danbrew

My adult child was flying back to college today from ORD. She texts me and tells me that the flight is delayed for an hour. I tell her to stick close to the gate in case they change it back and depart on time... I did this because a. i fly a lot, and b. i checked flightaware and saw that the incoming flight had already landed at O'Hare. Sure enough, 20 minutes before the original departure time, they change the departure time back to the original departure time.

I get it, you get it, we all fly a lot. But what about the guy that looks at his phone and says, "I got an hour, let me go get a sammich or beer or something" and he misses his flight. Curious minds wonder how often this happens and what AA says when the guy shows back up and says, "Ummm, where's my plane?"?

arlflyer

When that happens, we get a 250-post thread on FlyerTalk about it, duh!

Missed my flight due to misinformation on AA app and Text alerts

Often1

Same on UA and DL as well. Before wandering away from the gate, ask the GA or listen for an announcement.

Explorer789

Just goes to show how invaluable Flightaware is. Being able to track the inbound flight will basically lets you know when you need to get to the gate by. From the time the inbound plane lands, add half hour to taxi/deboarding, and another 30min for turnaround before boarding actually starts.

ibrandsguest

When a flight is delayed, doesn't the GA usually say, "wait in the boarding area" or "be back at X o'clock"?

I have missed a flight when it was delayed and then departed before the GA said it would, however (since I went to the US Airways Club). US Airways just put me on the next flight and it was not an issue.

Doesn't the AA app show the status of the incoming flight, so you can track your outbound flight? Seems wiser to track it yourself than to go by AA's GA announcements about flight status, anyway.

s0ssos

I've never had an instance where the GA was more helpful than the internet

ashill

That’s very useful at an outstation but can have limited utility at a hub where they can and do swap in other planes.

Explorer789

Of course, I'm not saying it is a complete substitute to checking the actual airport boarding screen, but it's useful most of the time.

I have yet to experience a flight swap at the gate even though I usually travel between hubs. A delayed flight just ends up having delayed boarding. This is what 99% of travelers will experience.

CPRich

GA saying it and pax following it are two different things.

controller1

Yes it does.

CPRich

I've certainly had flights where we departed before the "inbound aircraft" arrived, due to a swap, so don't count on any of those as the final word.

IAHtraveler

Yes, but the AA app is atrocious. I've also been on many flights where the app wasn't updated (delayed flight moved up and the app didn't get the new time until after door closing; significant delays that aren't listed in the app until after the scheduled departure time has passed and boarding hasn't even begun). I know these aren't due to the app as it gets the data from the same database the airport monitors do, but just proof that you can't rely on technology still.

mvoight

Yes, but sometimes the inbound flight changes if the original inbound is late or if there is a mechanical that prevents it from going out on time

beachfan

This is where getting a text from AA on departure time changes is invaluable. I get it before the gate agent does.

if course sometimes they don’t move the times back even when departure time has past.

But I’ve never seen it when the departure time gets moved earlier, and not get a text.