect on the airlines from state department of agriculture inspections

another issue in Maui airport. You have zones in gates of island hoping flights into one area, and leaving/ entering hawaii fly out of other parts. This restricts gate access further because an out and back AS flight can’t use intra- hawaian gate sreas.

philemer

I just looked at the 6 flts (WN,HA & AS) from SJC>OGG yesterday & today and only one was delayed: the AS flt today. 1hr & 12 min. late.

beckoa

I've had delays during rush hour as well in OGG. Never did think much about inter-island versus mainland gates due to agriculture.

cpworld

Thanks for the info all. We are departing 1:30pm Friday, but just realized that one person in our group does not have Pre (arghh) so we'll get there a bit earlier.